The world is anxious. We are all going through more or less the same thing and we are in a way united at present. There are calls for solidarity, people have created support groups online on coping methods while in quarantine, volunteers are being brave to either be vaccinated with the virus to find a cure, or they’re out and about looking out for the homeless, the elderly, the abandoned. Everyone seems to be doing something or the other to cope with this pandemic of coronavirus that has hit us hard. 

I had started writing this at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. Hindsight also has twenty-twenty vision, and I was going through my folder of unfinished, unwritten musings, I came across this and thought I’d finish it. 

Two years have whizzed by. Cliched as it sounds, time has flown. One minute we were anxious about finding a cure, the next we are talking about treating the virus like an ordinary flu. We are exhausted, overwhelmed, on wits end, financially drained, and so much more, but what is it that keeps us going? 

For me, it’s definitely humour that allows me to find a coping mechanism. 

I rediscovered my love for stand-up comedy in this time and I started watching short clips of comedy sets. Laughter really is the best medicine, and Farah Khan (the great Indian film industry choreographer) rightfully called Kapil Sharma a ‘frontline worker’ because of his dose of laughter on the screens every weekend. I watch that show religiously. I’ve been a fan of Kapil’s from the days he was on laughter challenge shows that had Archana Puran Singh judging the skits. He has definitely honed his craft, and now has a team of amazing writers who seem to have curbed his sexist, and sometimes politically incorrect, utterances. I do enjoy his interviews with the celebrities. They’re fun, and sometimes informative. 

I tend to enjoy watching Indian stand-up comedians. Their references are hilarious at times, and that’s just the thing with stand-up comedy – it makes you laugh while addressing many issues that we face and go through. In some countries, comedians are banned or jailed, or held in contempt for some silly charges. The thing is, they have stepped on raw nerves and people get flustered enough to want to punish them. That’s when you know your humour is hitting home. 

Keep laughing and make others laugh. I don’t know why we get worked up about so much when someone is trying to make us laugh and shed light on things that need to be dealt with. Comedians are a treasure. Not everyone can make you laugh and let you know at the same time what’s going wrong. 

Pay attention. They’re saying things we wish we could, and then they make us laugh in the process.