Tears of happiness.

"Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cautioned...that persistently elevated inflation will likely delay any Fed interest rate cuts until later this year, opening the door to a period of higher-for-longer rates." "In the past several weeks, government data has shown that inflation remains stubbornly above the Fed's 2% target and the economy is still growing robustly." PBS. "Financial stress has become a significant part of life in this decade, with 70% of Americans saying they feel 'very or somewhat stressed' about their personal finances right now." "Of those earning less than $50,000, which includes Americans at poverty level, 55% report more financial stress than pre-pandemic." And even, "46% of households making $100,000 a year or more report feeling stressed." yahoo. Why" Because, "In the 12 months through March, the CPI increased 3.5%, the most since September." Reuters. In India, "Annual retail inflation in March was 4.85%, lower than 5.09% in February," and "Food inflation, which accounts for nearly half of the overall consumer price basket, rose 8.2% in March, compared with an 8.66% rise in February." Reuters. In India, "Spending on food fell to 46% of monthly consumption for rural consumers from nearly 53% in 2011-12, while in urban areas it fell to 39% from 43%." Reuters. Whereas, "Americans are spending more of their income on food than they have in 30 years. That's according to the latest data from the USDA, which shows that US consumers spent more than 11% of their disposable income on eating - whether at home or at a restaurant - in 2022." CPI inflation is expected to decline to 2.4% this year. yahoo. Americans spend only 11% of their income on food and they are feeling distressed, while Indians spend over four times as much on food and food prices went up 8.2% in March. Are Indians in any distress? Nope. "Summarily dismissing India's 126th rank in the World Happiness Index and accusing the report of 'overlooking persistent issues prevailing in many better ranked nations', a report by SBI Ecowrap stated that India should have in fact been ranked 48." TOI. In its kindness, the SBI (State Bank of India) has pushed the US up to 2nd position from 15th in the report. Happiness depends on social relations, "which in India are much broadened and altruistic than any other country in the world". Indians can socially hold hands and sing "O jaanewaale babu ek paisa de de" (O passing sir please spare us a penny)", while 35.5% of children, who are stunted due to malnutrition (TOI), can dance with happiness. Brings tears to our eyes.