A smile a day keeps negativity at bay

I am a medical doctor by profession and used to edit a health magazine as well. Everyone has known for centuries that laughter is the best medicine but people don’t know how to laugh or who should make them laugh. So I began researching on an article to prove that laughter is the best medicine. The information I came across baffled me — the body doesn’t differentiate between real and fake laughter — endorphins are released anyway. So I combined some breathing exercises with laughter and thus formed laughter yoga. The movement started off in Mumbai but now, laughter clubs are prevalent in 106 countries. Laughter made me a better person; it relieved me of stress and I became more positive — so can you!

Kamal Haasan once told me that it’s tougher to be a comedian than a serious actor; while the latter can use glycerine, pathos background scores and dim lighting to create a sombre situation, a comedian only has him/herself. I realised how important my job as a comedian is only when a man once walked up to me in a mall and said he was having the worst day ever but my jokes (that he saw on TV) instantaneously lightened his mood, making him laugh. This makes me think I’m a doctor too — I heal people’s hearts with laughter! I have dull days too, where I can barely function but watching few comedy clips of Nagesh sir, Jim Carrey or my favourite sitcoms can make me giggle; this makes me feel better and I forget my problems.

My big joint family and one of the most important women in my life, Avvai Shanmugi, are my sources of inspiration and laughter. Like Sujatha (author and poet) used to say, every incident has humour in it. I’d once taken my wife to the bank; soon after she went inside, I bumped into a childhood friend of mine from the ‘60s walking into the bank. We got chatting and by the time we recollected memories of the ‘70s, an hour had passed by. To avoid me eating his brains about the ‘80s, ‘90s and 2000s, he ran inside the bank. When my wife came out, I asked her why it took so long — “Some kenai paiyan held up the cashier outside the bank and was talking to him for an hour!” she said. So create humour and laughter in whatever you see. Take it easy, life is crazy!

Comedy is like a therapy — it heals a lot of people including me. Considering the amount of stress that we have today, I think laughter is the best stress-buster. It is equivalent to visiting a spa or sauna but I think even better! Being a stand-up comedian, I am always looking for an excuse to laugh. There are a lot of benefits of laughter and I can often feel it on me. That positive energy is what I translate into the shows I do. Laughter makes me feel much lighter. It is the same feeling I have when I see a bunch of puppies running towards me. Who on earth wouldn’t want to enjoy that moment?