How TO OPEN OUR SENSE OF HUMOUR ?
Everybody is born with it. It is not a talent, it is intrinsic to human nature. But the society tries to destroy it; it is afraid even of the sense of humor. We teach children to be serious. Seriousness is praised, highly praised. In fact, seriousness is a kind of disease; it should be condemned.
Every child brings a sense of humor in the world, but we destroy it, at least we repress it. We don't allow him to enjoy it; we don't allow him to share it with us. We don't encourage him to help it grow because we are afraid; if he becomes too non-serious then he will become dangerous to the serious society. Then he will start rebelling against many things, because a sense of humor is an essential part of intelligence.
You don't see donkeys laughing, you don't see buffaloes enjoying a joke. It is only man who can enjoy a joke, who can laugh. Your saints are like buffaloes and donkeys! They have fallen below humanity; they have lost something of immense value. Without laughter a man is like a tree without flowers.
But the society needs serious people: presidents, prime ministers, vice-chancellors, professors, popes, shankaracharyas, ayatollahs, imams, all kinds of priests, teachers, commissioners, Collectors, governors.... Everybody has to be serious. If they have a sense of humor the society is afraid efficiency will be lost. If they have a sense of humor they Will become human. They are expected to be just like machines.
The way Adolf Hitler walks is mechanical. Just see his pictures -- the way he stands, the way he walks, the way he takes the salute, the way HE salutes. It seems almost mechanical, as if he is not a man but a robot. His face, his gestures, all are robotlike, and he made the whole of Germany robotlike. He destroyed Germany more than he destroyed anybody else. But he created a very efficient army. The efficient army is possible only if people lose all intelligence and all that intelligence contains.
A sense of humor is one of the very essentials of intelligence. The moment you lose it you lose intelligence also; the more you have it, the more intelligent you are. There is no question of how to open the sense of humor; you simply remove the barriers. It is already there, it is already the case. You simply remove a few rocks which your parents, your society have put to prevent it. The society teaches you self-control, and sense of humor means relaxation.
~ Ajay Suryakant Maske Patil
