Sometimes when you
are living all by yourself , you tend to make an active effort to ‘keep in
touch’ , be nice to the people around you . It doesn’t matter sometimes whether
they have common interests or not . Oh no , you just don’t want to be alone and
deal with conflicts on a daily basis. The few people whom you do like for
inexplicable reasons , you cannot spend time with them. We are so caught up in our busy schedules ,
that making time for one another becomes an effort , so for convenience sake
you are with the people you are surrounded by.
Now here’s the
catch 22 situation , you don’t adore the people around you , nor do you hate
them , you just want to live and let live. Over the course of time common
friends and common situations where you are in together become a common talking
point. They think they understand you , they really don’t . As much as you want
to kid yourself , they are not your definition of a ‘friend’ and sometimes to
break the ice or make things friendlier they take a dig at you. And it’s all
supposed to be taken in good humour and you are supposed to laugh along but hey
! you don’t find it funny. You heartily sometimes try to laugh it off, but a
deeper part of you doesn’t accept the joke and is offended. You reflect . Well
, I have a good sense of humour , heck
my mother and my best friend just strip me naked with their comments and I
guffaw along with them !! So why all the sensitivity now? Then that small part
of your brain answers which had taken offense , those are the people who REALLY
know you ! They have a right , an authority , which others have never been
given. That is why they are called ‘others’. Who are they to mock you? And not
even good dry sarcastic humour , straight on nasty jibes with the intention of
pricking you masked under the cover of a joke , a jest .
How easy it would be to cover everything under the name of
humour. Imagine the ISIS going and bombing places and when the Interpol rounds
them up for questioning they airily say “this was done to teach so and so
country a lesson , to prickle them.” Isn’t that some twisted sort of humour for
them ? They are masking an action of this much magnitude under the guise of trying
to ‘prickle’ a particular nation. Humour
is a gift which is given to such few people . The mighty Wodehouse , even the
quirky Agatha Christie , a gift she had I must say to incorporate humour in murder mysteries or
the lovable humour of Sophie Kinsella which I am a big fan of . Truth to be
told good humour is lost , you literally have to dig up places to read good
sattires . On the other hand mediocre humour is on it’s rise , the jokes are so
pallid , they make you want to cry. But you try smiling at a couple of them
lest your facial muscles become inactive with disuse . However those nasty
jibes , ladies and gentlemen , boys and girls , Please don’t take it !! You don’t
deserve it and even if you are unaffected by it , don’t let the person saying
it take the satisfaction that he or she for once said something funny/intelligent in their
lives. Let them not be under the impression that they are the life of a party
when they are barely being tolerated. It’s for their own good trust me. And next time you are cracking a joke , please see whether you really find it funny ,
and probably you may , for in some
twisted brains making jokes at others expenses is ok. But what if the tables are reversed and you
are made fun of , not the same joke but again a nasty jibe. How would it make
you feel? So kindly remember that humour is indeed a gift , use it rightly and
you’ll be given laurels and you will be the toast of every party , misuse it
and you will be called a prick or atlleast thought of as. This is coming from a
peron who lives by humour , believes that humour is the fuel to our lives and
is eternally in search of good humour from varied sources. Thank you !