Laughter Is Golden

There was time when politics was serious stuff. People who liked to be identified as well-educated bought the news papers and read it end to end - page 1 to last page and vice versa just in case they had missed anything of importance which could be used in discussions to impress their peers. My parents, sister as well as elderly (I considered them to be elderly when I was all of 15. 30 was part of that age group!!!) friends tried to cajole and coerce me by turns into reading newspapers. My general knowledge was and 'tsk'ed at in an effort to embarrass me enough to read them. We were even forced to take a general knowledge exam in school and I got a glorious 32% or thereabouts. No, I did not pass. I don't remember if I tore up the certificate in mortification or whether it still exists in the pile. But no, it did not motivate me to read any more. This moti just weighted and waited.

The decades flew by. The kind of journalism underwent a radical change. Crime was highlighted on page 1. As a young fan of Enid Blyton mystery books and whodunits, I started reading newspapers. I also loved reading Phantom and Mandrake the Magician on the last page. Makes me wonder why newspapers don't carry the daily cartoon strips anymore. So it was that I bumbled into a journalism course entrance exam and was asked what I read in the papers, to which I honestly replied that I read who died, who was killed, what accidents had happened and I read the comic strips. They asked how many columns there were in a news paper, I told them I read the news and did not count the columns. They were delighted to have a candidate who would bring them juicy bits of news and gave admitted me to the course.

A few more decades went by. I shall not say how many. Shall leave you to calculate how many centuries old I am. BTW, Steven Spielberg is making a sequel of Jurassic Park and I heard I am considered to act in that sequel. The ghastliness of all the crime started getting to me. (It happens with age, I am told!) I could not make up my mind about what was worse, the crimes or the politics. I stopped reading news papers ..... until November 8th. After that I keep checking the papers for any new cud to chew on regarding demonetization.

I find the papers have changed to something to have a hearty chuckle over. The political parties are now giving us good entertainment value for the taxes we pay them. So who are we to complain? We have RaGa who with his baby face and infant's mind comes up with things which make one smile and shake one's head indulgently. I hear that he is in the process of roping in another 'young' man who will continue to make us laugh. And even if he doesn't, he will laugh loudly even before a joke is cracked. What's more, this man believes that since he laughs so loudly, he is well qualified to be at the head of the ruling party in Punjab (provided of course the party wins the elections) and wants to be their leader viz. the CM (comedy master). Can you imagine the scene in the legislative assembly? The new light of the party (Navjot) Sidhu will start laughing. The party members will thump the desks loudly in merriment, the speaker will do the same with the hammer and it will be fun times. After all such joyful mirth is very befitting to a state which is made of large hearted, jolly people! Wonder what kind of motions will be passed!

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Talking of passing motions, what happens if BJP wins? It will be a endorsement of their demonetization as well as the Swacch Bharat Abhiyan. The SBA has been lacking adequate attention since Nov 8. Not that people were not implementing it actively. Proof of that comes in the fact that airlines have been trying very hard to keep their toilets clean and dropping poop before the plane lands. They firmly believe that a light tummy makes for a spring in the foot and a light landing. Now the Government seems to be very unhappy with it. Apparently some citizen complained that too much gold was dropping on his house and he was worried Modi and the FM would start questioning him about it. I believe they said "S***, why is the loo empty? Where did they hide the gold?" So every time a flight lands now, checks will be made to ensure that there is enough of the golden stuff in the tanks when the flight lands ..... and flights failing to provide the ground staff of the opportunity of doing their holy duty of emptying tanks will be charged Rs. 50,000/-

Now I know why this moti is weighting so much! After all, laughter, it is said makes a person fat (A Maharashtrian belief).

 

Now that is an original point Balajee! Interesting. Had never thought of that before. Must sit and work that one out. :-D Talk of changes, the 5000 Rs deposit rule which is barely 24 hours old has again been changed!

 

Hi Manju! Isn't it a great feeling to be able to put your feet up and relax with a newspaper in one hand and a cuppa in the other? Always good to get some well-deserved rest. :-D

 

Kamalji, my mind always keeps wandering. So it is not very difficult to jump from one topic to another!!! :-D

 

Dear Mami, so good to see you here. Am glad you had a good laugh. We have stopped buying the newspaper. The agent insists that we pay in advance for 6 months. As I had once mentioned, the value of that paper for me is to line my shelves, to sieve my compost on etc. So this time round (since painting of the house is in progress) I ran out of newpaper to line my shelves and I bought 2 kgs of newspaper from the raddiwallah! As for news, it is always available on the net with constant notifications and updates. So one can even select what to read and what not to!