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No laughing matter this

Humour can reduce anxiety and raise low mood, discovers J. R. Shridharan

*Seven days without laughter makes one weak - Mort Walker.

W hen was the last time you had a hearty laugh?

Well, a sincere attempt to answer this question may result in a big disappointment because we all have actually forgotten the art of laughing.

In this age of globalisation and liberalisation, people are akin to racehorses, always focused on meeting deadlines, high goals and challenging targets, placing on the back burner an important ingredient that can spice up life - laughing.

Keen on infusing an element of laughter into the mundane life, a Mumbai-based physician Madan Kataria conceived the idea of laughter clubs, a platform for people to gather and have a hearty laugh, for no specific reason. A practicing doctor at Jaslok Hospital, Dr. Kataria formed the first club in 1994 at Mumbai and what started off as a low-key affair, gradually spread world over. Today, there are 7,000 laughing clubs functioning across the world, spreading the concept of sharing jokes, pranks and good health.

Medicinal effect

Says Thondepu Hanumantha Rao, pioneer in laughing clubs in Vijayawada: "My month-long stay at the Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences with my wife, changed my life. I realised the significance of laughing in life. In fact, laughing is used as a treatment for many ailments at the institute."

When Rao set up the first laughing club at Siddhartha Academy in 2003, there were hardly 15 people who were willing to break into a chortle. But as the message of laughter spread through word of mouth, the membership began to swell. So did the number of clubs in Vijayawada. The city currently has six clubs actively functioning at Siddhartha Academy, IGMC stadium, Andhra Loyola College, Koneru Lakshmaiah Engineering College, Patamata Indoor Stadium and SRR & CVR College.

"The clubs have more than 1,000 members who meet every day at these venues in the morning to feast on rib-tickling jokes and break into various intensities of laughter," says M V N Rao, who presides over the meetings at Patamata Indoor Stadium.

The fun-lovers have found a delightful way of beginning their day by indulging in a riot of laughter after a warm-up exercise and a brisk walk. Some take pleasure in the "Ravanasura" style of laughing, while others break into rapid-fire chuckles, fondly called the AK-47 laughter. "A majority of the members are above 50 years of age. People in 40s have other alternatives such as sports and games. But after entering into 50s or 60s, people prefer walking and doing things like adding a liberal dose of laughter to their day-to-day life to feel light," says Dr. Rao. The clubs are non-political, non-religious, non-racial and non- competitive.

There are several reasons as to why most people fail to give as much importance to laughter as it really deserves. Most of them do not understand the real meaning of laughter. "Laughter is not only for amusement, entertainment and fun, but it is an expression of inner happiness, which comes out only when we understand the deeper meaning of life," says Dr. Rao. Another reason why we neglect laughter is that we laugh only when there is success or achievement.

We have not learned to laugh and celebrate our mistakes, failures and difficulties from which we can learn a lot.

Hundreds of fun-lovers who assembled on the premises of Andhra Loyola College to celebrate World Laugher Day on May 7, made a pleasant spectacle. The laugh gurus arrived at the venue holding banners and placards with slogans such as World Peace Through Laughter, I Love To Laugh, Join Laugher Club, It Is Free, and Love and Laughter.

A joke doing rounds at the venue is: "Oxygen is available at two places. One: at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a corporate hospital and the other: at the laughing clubs. The irony is that the oxygen at the ICU is costly while at the laughing club it is cheap." Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha... Ho Ho Ho...

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