These 21 Common-Sense Precepts are Getting India on the Road to Happiness
Rohit Sharma lives in a country where rape cases doubled between 1990 and 2008 and murders have more than tripled over the course of 60 years.
Raised in the Indian capital of New Delhi, he will tell you what goes without saying: his people are losing their morality. Parents struggle to guide their children in the midst of a morally decaying society, but there is no existing technology for them to use to accomplish this.
But in 2007, Sharma found The Way to Happiness (TWTH) which had a profound effect on him. Testing out what the book could do for others, he delivered his first seminar to 100 students in Vinay Nagar Bengali School.
The students, much to the surprise and delight of their teachers, listened with rapt attention. Many vowed afterward never to violate the precepts again.
Before India could blink, Sharma had trained more than 2,400 of its teachers. These, in turn, brought The Way to Happiness to more than 110,000 students in some 900 schools.
Sharma next turned his sights to the police. After receiving a presentation on the program, the New Delhi Deputy Commissioner ordered 10,000 custom copies of The Way to Happiness, bearing the police’s logo proudly below its title. Sharma was directed to bring the workshop to police in every district of the city. One unit—the New Delhi Traffic Division—decided to make The Way to Happiness the core of its citywide program to reform traffic offenders. Many of the 55,000 offenders were so pleased with what they learned they thanked the police for their “penalty.”
Then, in honor of the UN Day of Happiness, Sharma and the police teamed up to host a massive parade, attended by some 2,500 people. Launched by a member of Indian Parliament, the parade aired to 60 million viewers on the top rated TV network in the country.
In total, Sharma has now trained more than 3,000 police and distributed more than 37,500 booklets across 16 states of India. With the help of the national media, he has reached more than 70 million people with the 21 precepts.
“I have had 100% success wherever I have gone with The Way to Happiness,” he says. He plans to travel to each of India’s 29 states, introducing the campaign to all schools and police departments in his bid for a better India, which Sharma sees approaching with every booklet.
Just as was the original intention of this common-sense guide to better living, calm has begun to spread across the country.
TAKING ACTION
As The Way To Happiness Team Works,
Crime Drops In Hungary
The members of The Way to Happiness Hungary team are on a mission to change their country. Specifically, they are aiming at repairing failing marriages by promoting precept 3: “Don’t Be Promiscuous.” They are also looking at getting kids off the streets and back into school using precept 16: “Be Industrious.” And finally, they want to see dropping crime rates by reminding people of precept 9: “Don’t Do Anything Illegal.”
Through The Way to Happiness booklet distribution, social media campaigns, online consulting and seminar delivery, this team is beginning to turn the tide. Coincident to the start of their initiative, the number of registered crimes annually began to drop by the thousands and has continued falling for three years in a row.
HELP CHANGE THE WORLD
The Way to Happiness Foundation International works to reverse the moral decay of society by restoring trust and honesty through widespread distribution of the 21 precepts. Donations support production and distribution of The Way to Happiness booklet and curriculum material.
