It is true that laughter is the best medicine but you must have a reason to laugh. You can either laugh at others or your own self. I assure you that laughing at yourself is much safer than laughing at another. That way you neither hurt the other’s feelings nor run the risk of getting hurt yourself if the object of your laughter is in no mood to humour you and is stronger than you. The only risk in laughing at yourself is that an observer may thinks that you are either in love or mentally imbalanced.
Each one of us would have at one time or the other experienced some humorous moments in life whose memory evokes a smile on our face. I have experienced many such incidents two of which I narrate now.
A couple of years back in winters many a times I used to travel to office by local train to avoid the traffic on the road and pollution. I covered the distance from my resident to the railway station by my two-wheeler. On one such foggy morning I got late. As I parked my two-wheeler at the stand I saw my train entering the station. I rushed to the platform after crossing the over-bridge and was just in time to board the train. I was fortunate to get a seat. After a few moments of attaining normalcy from my breathless condition I found that number of eyes were staring at me. Impulsively I looked at my clothes. I found everything in order. I concluded that as I was an occasional traveler I was an object of curiosity for them. Station after station passed by. At one of the stations, may be it was Nizamuddin, I recall now that a small boy about five years of age was pointing a finger at me and laughing. I was too engrossed in planning the day’s routine to pay any attention. On reaching Tilak Bridge I readied myself for disembark at the next station. As I put my hand to my head to take off my woolen cap, to my horror I found that all along I had my helmet on the head which I had forgotten to take off before boarding the train. Even today recalling the incidence makes me wonder at my absentmindness.
The next incidence I narrate after obtaining due permission of my better half. Once we were invited to the house of a Bengali family in the vicinity in connection with finding a suitable match for my unmarried cousin. Before entering the sitting room we took off our shoes, as is customary. After exchanging pleasantries and consuming the refreshments offered it was now time for us to depart. On coming out, while putting on my black shoes my eyes fell on a lone brown shoe that looked familiar. Suddenly it struck me that the shoe was mine. But what was a single shoe of mine doing in the house of a stranger when I had never visited that house before? To my shock I found that my wife who had adorned a beautiful silk sari, perfect makeup had made one mistake in her attire. In hurry she had put on one of her shoe and one of mine. It was a Herculean task to control our laughter lest our host may take it otherwise. Nowadays whenever we go out she is extra cautious to ensure that she has put on the correct pair of shoes and also asks me to confirm this.
Try laughing at yourself. It is more enjoyable than laughing at others.
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