As a kid, I remember our jokes used to start with, “Ek
Sardar tha…” (No offence to Sardars, but that was the reality). Somehow the
mental imagery of Sardars gave the joke a very unique feel & imagination.
This thought was shamelessly picked up & exploited by Bollywood; they
created stereotypes with the typical roles & clichéd jokes.
Moving to the present I feel that the share of sardar based
jokes have been restricted to Santa & Banta & overall share of Sardars
in joke have reduced to mere 20% (as in 2 out of every 10 jokes might have
them). In today’s age of instant messenger & internet, jokes are race neutral
and majorly on celebs, politicians, husband & wife, etc. Like in case of
celebs, Alia Bhat, Sonam Kapoor, Alok Nath, Salman Khan, Anushka Sharma, etc.
have taken the maximum space on our whatsapp. Talking about Politicians the
list can start & end with RaGa (LOL, actually speaking I feel RaGa has
eaten the biggest share from the S&B jokes, its like now that imaginary dude
has a face).
Internet has also given a platform for new age humour like Videos
& Podcasts of Chutki & Shopkeeper & various Stand up performing
groups like AIB, TVF, S&G, etc. The best part about their humor is that it
does not follow the old pattern of mimicry or joke telling, but instead it
picks up stories around us, the eccentric behaviors and the hypocritical social
behavior & put forth a humorous take on it. Their format ranges right from,
“Ashleel hai yeh launda, taange tod do iski!” to “Hahaha or
hmm”
If we understand the basic difference between then &
now, earlier it was using an imaginary situation & super imposing on
someone (celebs, politicians & Sardars), whereas now it’s using a real life
like story / situation / idea & making an imaginary reaction / Point of
view on it. Earlier there were limited media like stage performances, audio
cassettes & word of mouth, whereas today its internet, stage shows, newer
formats of stand ups & of course the viral power of internet. Earlier it
was subtleness with ego massage & it came across like, “Sir aapke upar aisi
line hai in this manner pls bura mat manna, change kar denge, aap ki jagah ek
sardar bol denge, agar aap ko theek na lage”; whereas as now, “Bro, chill maar,
its just a joke, bura mat lagana aur agar lage to mat dekh.”
However this change has not gone well with a large section
of audience, I believe there are 2 key reasons:
- This change happened too soon. In a span of 20 years, the typical Indian value system has taken a 180 degree turn. The value system that we as kids have been used to or our parents & their generation was used to has not been able to accept the change. As per some sections of society there has to be a certain decorum & how it virals out. For example, if you are on a public platform that is accessible to any of my family member then your content should be such that it can be consumed by them too, as we are not able to restrict the access to information. On the other hand, there is a section of society that have a different outlook & believe that we have a choice, if I like it I shall consume it, if I don’t then I shall condone it, not everything I do in life has to be with family, I have a life outside my family too which is called ‘Personal space’. We all have the right to express ourselves, with a sense of duty that I know what kind of content should be consumed at what place & what manner.
- Second, we still have some remnants of arse lickers, hypocrites, fence sitters who will throw a match stick & gasoline on the side that makes them ‘COOL’ with a K. They are a confused bunch of people who feel that a joke can kill more people than terrorism, they think a joke can strip of a lady’s or an icon’s dignity worse than a rape, they think a joke can cause worst mental trauma than emotional abuse, discrimination in the name of color, size, race, etc. Their feeling are hurt if someone says anything on their icons, whereas the reality is they speak/do the worst unimaginable things for which that icon never stood for.
Just to put my point of view, we live in a democratic
country, the average age of our population is near to 25 & yes, our values
our perspective to life has changed & is changing. Adults today are
different from adults of 90’s. Laughing on yourself is OK, its OK to take a
joke on yourself & not take things too seriously. We all have a choice, if
u don’t like it then don’t go for it, be open about your choices, use your
common sense & be reasonable. There is a time & place for everything,
we cannot have one solution (one kind of humor) that fits all scenario.
Lastly, with all the
fanfare going about our culture & sanskriti, I would like to quote the
below lines from movie Amar Prem:
Kuchh rit jagat kee aisi hai, har ek subah kee sham huyi
Too kaun hai, tera nam hain kya, sita bhi yaha badanam huyi
Hamko jo tane dete hai, ham khoye hain in rang raliyo me
Hamne unako bhi chhup chhup ke aate dekha in galiyo me
Yeh sach hain jhuthe bat nahee tum bolo yeh sach hain naa
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