Chandigarh 'happiest' city, claims LG survey

Delhi is the happiest metro and Mumbai is the saddest, according to the study

For many, Chandigarh is "the beautiful city" but a survey shows it is also the happiest in India. Lucknow follows closely on its heels; Delhi is the happiest metropolitan city.

An IMRB International study, commissioned by consumer durable giant LG Electronics, covered 16 cities and surveyed 2,424 respondents to find "the happiest cities of India".

According to the survey, Mumbai, which has the world's second largest film industry and is India's financial capital, is the least happy among the top four metro cities. Chennai was on the fourth position and Kolkata on the 10th. Among the cities covered in the study, Guwahati was the least happy, preceded by Jaipur, Kochi, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.

North India is happier than the other parts, with an average score of 141 in the happiness index. However, respondents from south India said they considered "being happy" was an important value.

Sociologist and social anthropologist Amrita Srinivasan, now Tagore National Fellow at Sangeet Natak Akademi, said people in north India were more inclined to show and celebrate their happiness than in other parts of the country.

The survey revealed, people aged 18 to 24 years considered happiness to be the most important value in their lives, followed by trust, success and recognition. People aged between 25 and 45 years prefer trust over happiness. "Happiness is a measure of socio-economic progress of any modern nation," said Soon Kwon, managing director, LG Electronics, India. According to him, since happiness is an aspiration of every individual, LG decided to reach out and understand its source for Indians.

While, Chandigarh, country's happiest city, considers overall financial status and material assets such as cars or houses more important, Lucknow finds opportunity to fulfil one's needs and desires as the most important source of happiness.