Humour in dire moments

And more random thoughts by Punya

A couple of years ago, when there would have still been the chance to revert my atrial fibrillation into sinus mode, into a regular beat, I was driven by ambulance to the nearby E&R. As I was getting wheeled in on a stretcher to be checked by a cardiologist, the lunch ladies were just in the process of rounding up their mid-day tour and pushing their cart back to the kitchen.

Out of my mouth came: “Look, we have arrived just in time for lunch!” Though the comment was addressed to the paramedic who was manoeuvring my stretcher, the dinner ladies themselves and all those who were lying on narrow gurneys in the corridor waiting for a bed, cracked up laughing. Where did that come from? was my question too.

The other week I had to have one eye checked to see if a laser treatment would help me see more clearly the difference between a comma and a fullstop (it did, and now I can see well again, even on a screen). The cataract clinic was, understandably, full of old people. I said to the little old lady waiting in the corridor next to me (I might have met her there previously, but we old people look so much alike), “This place is full of old people!” “Yes, isn’t it? Dreadful!” was her reply.

I am so lucky to live in England where everybody always finds something funny in every situation. And you don’t even have to know the person. (When living in Greece surrounded by German friends, I usually had to translate my puns, or at least add, “It was meant as a joke!”)

But interesting to see that this humorous streak comes out mainly in medical situations, where there is some element of discomfort and uncertainty. Will everything be OK? Will I remember what they tell me what to do and what not to do? When is the next appointment? It comes out without my doing. It just pops from my mouth and I am as surprised as the others. The dose of adrenaline in the veins must trigger it.

I am reminded of the Russian jokes during the USSR period, and of course the Jewish jokes (it is said the Jews invented jokes anyway!). The jokes have all come out in situations of stress, insecurity and turmoil. In my grammar school years, I found Salcia Landmann’s book of jokes. I loved it so much! It was a training ground; I learned what a good joke was. In the intro to the book, which is still available – over 60 years later – it says that the jokes were an ‘Überlebenshilfe’ (a survival aid). And so they are for me at the doctor’s.

Sunny, at the Ranch, once said she remembers me as being very funny. Strange, because I always think of myself as being too much of a serious person. Maybe I was feeling a bit overwhelmed, even intimidated by the clever and handsome ladies in that Twinkies trailer?

I remember, in Pune Two, I found an abandoned book of jokes. It was in Italian. I had brought my own typewriter (imported on my passport) in order to work for the Press Office. So, in my spare time, over lunch or in the evenings, I translated the ones I liked best and send them in to Vimal and Chetan (both Brits!), who would then re-write them using funny names – and better English. The highlight was when Osho read a joke with the exact wording I had chosen. It felt as special as if he had called me by my name or had answered a questions of mine. Now tears come… because maybe it was him calling me!

When I was working as a call centre agent with IBM in Scotland, I had started coding websites on my days off. One of the first websites was a collection of jokes. It was called punyajokes.com! This was at the turn of the millennium when the internet was still a virgin place, with only a handful of websites with jokes. When my team leader discovered what I was doing during my breaks, she asked me to send out a newsletter with jokes every Friday “for team building.” And this on office time! The mailing list spanned across all offices in Europe, as far as the newly-opened offices in Eastern Europe (I am still long-distance friends with some of the ‘girls’, now mothers of grown-up sons).

My pot of jokes for that website was fed almost daily by another mailing list, the one from Jivan from New York, with contributions from sannyasins all over the world, in particular Bhagawati, who then later, for over ten years, curated the Humour section on Osho News. It’s difficult to keep up with these ladies!