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Thursday 20 February 2014

WHY SO...SERIOUS?

We pop pills to treat different diseases but when "Laughter is the best medicine",freely available to all...then what's the problem?

Do we need a stimulant to boost laughter? Could chocolates do the trick?Seems a yummy idea indeed!The very thought of chocolates shakes off the yoke of seriousness and fills me with smiles...that's the magic it has on me! After all, you don't get a strip of tablets for five bucks but you get a bar of chocolate for sure! 

And according to my theory (I've coined one for a change) - "Chocolates activate the sleeper cells of your system by heightening the positive emotions and spreading sweetness from the electrical signals interpreted by the brain!"  
How's that for a more scientific explanation?! 

On the celluloid,where on one hand we've witnessed Munnabhai giving away jadoo ki jhappis and spreading infectious smiles that finally even catches up with Dr. Asthana then even the sullen face,Viru Sahasrabuddhe cannot escape the 'virus' of Rancho's common sense and logic which are both amusing and hilarious! 

And real life is not a shade different from reel when it comes to describing the degree of seriousness people suffer from! 

True to that,I've been a witness to several situations in my life when laughter is clearly not second nature to many! When seriousness rents the air you breathe then what do you say of people suffering from such a condition? Does it infect others around? The answer is a big Yes! You bet, it does and here's how...


Take One-I remember this incident happened some years back when our girly gang had gone to the local multiplex to catch up on Jim Carrey's latest flick.Of course the film was funny from the word go but amidst the sounds of giggles from my friends who were seated to my left there was however a stoic silence on my right.As I looked from the corners of my eyes,I saw the lady seated next to me was glumly staring at the screen.Now the guy who was sitting besides her presumably her husband or boy-friend casually asked her during the interval on whether she was enjoying the film and little would he have expected that a simple courtesy he extended would change his countenance for the rest of the film! And guess what,I happened to overhear their conversation when she plainly told him,"Do you call this funny? Am I suppose to be laughing at all those silly expressions?" And with a finality she zapped at him saying,"Next time,I'm gonna decide on the film.I can't entrust even one task safely to you!" Poor guy...he was petrified! For the next half of the film he joined his missus/girl-friend in all seriousness as the audiences roared in laughter!So,this was my first brush with the contagion of seriousness... thank goodness,it didn't pass on to me though she was seated right besides me!

Take Two-The next incident happened when I had gone shopping for some street fashion to the local market.Now,there was this particular stall where I saw a lovely flowing turquoise colored skirt which I wanted to buy the moment I set my eyes on it. But the hitch was that it was priced high at Rs. 500!

Now,there was this beautiful bespectacled girl in the stall who was already there before me buying a similar patterned skirt in tangerine. So I stood there admiring some of the clothes displayed on the hanger waiting for my turn as I heard her bargaining hard with the shop-keeper while her boy-friend stood out fidgeting with his i-pad.The price of the skirt which started at 500 bucks,then 450 and some moments later halted at 400 when the shop keeper could not go beyond his profit margins. I don't know how she did it but at the end of it she managed to bring it down to 300 bucks. Imagine...she did it! Naturally, if I were in her place my first expression would have been Wowww! and followed it up with a smile as I'd beam with joy on this excellent bargain...but not for her! While the shop-keeper smiled at her in anticipation of a smile to see that his customer was happy and content at the purchase but the poor chap was sure to remember the dead pan expression he saw on her face all his life! At the end of it the lady just grinned back,plainly thanked him (sans any emotions!) gave him the money,took the bag and walked away.The shop-keeper mumbled (I guess,he was recovering from the bland 'thank you' he received or perhaps somewhere debating at the back of his mind on whether she would have at least smiled if he'd have given it for free!). And sure enough when my turn came,he didn't budge an inch as he coldly told me to take the skirt at the full price or leave it.Eventually,I didn't buy it but I remember how a cheerful and leisure activity as shopping had made me grumpy for the rest of the day!That day, I came to a serious conclusion that seriousness was seriously a serious disease because it almost caught up with me! 

Take Three-This one hit the nail on the head when it came to seriousness. I was at a party accompanied by friends with some delegates who had come from abroad.So as we got chit-chatting our guest of honor cracked a joke and all of us laughed our hearts out but one! And the guest wittily remarked,"This joke largely tested positive...but it didn't create ripples as I had hoped to see!" Though he expected a slight smile from that serious face but it was futile! Perhaps,by hind-sight I believe that she did enjoy the joke but laughter was probably not her form of expression! It happens...you meet all types of people and you come to accept them just as they are though you would be happy to see that curve on their face turning crescent at least sometimes!

Now, after narrating all these instances that I just shared above if we still can't learn to laugh naturally at the trivialities,silliness or at the simple joys life has to offer...then you still have a few quick-fixes to this condition...they are -

a) You stack chocolates and tuck in bar(s) depending on the dosage required to alleviate your emotions.Well,that's the cheapest option if you take my word for it. 

b) Next one is you pop pills and later deal with the grappling long-term side-effects.

c) You want a more expensive option?Then enroll into a laughter club and let someone enforce on you the discipline of laughing day-in and day-out while rigorously attempting to expunge seriousness out of your system! No guarantee there...you might end up hiccup-ping like a donkey or a shade worse!

d) Now after all this,if you still can't shun your seriousness away and feel burdened like Batman with all the responsibilities of Gotham city...I mean of the world on your delicate shoulders then perhaps you can learn a thing or two from his antagonist,the Joker in the film,The Dark Knight. The best part about him is that he can teach you one thing - which is to smile as he mocks at you saying,"Why so serious? Let's put a smile on that face of yours!" Haa-Haa- Haa! You could save the scene on your computer,laptop,phone or wherever so that you watch it over and over again till you have ingested his psychotic laughter into your system! Side-effects: None really...except that don't blame me later if friends keep at bay the next time you laugh!  :)

Which one is your condition from the one's stated above? You decide! I've just given you the prescriptions depending on the descriptions of your seriousness!

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I bet you smiled at least once while reading this article! From where I started out writing this article in all seriousness,I couldn't help laughing by the end of it as I recounted the melt-downs of seriousness!

Did you like reading this post? Do write in! :)
Regards,
Sonaal
This post was written for the 'CONDITION SERIOUS HAI' contest at Indiblogger in association with Cadbury 5 Star -  https://www.facebook.com/cadbury5star

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