In Pursuit of Happiness1

Mr. President, distinghuished guests, ladies and gentlemen, I am deeply conscious of the honour which has been conferred upon me by our Society in selecting me for the D.L.N. Murti Rao Oration Award. I had the privilege of meeting the late Dr. Murti Rao for the first time in 1956 when I visited Brngalore on an official tour from Poona. I was greatly impressed with his clinical acumen, teaching ability, popularity among his students, honesty of purpose, personal humility and professional courtesy. Unfortunately, he was snatched away from us by an untimely and premature demise on the last day of the year 1962. I take this opportunity of paying my homage to this distinguished son of our Nation. I am also reminded of having been fortunate enough to have been called upon to deliver the first ever Oration at the time of the Nineteenth annual conference held at Panjim (Goa) in January 1967, as the winner of the first Sandoz Award. The title of my oration then was "Morale of Indian troops during Indo-Pakistan Conflict, 1965", which was of topical interest 16 years ago. Now, having past the age of three score years and ten, I have chosen a philosophical topic, i. e. "In Pursuit of happiness", which appears to be of topical interest at pre ent, particularly to persons of my age group. You would probably recall that one of my distinguished predecessors, Dr. Venkoba Rao, chose "Gita and Mental Sciences" in 1980 as the