Bhutan’s development philosophy of Gross National Happiness is probably most misunderstood by the Bhutanese themselves.

What is GNH? What does GNH mean to you? What does happiness mean to you? What makes you happy? Do you think GNH is achievable? Can it be measured?

We are all dumbstruck by these common questions that curious foreigners tend to ask when we introduce ourselves as citizens of the GNH state. And, haltingly, unconvincingly, scratching our dull heads, we answer them.

Back home we fret about the concept relating it to all our petty everyday concerns. For all things we do that make us unhappy, we promptly question GNH.

And our senior bureaucrats roll their eyes in utter boredom thinking about GNH. Some even say it’s just a sexy selling point, a development bargain, and others say it’s simply a distraction.

On the other hand, authorities have failed to come up with simple GNH literature for our people. Except for the papers presented during various GHN conferences, we still don’t have a succinct definition of the concept.

GNH is a wellbeing mandate. It mandates governments to create atmosphere where people can pursue happiness in a meaningful way. GNH gives moral purpose to governments. This is what we are told most often.

Today, many developed nations around the world are unhappy with the old economic determinant - Gross Domestic Product – and are devising ways to include human wellbeing in their country’s economic health.

Presenting a report to President Nicolas Sarkozy of France last week, a commission of leading economists (including Nobel winners Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz) said economic growth should be seen as the means for increasing human happiness.

Recently, Eric Zencey, associate professor of Historical and Political Inquiry at Empire State College, State University of New York, told a Thai newspaper that the Bhutanese model (GNH) is a very good alternative to the traditional progress index of GDP. 

The irony is that even as GNH is rapidly gaining global currency, our own people fail to understand what it is all about.

That is why there is the urgent need for more local, and perhaps community, conferences and seminars on GNH. GNH literature could be made part of the school curriculum, and the educated lot must interpret GNH meaningfully to our illiterate brethrens.

Otherwise, we will continue to scratch our heads and tell more lies to ourselves.