Yesterday was International Joke Day. Celebrations were held the world over. You might not have heard since they were not typical celebrations. But jokes were many. A close look at the world and you would see that it had been preparing for the day since long. Observe the world closely and you would know that the celebrations are on. There is an international body – the United Nations – whose preamble speaks of determination to ‘Save the succeeding generations from the scourge of war’. And here we are… thousands dying daily throughout the world because it did not specify whose succeeding generations were being talked about. It may sound like the entire humanity but some are certainly more equal. Talking of equality, we have long committed ourselves to believing in it, but the uncomfortable considerations of race, religion, gender have had our deeper commitments. We swear by the sovereignty of nations but are comfortable pushing our belief-sets down someone’s throat.

 

 

Our globalised economy has a ‘DEAL’ problem and most nations are trying to figure out how to deal with it. Environmental imbalance is a burning issue and so it has been put in the cold storage. This- in short – is our world. It’s a joke. Ridiculously funny. Well, a good joke has been described as something that makes people laugh. A great joke going around in international politics these days is that American President Mr Donald Trump wants a Nobel Peace Prize for himself. He is building a strong case for it. They say he tried to broker peace in situations which were mostly American doing. So, there may not be many takers for that proposal. But I am all for it. Why go half-length in being crazy? Let’s laugh hard. If Pakistan can chair the Taliban Sanctions Committee and serve as vice-chair of Counter-Terrorism Committee, Mr Donald Trump can as well get a Nobel Peace Prize. He does need some peace… and world needs some laughter! At home, too, fun is raining. The Government had promised to make our cities world class. And that they have become - LA before rains, Venice during rains and Dhaka after rains.

 

The condition of the economy, too, is so funny. I have learnt to laugh at my own predicament. Savour this – ‘We have struck a perfect balance - the economy and me. As the prices of gold, silver, oil are skyrocketing, my own earnings are nosediving’. They told me to save for a rainy day. Oh! My traditional conservative family – it should have been rainy months and rainy years!!! As a citizen too, our ironies have been many. I voted for a person of a party that had a specific manifesto. Now my representative is in a different party that has a different manifesto. They say my vote counts but I am not counting on it. Looking at the various ironies of life, I have come to the conclusion that the only way to survive those is to take them with a pinch of laughter. With a good amount of laughter, you can truly laugh things off. Once, in Britain, a man was arrested for calling the Prime Minister a fool. There was quite an uproar in the British House of Commons over the issue. PM Winston Churchill, in his characteristic humour, silenced it. He clarified that the man was not arrested for calling the Prime Minister a fool, but for revealing a State secret during the time of national emergency. Add a funny twist to a queer situation and you can sail through. Imagine hearing rumours of your own death! Someone did find the grace to refute it with humour. “The report of my death was an exaggeration,” said Mark Twain.

 

Those debating the existence of God – do not often speak of His fun quotient. For, you never know who can get hurt given that we have made religion such a serious affair. But it is my personal opinion that the Lord Almighty is also the Lord of humour. For, to hear this most weird specimen called human beings call you Father or ‘Parampita,’ and yet to bear with all their follies, should require tonnes of fortitude. The Omniscient, kind Father, must have filled our tiny cups too from His great cup of humour, or else how would we have come thus far in this madness called world? “Forgive, O Lord, my little jokes on thee And I’ll forgive Thy great big one on me” - Robert Frost