Every year on the first Sunday of May, World Laughter Day is observed to promote awareness of laughter and celebrate the positive impact that deep laughter can have on all of us.
The inaugural World Laughter Day was held in a park in the city of Mumbai, India, on May 10, 1998. It was organised by Dr. Madan Kataria, the creator of the international Laughter Yoga movement.
Dr. Kataria is an Indian family physician who was motivated to establish the Laughter Yoga movement by the facial feedback theory, which claims that a person's face expressions may influence their thought.
On this occasion, let me share a real life story.
During my intermediate classes, we from the biology stream, used to dissect frogs as a part of our practicals. It's a different matter how we justify killing someone allegedly for the benefit of others. But this is a different issue that we can discuss separately.
It was a rainy day and we were out of classes for recess when we saw some green frogs jumping in the water. We were infatuated with frogs, so some of us ran after them. One picked up a stone to kill him.
I had a close friend Uttam, who was a student of Maths stream. He shouted, 'Are you mad? Don't you know that if you throw stones or harm these frogs, you will get dumb wives.'
Everyone retraced their steps. The one who picked up the stone dropped it. The biology students thought that Uttam was warning about those special green frogs. So everyone came to their senses.
We were all in our late teens then. Everyone was dreaming of getting the most beautiful bride on earth. And dumb? No way, not all. So no compromise, no misstep. All accepted with no question asked.
The other day, in a zoom meeting of our old college friends that we started during the Covid pandemic, this issue came up for chit-chat. Everyone was laughing, but Uttam, who had then shared his pearls of wisdom, was Serious.
When asked, he innocently said, 'Now I think, I should have also thrown stones at those frogs.' Nobody could control the laughter.
It reminds me of the story of an old man who was fond of fishing. One day while fishing he heard a voice, 'Pick me up.'
He looked here and there, but did not see anyone. He heard the voice again, 'Pick me up.'
He looked into the water and saw a frog swimming with its head raised. The man said, 'Are you talking to me?'
The frog said, 'Yes, yes, I am talking to you. Pick me up, then kiss me; and I'll be the most beautiful woman ever. All your friends will be jealous, because I will be your bride!'
The man looked at the frog for a while, reached up to it, picked it up and put it in his pocket. The frog said, 'What are you doing, man? Are you nuts? Didn't you hear what I said?'
He took out the frog, looked at the frog and said, 'Nah… I'd rather have a talking frog than a nagging wife…
Today is Laughter Day, so just laugh, don't discuss any moral or gender issues, please 
--Kaushal Kishore
images: pinterest
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