Comedy – Are We Losing Our Sense of Humour?
The ripples of jokes about India being a rape country end up disrupting the hard work of millions to bring our country back to its glory.
NewsBharati 06-Dec-2021
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Liberals would have us believe that we ‘Hindoos’ have no sense of humour left. Fact is, Indians have had a healthy sense of humour and respect for sarcasm since they inhabited earth. None in Bharat was persecuted or killed for cutting a joke or questioning someone’s belief or outdated customs. If we go even a few centuries back, at the height of Islamic invasions and persecution; we had Kabir questioning both Hindus and Muslims, questioning their traditions and faith with light humour or sarcasm. He said:
Ta upar Mulla baang de, Kya bahara hua Khudaay.
Or
Dhai aakhar prem ka, padhe so pandit hoy.
He was revered as a Sant. Guru Nanak Dev too criticised and ridiculed superstition and rituals that had taken the Hindu society away from its pristine Vedic knowledge. He was revered as a great Guru. In Hindu weddings, there are special sessions of folk songs from both the sides that are raunchy, insulting and humorous; ridiculing otherwise respected relatives. We see the same during Holi too. But delicate line is not crossed, these are occasion specific. Once that occasion is over, the normal family and community norms fall into place. Such abuse or ridicule has no place in the society. They don’t become a norm.
When and how did our sense of humour get stuck in abuse, expletives, gaalis and sex? Is it because it is easiest way to create embarrassment and generate nervous laughter? What makes audience titter at insulting references to their revered Gods and religion? I do not know about the current young generation’s reading habits. But, it seems the reading habits have been destroyed by the education system that give 100% in language question papers and has reduced literature to objective – “choose one of the four” or respond with “yes or no.” Language has been reduced to SMS ‘lingo’. Our education system has not created a secular generation, but an irreligious, amoral generation. We have forgotten that religion and spirituality is the bedrock of our civilisation, as Swami Vivekananda pointed out. Our society is based on dharma, not blind faith.
Today’s comedians can’t even match a Mehmood or Johny Lever or a Kapil Sharma, forget these greats. Recall Shekhar Suman who brought stand-up comedy in Hindi to TV. He was never vulgar or abusive but got huge TRP. For quality, one has to think hard, study harder. Showmen like Kapil hire good team of writers. A comedian has to genuinely love their people, their society and understand the ethos of the society. This effort, alas, is missing.
I recall a TV debate during the hey days of AIB (the very name – All India Backchod - is repulsive but considered cool by the promoters). Many will remember the infamous show where Karan Johar was instigated to replicate a sexual act on stage where his mother was probably part of the audience. Response to the uproar was ‘freedom of speech.’ On that debate, I asked the partner of the show, Tanmay Bhat, “Would he carry out his love act in the open in drawing room in front of his parents, though it is a common knowledge how babies of produced? Would he expect his parents to ‘do it’ openly? It may be defended as Freedom of Expression by him, but our society at large doesn’t agree. Because, families and societies are bound together by restraint, by drawing a line between private and public behaviour and by mutual respect. If you do not wish families to survive and hence want society to collapse you are free to do what you are doing.” He had no answer. What is vulgar or indecent? Simple definition can be - what I can’t watch with my kids and brothers/sisters is vulgar or indecent. Some people blame the audience. I think, this is escaping the responsibility. Audience wishes to have a good laugh and ends up in a comedy show and has to listen to whatever is being served. He/she tries to titter if no laugh at inane jokes and insults because he/she has paid for the show. It is a;sp possible that because of the kind of education that some in the audience have been given in schools, they have lost any moral or religious compass and find it cool to laugh at any vicious jibe since they are unaware about the deep philosophy of their respective religions.
In our family, uninterrupted chanting of Ram Charit Manas, popularly called Akhand Ramayan Paath is very frequent, say once in 2-3 years. It generates a wonderful vibrations in the home that last for days. But, as we brothers and sisters have grown older, we end up discussing Sant Tulsidas’s bias or some incidents in Ram Charit Manas. This debate comes from understanding and reverence. It doesn’t come from shallow reading. This is the difference between a Kabir and a Munawwar. I won’t even get into a Munawwar not ridiculing the Prophet or not describing his married life, because I understand he could end up with ‘sar tan se juda’. I won’t harp on his abject apology to Christians for daring to criticise Jesus or their religion. My concern is lack of respect for people’s faith, readiness to abuse or ridicule a revered God with shallow or no understanding. This attitude can create disquiet and hate between communities. We don’t want this for sake of a few uninformed giggles.
People talk of Vir Das. I pity Vir Das. For sake of a few pieces of silver he read out repulsive statements prepared by someone who hates India and Indian people to the audience in USA. Why does he do it in USA? Because there are enough buyers of India hate and Hindu hate there. The west doesn’t want to see developing countries become a threat to their hegemony. So, anything that puts down such civilisations, that creates dissonance is welcome. They ridiculed India’s scientific achievements till it was impossible to ignore them. They ridiculed India’s fight against Covid, till world could see that India stood by the humanity, that Indian people rose as one to support each other. People like Virdas end up as their frontmen, probably, without realising this game.
The ripples of jokes about India being a rape country end up disrupting the hard work of millions to bring our country back to its glory. People are not informed enough to know that India has one of the lowest per million rape rate compared to USA that is in the top league in these matters. How many people appreciate the fact that despite India being the least policed country with low per million police personnel and police station, has lowest per million crime record? It happens because by our culture and tradition we are a dharmic society who follow basic rules of good conduct, ethics and morality. And this wisdom comes from our scriptures, spread through popular folklore. The same wisdom that is debased by repulsive comedians.
We are better off without such below-the-neck and naval humour appealing to the lowest common denominator. Human beings have intellect. Our comedians need to use their brains, employ better writers and understand our society better by getting off the club podiums for some time, do some reading of great humourists and come back. Till then, they can withdraw for sake of their mental health and ours. We have our sense of humour intact; they need to find theirs.
PS: A panelist harangued me on a TV debate for using the word ‘sh*t’ which I had withdrawn while describing horrible level of comedy; but he was defending Munawwar for using ‘fu*k’ while ridiculing Bhagwan Ram!