Humour has become a cheap medicine

Raju Korti
It is both amusing and disconcerting to see how a 'joke' quickly degenerates into a matter of national debate. If you are wondering why I have put this contentious word in a single quote, it is because jokes mean different things to different people in different situations. Maybe it is time to redefine, or better still, put a finger on the word.

Notably, in the last decade, joke, humour, comedy or by any other name you call it, has meandered through cultural ferment. We have a new breed called stand-up comedians, whatever that means, who believe they have packaged and merchandised a new genre of humour. It has tickled few and offended many. Amusement and laughter now come with an outrage and disgust. In simple words, humour is no laughing matter when it loses its funny bone.

Do we have a sense of humour at all? Maybe we have, maybe we don't. The boundaries of humour are defined by the people who look at it from their personal prism and school of thought. Humour doesn't have a nationality, only feelings. Why blame Indians when people elsewhere have a similarly tangled relationship with humour and comedy?

From gaffes, gags and mimicry and community targeting in Bollywood stereotypes, jokes have climbed on to body-shaming, religious, casteist, slapstick, sexist and gross. People cackle or howl at them from their vantage points. The media in its various avtars leads the show awash with profanities and with one eye askance on TRPs. The fire is fueled by individuals who grab eyeballs and attention to make a living. My grouse is not about the humour per se but about the quality of humour itself.

I personally believe that humour should be harmless. It should bring a smile to even those on whom the joke is intended. "Jokes" coming from the bilious create more affront than humour. It would be unreasonable to expect people to take them in stride. Majority people in my experience who were chivalrous when poking fun at others were not so charitably disposed when treated in the same vein. Humour and people have double standards. I am no exception.

Religion, caste, gender and social standing are the new barometers of joke in a country where people are jealously touchy about them. The very thought of building humour around them and expecting them to be applauded is stupid, if not intolerant. It is not a battle between the intolerant and liberal. To all those who make intelligence about "Indian humour", there is nothing national or international about it. Humour is humour wherever. Similarly, it has no Left or Right wing. For the record I have neither appreciated not revolted of any joke. It is little skin off my nose. My reaction is a few seconds of pity and move on.  

Either you understand and appreciate a joke or you don't. There are no middle paths. And that's what I exactly mean when I say that comedy and offence complement each other and how!