Sense of humour in India

Hi Bhavna,

India is an amazing place. One does not have to think at all before coming to india. India is very receptive society.

"Guest is GOD" what India society still believes.

yes they do have certain reservations but look ,,,,we all know that is there in every soceity.

One thing one should know ABSOLUTELY while talking of culture in Haryana & Punjab states in north India- The sense of humour of these states if Haryana & Punjab is the ultimate on the planet !!! Yes ! Sarcasm & leg pulling and jokes on own self is just part of the language and day today dealings with each other... its too much ingrained in our culture.

Sarcasm- not just subtle, even extreme, and leg pulling and jokes on self are a way of life here. My compatriots from other parts of the country, especially from south India (when new to our culture) can't take it most of the times and end up feeling offended !!! They do not understand that its just playing and it is ACTUALLY WARMTH that is expressed through that sense of humour !

You can say ine is invited to join tbe group/place when sarcasm abd leg pulling is extended to a new person. If the person is not welcome, then ut would be a curt one word answer/replies in conversations...

It is so very common for Jaats (or Jats in Punjab) or other people in these 2 states to continuously crack jokes on each other with sarcasm and leg pulling  for up to 4 hours doung absolutely nothing else sitting in a group.... ! )) one person taking on from where the last one said something.. one ends up having facial muscles in pain after so much laughing  )) Everybody's life is laid threadbare in those sittings, nothing remains hidden... everyone is exposed open in those sittings with humour as the exposing force... thats the reason people from here are considered open and honest (because simply these laugh marathons will end up exposing ANYONE who is trying to do an acf/put up a mask) Its like therapy and training ground for the kids/future generations...

Nobody us spared in our humour- be ut an elder or be ut a kid.. all are equal when it comes to sarcasm and keg pulling  )

If you go back into the history of the culture, it was always centred around farming.. around crops.. so whenever there was time between crops, the free time available between the hard working days of the year, people passed there time like this.

Our sense of humou also has had another role to cleanse up the society and that is- it trained people not to have false pride by default. It trained people not to have pretences (as the pretence would be exposed thread bare in marathon laughing sessions) No one is excused, NO ONE IS SPARED ;())

A double standardsperson is simply exposed and mocked, so people who are full of pretence (who are full of double standards) become a misfit in the society.. they find themselves exposed and laughed at.. and such people (from outside our states who are bewildered at being shorn of their make believe pretences)- and as a result not being taken seriously by ANYONE , be it adults or kids)  can be seen criticising/demonizing the Haryaanwi/Jaat culture ir/and Punjabi culture.

This therapy is a wonderful guide there to be honest and upfront with one's intentions instead of brow beating about the bush... of trying to be over smart /smart-ass... and leaves the youngsters to pursue hard work related pursuits. This sense of humour always respects hard work, serving ithers/serving nation and Honesty.. these are always respected in our sense of humour.  As an example- it is an established fact that 50% of India's Gold medals in individual events in Olympics are won by Jaat/Jat kids and 50 percent are won by rest of India ! Yes 50 %  !!! Despite being just 1.8% if population of India !

Although a nationalist thought but when it comes to the martyrs in armed forces defending this free democracy of India, the share if our Martyrs from this area goes up further as a share in all India statistics- our share of ultimate sacrifice for the country is 65% .

These all feats are a result of primarily the society cleansing sense of humour that is a way of life here.

Have a nice day all !

Cheers !

This is a really interesting post. Made my day. Thank you