LAUGHING MATTERS

It is said that laughter is the best medicine. Doctors have even scientifically proved that laughter reduces pain, increases job performance, connects people emotionally, and improves the flow of oxygen to the heart and brain. In fact, some researchers also believe that the main purpose of laughter is to bring people together and all the health benefits of laughter may simply result from the social support that laughter stimulates.

As a result a new kind of club has begun sprouting in various parts of the country and they are termed “Humor Clubs” or alternatively “Laughter Clubs”. I am now sharing my own interaction with a member of one such Club.

It all began on a Saturday morning; for indeed the incidents which I am going to narrate to you began on one of those rare Saturday mornings when I got out of bed early since I was unable to sleep and rather restless. Knowing fully well that the other members of my family would not wake up until late in the morning since it was a holiday and not wanting to disturb them I quietly slipped out of the door into the darkness for it was only four thirty in the morning and the sky was still dark with no sign of dawn or sunrise.

I then decided to go for a spin on my two-wheeler and breathe in some fresh air since Madras is at its best only during this time. It is only when the roads are empty and the air is unpolluted that the beauty of Madras can really be appreciated. Having taken out my two-wheeler on an impulse, I decided to drive down to the Marina, Madras’ very own beach which is said to be the second longest in the world and that which at that time of the day would be populated by walkers and joggers of all sizes and shapes who visit the beach for their daily workout.

Don’t get me wrong for I am not the health conscious kind and believe that walking would only causes wear and tear to the muscles and ligaments of my feet and legs. However, it is good fun to watch these so called health freaks who are fighting their individual battles of the bulge and trying to rid themselves of what they consider the unwanted pounds or kilograms. It is rather ironic that these people who do not like to walk or exercise during the day deem it appropriate to drive down to the beach in their expensive luxury vehicles and limousines which they park along the beach front and then proceed for a walk or a jog with their spouse or dog in tow.

The Marina attracts all kinds of people from the old guys who come just to sit near the Gandhi statue and gossip about the good old days to the little ones who come to play tennis ball cricket on the sand to the yoga practitioners who either contort their body or sit with eyes closed on the beach to meditate and inhale the fresh air there.

On this particular day I happened to witness a rather strange group which has now begun haunting the Marina. As I neared the beach road which is the road built on the beach parallel to the main road and located at the edge of the sand, I heard strange noises emanating from a group of people. There were about five of them standing together in sports outfits, a couple of them were wearing tracksuits while the remaining were wearing shorts and t-shirts along with the standard sports footwear which everybody seems to favour these days.

This group of men were attracting a lot of attention on the beach front including the attention of the crows circling around and the dogs loitering in search of some sustenance early in the morning. This group seemed to be exercising by lifting their hands up and down while at the same time making strange noises which sounded like “Hoo...ahh..Hoo...ahh”. More like Santa at Yuletide with his “Ho..Ho..Ho”.  The busy passerby who were jogging or walking briskly looked at this group with as much amusement as did the crows and dogs around the beach.

As I parked my two-wheeler, walked towards the shore and came closer to the group I found that one of these five gentlemen who was most excitedly performing these strange exercises had a rather familiar face. It was familiar for the face resembled that of a classmate of mine named Santhanam whom I had been rather pally with during my school days and with whom I had been upto a lot of mischief much to the chagrin of my parents.

As I came closer the group appeared to be winding up and everyone seemed to be wiping the sweat from their faces with towels as they prepared to leave. I approached the guy who resembled Santhanam and called out, “Excuse me, but are you in anyway related to a guy named Santhanam who studied in the Madras High school and passed out in 1975?”. The Santhanam look alike looked at me and replied, “Yes he is my elder brother and my name is Rathnam”. He thrust out his hand as he replied and I then accepting his outstretched hand introduced myself as Sunny who had studied with Santhanam for seven wonderful years.

Rathnam then informed me that he was a senior Physician in one of the leading hospitals in the city where he specialised as a cardiologist. I asked him what he was upto on the beach and he replied that he was part of a Humour Club which practiced laughter as a form of therapy for good health and rejuvenation every day at five in the morning for about half an hour.

I then also asked him how Santhanam was and Rathnam replied that Santhanam had not changed since his school days and was still upto pranks and mischief as he had been when he was young. He mentioned that Santhanam had not yet settled down in life inspite of being married and did not have a steady job though he was the father of two children.

Rathnam wanted to know what I was doing and I told him that I too was upto no good and doing odd jobs as a Communication and Development professional across India. We then bid farewell and went about our separate ways.

I then forgot about this chance meeting until a year later when a friend of mine was hospitalised for some cardiac problems and I used to visit him regularly during the ten days he was bed ridden there. It was then that I happened to bump into Rathnam once again and get to know him better during those ten days when I frequented the hospital to comfort my friend.

The Rathnam whom I had met at the beach seemed very different from the Rathnam whom I had met at the hospital. Before I proceed to describe Rathnam I must say that Rathnam was five years younger to Santhanam who being my classmate was the same age that I was. I guess this is the best way to put Rathnam’s age in perspective without disclosing my own age to you guys.

The Rathnam whom I had met at Zeus hospital, which was the biggest hospital in the whole of India was a very serious and determined professional who was completely focused on his work. He was a perfectionist who did not appreciate his colleagues and co-workers being sloppy. It was said that Rathnam would perform anywhere between ten to twelve heart surgeries in one day and still find time to go on hospital rounds to check on his patients as well as monitor the performance of the staff.

One day I saw him scream at a nurse who had not properly set the IV drip for a patient and the nurse literally burst into tears as Rathnam hurled abuses at her having been so careless. It appeared rather ironic to me that a man who gave so much importance to laughter at the beginning of his day could make a complete turnaround for the rest of the day by being grim and devoid of humour for the rest of the day. However such ironies are common in this world, for where else would you find people driving down in luxury vehicles and limousines to take a walk rather than walking down to take a walk.

Once again life moved on and I did not meet Rathnam after my friend was discharged from hospital. Modern day life is such that one is pre-occupied always with the self and the interests of the self that there is no time or room to think of others how so ever close they may have been to us at some point of time. Therefore, Santhanam and Rathnam were once again relegated to the archives of my memory for the next couple of years until one fine day I chanced to meet Santhanam at a school re-union.

Santhanam appeared to be his usual self which is loud, noisy, boisterous with full of sarcasm and mime. It was during this re-union that I managed to enquire with Santhanam about his brother Rathnam and inform him of how I happened to meet Rathnam in the first place. On hearing this Santhanam’s face flickered with emotions for a moment before dryly replying that Rathnam had passed away six months ago as the result of a massive cardiac arrest.

I was shocked to hear this, Rathnam who neither smoked nor drank and was so health conscious had passed away prior to Santhanam who smoked and drank heavily and laughed the whole day. One of the many ironies of life, isn’t it?   

While the purpose of this post was not to mock the existence of Laughter or Humour Clubs but just to point out that laughter and humor in our lives must be spontaneous and not limited to merely an hour’s artificial or forced laughter. While spontaneous laughter will definitely benefit the body artificial or forced laughter will serve no purpose...