The Great Indian Sense Of Humour!

In India, the elder or the more powerful you are, the funnier are your jokes. "Haven't seen you around for quite a while, buddy?" one asks and gets a "hehehehe... you're the one not providing a single glimpse to us mere mortals, sir... hehehe". There is a certain cockiness in the Indian modesty. It is, I dare say, not modesty at all. When complimented on how well we are doing, it seems that we can't take it. The immense pressure to smile in gratitude and thank The Almighty and simultaneously agree with the compliment, all we can let out is a simper and a grin. The cliched words that are said in the reply do not even make any sense- "It's all your mercy, sir.", "God is great, sir" or a simple "Hehehehe ... bas... saab hai.. (It is what it is).

It's so hard to decipher the sense of humour of an individual while it's mighty easy to make a crowd laugh. You sit with someone new, you say something funny and if it doesn't strike a cord, all you'll get is a blank stare. Not even a "confused" or "repulsed" look, just a cold blank stare and you dare not repeat the joke, because anyone has the right to disrespect anyone in this democratic country. While when in a group of 3 or 4, just make a funny face while saying the most mundane things and they'll laugh. All they need is one smile and it multiplies until no one knows why are smiling! The wise ones always find and keep a "smiler" with them when they begin a group conversation. This is mostly the person who is the most needy, sometimes it's just the dumb one.

We Indians, say the most rude things while laughing and strangely no one takes offense. In a nation of mc-bc, we are brought up to be rude to strangers. Well behaved people who respect the queue discipline stay in the queue while the "Hatt bhencho!" ones reach the top of the ladder as the crowd cheers them. We easily imagine that the father is stronger, wiser and more able than the son in every regard and when a son is trying to do something which breaches the norm that we have laid down for him, we ask him- "Tere baap ne kiya hai kabhi?/ yeh toh tera baap bhi nahi kar sakta!/ Iss kaam mein tera baap hoon main!" etc etc. (Has your father ever done this?)! So, when we refer to someone's father, we actually mean someone better. We don't mean to offend, yaar!And it's funny to be rude!

Also, you're not supposed to take offense when someone comments on the way you look. See, we are a country of  a gazillion people so, it helps to classify and categorize people. All the north-eastern states, Chinese, Japanese, Nepalese, Thais, basically all the folks with slant eyes are chinki chowmeens! All the south- Indians are Madrasis. All the spectacled nerdy ones are "chashmuddin- bajaye been"s. All the dark ones are kallus, all the fat ones are motus.... and so on! It's funny to us.


Here's a list of a few things that are funny to us-
1. Two people fighting on the street. (Don't you dare separate them! Bring the popcorns!!)

2. Farts! (C'mon! Farts are funny!)

3. Loafers teasing a girl! (I mean those guys are hilarious!)

4. Some dumbass shouting obscene remarks about the actor and the actress in a movie hall! (Who cares for class?)

5. Peeing in public! (I'm sorry, just kidding. Peeing in public is not funny! It's our birthright!)

6. Someone peeing under the signboard "Dekho kutta moot raha hai" (Look! The dog is peeing) (Funny 'cause the person who put up the signboard thought that it'd affect our peeing-ability!)

There are more but I think I should stop! I need to go pee on a wall!