Laughing Club

I was at my wit’s end! Nothing seemed to be going right in life and the situation looked like it won’t improve anyways. Work, Finances, Love, my life had crashed on every possible frontier! Living away from my family for work made me feel even lonelier. I dragged myself through the day emotionally exhausted in a lifeless, hopeless blur; only to get back to an empty apartment and stressed sleepless nights! I needed hope! I needed a miracle… but more importantly I needed a vent to free myself of the mountain of stress that was killing me every second.

I had managed to live through another such sleepless night. Just too bored of tossing sides in bed, at around 5 AM I decided to do something I’d not done in ages… go for a morning walk. I’d heard of it being therapeutic. And so 15 minutes later I found myself in the park nearby soaking the early sunlight and inhaling the fresh air between the chain of yawns and rubbing sleep out of my eyes. Had I walked a few more steps, I would have caught up on the sleep I’d missed so long without realizing I was on the bed or the park’s walking track.

Then it came, like a bolt from the dark and shook me out of sleep. Had Kumbhkaran( Ravana’s Bro, the villain in the Ramayana) been here even he would have woke up to such a laughter (consider the amount of money that could have been saved). I discovered that the laughter came from a bunch of oldies who collected there daily to laugh their heads off. Amused I walked over to witness a laughter club for the first time in my life.

Assuming me to be interested, an old man even signaled me to join. For once I decided to retrace my steps. Laughing this way wasn’t my cup of tea and presently my life didn’t have any reason to laugh. Then again I did something that puzzles me till date. I don’t know what pulled me but the very next moment I was standing with the laughter club.

Laughter is the most infectious thing on earth. Even as I was standing there not in a frame of mind to laugh I found it hard to resist myself from breaking into laughter. The curve of my lips rose upward from smile to full scale hysteria and my stomach ached laughing. I continued to laugh till long after the others had paused for a breath. I realized I must stop but the laughter just kept coming. I tried to take a somber expression without success,
I tried to remind myself of my problem but still couldn’t stop.

I tried to gag my mouth again without any success. My laughter finally subsided with me choking for a second. I suddenly felt as if the stress I’d carried for ages had had been unloaded. I had won a war that had once seemed to have kept no chance of survival for me. The other club members started cheering. I guess they understood. They’d seen many of my likes winning their battle. Maybe some of them, like me had won their battle from their frustrations. For them everyday was a victory won with laughter and celebrated together with laughter. Without having said a word, I felt powerfully connected to each of the club members at that moment. I didn’t have to speak my heart out or tell anyone. Instead of unloading my worries onto someone I was filling my head with positive laughter that would leave no space for worries. The battle I had won that day made me strong enough to face the other battles in my life. My time had come

That day onwards I’ve become a permanent member of this laughter club. I don’t care if its members are only oldies. I don’t care if somebody sees me laughing like mad for no reason. Coz I know everyday I’m the one winning!