Laughin' all the way

The most uncommon sense in the world, contrary to public opinion, is not common sense, but rather a sense of humor. Common sense is what is actually keeping a semblance of order in our world, but we would all be a lot happier, and a lot less peeved, were more people to have a simple sense of humor. I always prided myself on being able to see the lighter side of life, and though this does not necessarily mean I can crack a good joke, I know a rib-tickler when I see one. Being able to distinguish a good joke and then to laugh whole heartedly not only at jokes on others but also at oneself, constitutes what I consider to be a fully developed sense of humor.

Now some people might disagree with that opinion. I remember reading the following quote or a similar one at the bottom of a page in one of those diaries that has quotes at the bottom of every page (my favourite kind when I was a kid) : " A man who can laugh at himself is the best man in the room.". So throughout my life I always took jokes directed at me rather sportingly, and so made for a rather poor butt of jokes, since I would often join in in the laughter! Many people thought this to be a lack of self-esteem on my part, and that might have been true to a certain extent, but of all the delightful people I have met in my life, the ones who impressed me the most were those who could take a rib at themselves in the right spirit. Although I do think cracking jokes at one's own expense is a step too far and is better avoided.

How would the world be a happier place if people learnt to laugh more? Well, its an undisputed fact that misunderstandings cause such distress and break up so many relations that a pinch of humor always helps lighten the situation. People take themselves way too seriously, and the inability to see the lighter side of life and just take it easy ends up making us all frustrated and discontent. Also, the whole of business of jokes is made such that every joke is always at some stereotype or other. Americans are all fat and eat just burgers, Indians are all brainiacs stealing everyone else's jobs, Muslims in the middle east are all bomb strapped AK-47 wielding terrorists, Sardars, blondes etc are all really dumb, the list goes on ad nauseam. The minute one makes a joke, someone has taken offense and launched a tirade against the purported abusers who should all be hanged for their insulting comments. Take it easy mate!! Or as one would say in Indian lingo, Light le baap! Its true to a certain extent that such stereotypical humor encourages the wrong kind of ignorance and false rumor about people, but since when has man ever failed to take note of one person's behaviour and stick it to all his so called neighbours? The point is to take such humor lightly and disregard it, or if possible pay back in kind! But taking offense at it seems a tad out of line, and the root cause of unnecessary tensions.

To put a point to it, life is too short to spend it hating or insulting anyone. There are always going to be a few weird people in the world, and there are going to be even more who make it a point to make fun of these so called weirdos. But were one to take this ribbing for what it is, just man trying to amuse himself, we would have a lot less frowns in our ever-suffering world. Spread love and laughter, and Utopia though it may not be, there would at the least be a lot more smiles in the world than there are currently.