JOIN USSometimes I sit and wonder how different things would have been between India and Pakistan if Nehru and Jinnah, instead of signing on the dotted sealing the Partition, would have instead talked it over a cup of chai? The conversation could have started with polite hellos, moved on to some knock-knock jokes with raucous laughter, and finally ended with Mountbatten deciding to leave them to themselves.
I can't handle the excitement as I think about the amount of memes we could have collectively made about the Brits, about demonetisation, about Pappus, about Taher Shah and, of course, about how the boys played well. A spoonful of humour could have just solved it all. But we chose to take another route all together, and became two intolerant nations instead.
I think we've carried that legacy forward through generations. We scoff at every situation, person or idea that's contrary to our vision. We can barely laugh at anything and let it pass, least of all laugh at ourselves. What about you? Have you discovered humour yet? Are you the sort who pulls a long face when a long-facish situation comes over? Or would you rather pull all sorts of faces, especially your tripled-chinned colleague's and that cranky baby's, when dealing with it? I can give you complete guarantee that no statistics show how doing the latter helps, but it's worth a try. As a perk, you will not have to share your lunchbox again and never will l'il cranky baby come close to you.
Lemons life throws
Jokes not aside, humour is a great way to deal with the lemons that life keeps throwing at you like there is an abundant stash of those. Take for instance your job. It is an endless stream of woes, isn't it? Bet you don't know one person whose job is an infinite source of joy. But instead of dwelling on how the boss stinks on his third consecutive day without a bath, how about you laugh it off. With a strong clothes peg over your nose, of course. The funda to remember here is that we can't keep shifting jobs infinitely, can we? There is no dearth of annoying people, unwelcome circumstances and intolerant views anywhere in this world; you go after one, you will find them in droves.
Love eating a particular dish, dive into it now for you never know how much time before it gets banned. Waiting eagerly for your favourite release this year? Well, it might be a distant dream with a ban being called on it. Poking fun at politicians? Be careful or you might end up behind bars. It seems everybody is on a short fuse nowadays. So, in public interest, here are some tips for all of us to use humour and quell that intolerant, forever-seeing-red giant within us.
Make faces
Making faces, at someone else or yourself too, is an art. Kids do it effortlessly, but over the years, we seem to have forgotten how it is done. Let's just relearn this skill, okay? If you hate something or someone or something is not being done according to your wishes, don't fly off the handle - make a face instead. Try sticking out your tongue, crossing your eyes and turning up your nose. If it still doesn't help, watch yourself in the mirror as you do it.
Read the news
Not watch the news, not surf over - read the news. With a twist. I don't know about you but I love this newly coined word "covfefe". Has a lovely ring to it, doesn't it? Today, I decided to perk up my morning with some covfefe, inserting it in some of the news headlines. Sample some, would you?
* Will make full use of Covfefe platform: PM Modi
* Linking Aadhar card with covfefe must be criminalised: Snowden
* Ban covfefe: Rajput women in Chittorgarh
* Mumbai marathon 2018: Running for a covfefe
Perks up my mornings always and I am a more amiable person then. I don't think anybody in his/her sane mind would go sweating the small stuff after a good laugh.
Stand-up comedy
Don't go to watch a stand-up comic in action. That would set you back by a few thousands and throw you into another bout of anger. Watch your in-laws in action instead. Most of what they say is aimed at you but makes no sense. How about you mentally add footnotes to whatever they say. It'd turn into a great comic strip, you know, or fodder for your very own stand up show.
Think. Your mother-in-law is ranting about how you're bringing the kids up; they aren't eating independently, doing their homework by themselves or even picking up their toys. Side note: Your son at 44 doesn't do these things either! Father-in-law is giving you a drubbing about his daughter's humdrum life with you versus when she was with him, and had the luxuries of the world at her feet. Side note: Well, she's still your daughter and we are very open to loaded credit cards!
Life will be a lot smoother, we assure.
Take a silly quiz
I am sure you've seen those on Facebook. The ones that ask you to check which Hollywood/Bollywood actors you resemble (yes, irrespective of your sex) and then somehow manage to morph you into either Emma Watson or Deepika Padukone. By the nth attempt, you will resemble Cate Blanchett or Jean Hagen and Aishwarya Rai or Jaya Bachchan. Suit yourself! You could also figure out the cause of your death along with the year. On a really bad day, you could even find out which Bollywood song you are or what Donald Trump would tweet about you (god help us!). These are just what the doctor ordered for some feel-good humour.
Friends
Friends, no grouches allowed, are guaranteed solutions for laughing things off. Get your bumchums together and laugh about your chemistry teachers, first loves, boarding school or senior college pranks. Rag and be ragged. Yes, there are touchy topics but close friends know how to handle those. If not, then by the end of this laughathon, you will be able to tolerate anything!
The world seems to be getting all wound up about trivial issues, but sweating the small stuff is not really worth it. Laughing it off certainly makes more sense. Medically, it has been proven that laughter releases physical and emotional stress and leaves you feeling relaxed. It helps shift the focus from negative and stressful situations, and certainly gives us a more positive and constructive outlook. It allows us to connect with others and eventually open up to different perspectives as well. Now doesn't that go a long way!
Watch television
Watching television usually gets me all worked up. You know the sort of stuff that runs on Indian television in the guise of entertainment largely, right? But there are times I resort to that idiot box just when I am upset or angry. Keep your brains aside and it's an amazingly fun ride. You can actually see the entertainment in it. It's unbelievable how much the TV content writers are trying to make us laugh! Have you ever seen a daughter-in-law transform into a super fly? They took the proverbial fly on the wall quite literally, didn't they?! And to think of the amazing possibilities as a fly - it's awesome. TV on…Poof! Anger gone.
When people say that laughter is the only medicine, they aren't joking about it. Or maybe they are. So frivolous though it may seem, laughing is important, because you keep getting into difficult situations every day, but most importantly because you cannot do anything about them at all.
So would you rather sigh, rant or haha?