People go on living lives adhering to reason, to purpose, to find and define themselves and a lot more of such serious shit. In doing this, I find our sense of humor to be a very essential element in how the world around comes to us and how in turn we respond to it. Having been around for a good thirty years now, and blessedly being in the company of good Samaritans of this art, I try my level best to not miss on this element of life.
In an average day of some 16 waking hours ( could be lesser for some ) I have found that I only need to look around and listen and watch closely, and that was enough to bring a laughter or a happy thought in my head. There have been many such instances, some deliberate some accidental, which I shall try to put before you.
Generally when I walk on road I find it difficult to exchange pleasantries when people cross by because I am never sure as to when I should start to stretch my lips into a fake smile and a meek utterance of " hello ... " followed by a hand wave. On good days, it comes naturally and I can report an average optimal distance of 5 -7steps and a fake smile interval of 6 seconds, until the cross-over happens. But on a bad day, it ends up with a really weird prolonged smile and it becomes weirder if the other person is a lady. So I generally choose to stare on the road, head down, memorising some urdu couplet looking like a perpetual wool gatherer. But then there are days of fun, for there are good faces and nice people(if you know what I mean). This is what I do then. We both start at 20 paces away, and I start to look. And by looking I mean a fixed gaze, not budging, to the point the person finds it weird enough to break the ice with a courtesy filled acknowledgement and I think " Dwivedi 1... ladki 0".
There is humor in conversation also. But then one has to be very careful not to hurt anybody's feelings, at which I fail most of the times. So I have started to imbibe silence whenever I want desperately to say something about something. Instead I come back, light a cigeratte, look out the window and laugh like a mad guy on dope.
Recently there was something called a Vigilence Week celebrated in some governement establishments. I happen to be studying in one of these . So I came across few gentlemen sipping tea and couldn't stop myself from asking, " ye Vigilence wali chai hai .. ? " to which in an instant reply was(and in a UP accent), " nahi National Unity day ki hai.. ".
I need not say more.
In another such conversation, my incompetence in sensitizing myself to national concerns enraged a dear friend. I had heard of some cultural fundamentalists creating problems for some harmless people expressing their love somewhere against which a pan India uproar culminated into a kissing revolution. I in sheer ignorance had the audacity to comment over a picture that was circulated in cyberspace, of a couple tonguing each other and a sad looking sixty something man next to them, staring in deep space, without reason, without hope. That made me deeply sad, for I too have a heart.
Then I said something which I cannot say here, to which my dear friend blasted at me - " So you think all those people were out there just for a frenzy of kissing spree. Is this how you look at it ?".
Being shameless, I still kept a point of view that it would have been nicer if everyone returned happier. Well, to say the least we decided not to discuss this issue any further. But it still haunts me to think of that old guy's face and the sadness it carried.
Well, I don't deny I have serious problems with my head. But if it makes me laugh and hurts nobody then I guess all is well.
Right ?
