Ages ago in Mahabharata, Vidur said to Dhritharashtra, that tapa (tapasya) is defined as the one at the end of which there is an increase in the joy one feels in life. And it’s not that we don’t do tapa, or voluntary renunciation of pleasures—we have given up on ghee and eat our rotis sookha, we no longer have sugar in our tea, have even given up on rice at night, make food in minimum or almost no oil, etc. But unlike Vidur’s definition, our efforts have landed us in more of the same kind of trouble. This kind of renunciation has a name too—asuri tapa. That which, other than causing harm, does very little good.