Uncomplicated happiness

"Before the claustrophobia (fear of having no escape and being closed in) of winter closed in, Korphe's people lived as much possible outdoors. Most families took their two daily meals on their roof. And washing down a bowl of dal and rice with strong tamburok tea, after a satisfying day's work, Mortenson loved basking in the last of the sunlight with Haji Ali's family and chatting across the rooftops to the dozens of families doing the same.

Norberg-Hodge admiringly quotes the kind of another Himalayan country, Bhutan, who says the true measure of a nation's success is not gross national product, but "gross national happiness". On their warm, dry roofs, among the fruits of their successful harvest, eating, smoking and gossiping with the same sense of leisure as Parisians on the terrace of a sidewalk cafe, Mortenson felt sure that , despite all that they lacked, the Balti still held the key to a kind of uncomplicated happiness that was disappearing in the developing world as fast as old-growth forests. "

- Three Cups of tea by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin in chapter titled "Building Bridges"