Laughter Yoga – A Life Changing Experience

Laughter lowers blood pressure, relaxes muscles, improves blood circulation, increases oxygen level in the body, elevates mood, brings hope, enhances communication and boosts immune system. Dr Madan Kataria has contributed to the happiness of mankind by successfully blending free laughter with yogic breathing and evolving the unique concept of Laughter Yoga.

Laughter Yoga is a revolutionary idea – simple and profound. It is a breakthrough laughter delivery system that enables a person to laugh continuously for fifteen to twenty minutes. It is a powerful exercise routine and a complete wellbeing workout which is fast sweeping the world.

Dr Madan Kataria, an Indian physician, along with his wife Madhuri, started the first laughter club in a park in Mumbai on 13^th March 1995 with just five members. Today it is a worldwide phenomenon with more than six thousand social laughter clubs in sixty countries.

It combines unconditional laughter with pranayama – yogic breathing. Laughter is simulated in a group exercise with childlike playfulness and eye contact, which soon turns into real and contagious laughter, without relying upon jokes or comedy. The concept is based on a scientific fact that the human body cannot differentiate between fake and real laughter – one gets the same physiological and psychological benefits from both types of laughter.

Natural laughter comes just for a few seconds here and there but to get scientifically proven health benefits of laughter, we need to laugh continuously for ten to fifteen minutes at least - loud and deep from our diaphragm - which is possible only in social laughter clubs. They are non-political, non-religious and non-profit social clubs run by volunteers trained as laughter teachers and have no membership fee, no forms and no fuss.

A typical laughter yoga session includes clapping and warming up, deep breathing exercises, childlike playfulness and laughter exercises which may be yoga based, playful or value based exercises. Laughter yoga exercises are sometimes followed by laughter meditation where laughter may flow spontaneously like a fountain. The session ends with guided relaxation and grounding exercises.

Clinical research on laughter yoga methods has shown that laughter lowers the level of stress hormones in the blood. It fosters a positive and hopeful attitude and one is less likely to succumb to depression and helplessness. The regular club members say it makes them happy, healthy and energized. In effect, it has changed their lives.

Laughter yoga is an effective cardio workout and helps in staying fit. It increases blood circulation and relaxes muscles. Laughter yoga changes your mood within minutes by releasing endorphins in your brain. One feels energized and fresh throughout the day and can work more without getting tired. Laughter clubs provide a rich social network of people who care about one another. One learns to handle difficult situations effectively without losing composure by imbibing the essence of laughter yoga.

In India, laughter yoga has been introduced in many schools in Baroda, Surat and Bangalore. It has recently been included as a subject in the curriculum in one of the universities in the United States. Scientific research shows that laughter can help to resolve many workplace issues and is gaining popularity in companies and corporations across the globe. Laughter yoga is being practiced among seniors in many aged care facilities in Canada, USA, Israel and Europe. There are hundreds of people in laughter clubs all over the world who are suffering from cancer but laughter has brought a new hope into their lives.

The ultimate objective is to bring good health, joy and world peace through laughter. This innovative concept has been widely accepted and reported in Time magazine, National Geographic, BBC, CNN and many others.

www.laughteryoga.org

A Tantalizing Cheque That Bounced

By JAGAT SINGH BISHT

She was statuesque. I was spellbound and gaped at her like a boor as she walked into the Bank with an elegant ease. My heart missed several beats as she looked around with her doe eyes. Her exquisite charm brought the hustle and bustle in the banking hall to a standstill. The atmosphere suddenly turned ethereal.

Those were the days when I was posted in a sleepy little town and had nothing better to do than pass cheques in “good faith and without negligence”. The era of class banking was fading away and the concept of mass banking was yet to catch on. In the process, we were deprived of both – the classic beauties as well as the village belles.

Nonetheless, there was an occasional lucky break. There she was! Ravishing and gorgeous. The beauty that I always dreamt and fantasized about. She presented a cheque at the counter for payment and I waited expectantly to pass the most tantalizing cheque in my life.

A series of silly thoughts passed through my mind… Should I call her closer and tell her that the signatures do not match perfectly? No-no, that would be too amateurish. I should be more subtle…

My counter clerk pushed the ledger towards me. I could clearly see the mischief in his sparkling eyes. He proclaimed a bit too loudly, “It seems, sir, the cheque is bearer.”

I felt embarrassed as he cast a meaningful glance at her. I knew he was speaking in our code language in which a bearer cheque meant an unmarried girl. Likewise, we referred to married ladies as account payee cheques. School-going girls were post-dated cheques and ageing aunties were, of course, stale cheques.

The cashier made the payment with a flashy smile as I had never seen him do earlier. After counting the notes, she turned back towards our counter. Gracefully, she approached my counter clerk and said, “Thanks a lot for the prompt service. Well, let me introduce myself. I am Mrs Kapoor.”

Mr Kapoor, the new Branch Manager, had just taken over and had gone away to attend a seminar at the head office. Keeping a hand over her mangal-sootra, she remarked with a gentle grin, “Now, you know, the cheque isn’t bearer. It is account payee!”

And, she walked away triumphantly…

Citizenship as a way of life

I have found my Guru

A Life Transforming Encounter With Citizenship


I feel quite fulfilled in my journey of life. I have reaped sufficient outer fruits, plenty of inner fruits and countless joys of contribution. The only fruit that eluded me is promotion. Of late, I have also started hoodwinking it as a return gesture! I have a well located house, a decent lifestyle, cheerful health (touch wood!), a loving family, good friends of both sexes (much to the envy of some of my dear friends!), some publications to my credit, a steady growth, an understanding of human behaviour, taste for arts and culture, satisfaction of contributing significantly to my extended family and an ever growing pool of well wishers.

Though I always felt at peace with myself, I had no one to look up to in intriguing times. My friends went to temples and prayed, some of them pursued yoga and meditation and others had their own ways of finding solace. I do not believe in any rituals though I don’t mind going to temples etc. During times of crisis, I felt a sense of void. May be it was because I had a predominantly scientific view of life.

I have been a sincere student of human psychology and a behavioural science trainer (minus the eccentricities, of course). I delved in to positive psychology and was for a while thinking of designing a programme on authentic happiness (based on the work of Martin Seligman and others on the subject) as my mission in life is to make people happy. The school of thought I was following laid down various components of happiness beautifully and, in the end, stipulated that all these would bring happiness but you should also do something worthwhile and meaningful in your life. Making a positive contribution was just one of the building blocks of authentic happiness among so many others.


Beginning of my citizenship journey

It was sometime in June 2009 when all the Circle Development Officers and Intervention Leaders gathered for the first workshop on Project Citizen-SBI at the Corporate Centre, Mumbai. This was the first time we saw and heard Mr V Srinivas – half-sleeved white shirt, curly hair and the glow of conviction. He propounded the concept well but most of the audience at that time felt that it was too abstract. I remember interacting with him during the lunch break to share with him my experience with Parivartan and the need for Hindi and vernacular versions of the programme. I extended an invitation to conduct pilots in Bhopal Circle and also complimented him for his outstanding oratory skills, knowing little then about his deep conviction and intense engagement with the subject.

Then we had a longish workshop and pilots at Taj Banjara, Hyderabad during August where I found time to go through the foundation notes on various dimensions of citizenship. This was followed by pilots at State Bank Academy, Gurgaon where we had a solid apprenticeship in all nuances of Citizenship and also the art of facilitation. Here, I would like to add that this programme has given us a rich pool of well equipped facilitators and prompted our Training System to take a giant paradigm leap forward. Later on, the facilitator gym back home was a unique experience. We shuttled many a times to the multi purpose hall at the Bandra-Kurla complex to fine tune the programme versions and our own understanding of citizenship.

A new way of life

As the citizenship orientation programmes progressed, I found myself deeply immersed in citizenship – classes, travel, talking with participants over phone, contributing for the Google groups of Intervention Leaders and Facilitators, setting up and propagating the CitizenSBI blog, answering all the queries from across the country (as if I was an expert in citizenship!) and developing a real as well as a virtual citizen community. I found that I was working and thinking citizenship 24x7 and felt charged up all through with no traces of fatigue. Some friends started saying that I have internalized citizenship and was becoming more and more citizenized with each passing day. All put together, we looked at 101 dimensions of citizenship from 1001 different angles. Don’t believe? Just go through the groups and the blog!

It then dawned upon me that I have discovered a new way of life. I had started contributing positively on a regular and continuous basis in so many spheres and was in a state of flow. In my college days I had adopted cricket as a view of life. Cricket helps you to develop sportsman spirit, accept defeat as well as victory and is a gentleman’s game. The citizenship philosophy gives a lot of fulfilment as we continuously get opportunities to touch lives of others. It is not just something swantah sukhai, it caters to the welfare of others.

Some faces of my success

The facilitators and participants have reposed so much trust on me that I have developed confidence to find a pathway to any problem under the sun and overcome the challenges. This strength is derived from the faith that others have on me.

One of the citizens who had suffered an unforgettable hurt and found life meaningless, has found solace in contributing to the cause of citizenship daily. May I reproduce the exact words – aaj phir jeeney kee tamanna hai…What more impact can a programme have on an individual’s life?

One of the master facilitators told me that whenever we need anything in citizenship, we know that you are always there.

I have already shared the story of the citizen union leader who contributes regularly for my learning centre and is a regular visitor. He finds something amiss if he doesn’t have a cup of tea with me on any day. I know I can depend upon him. He is my Man Friday.

One of the intervention leaders says that he has developed the writing habit because of my continuous follow up with him to contribute for the blog. We converse almost daily and he reveres me like his elder brother.


I know that I can touch lives. For that I realise that I should be pure in my heart. Not that I was lecherous in my deeds but I have curbed my baser instincts even in thought and feelings.


Tasting some success out of CitizenSBI blog, I created some other blogs too. One of them was for my son who is a biker and loves to perform stunts. When his friends praised the blog, he had this to say to his friends on Facebook – No yaar, I have not done it. It’s my dad. He is an expert blogger now.

Aur merey paas Maa bhee hai! I understand that my mother told folks in our native place the other day – Bhagwan sabko merey Jagat jaisa beta deh! What more can I aspire for after this?

Eklavya finds Guru Drona

During my entire journey of citizenship, I have been watching one man with a lot of respect. I have read all his writings like we read scriptures (and here I don’t mean “without applying my mind”!). His dedication and devotion to the cause of citizenship is simply amazing. I have never witnessed such conviction earlier in my life. In my heart of hearts, I have accepted him as my Guru. I am his follower in words and deeds.



Just like Eklavya found a guru in Dronacharya, I have found my guru in Mr V Srinivas, CEO and Lead Researcher, Illumine Knowledge Resources, Mumbai. The similarity hopefully ends here. I presume he won’t ask me to present my thumb to him in guru-dakshina.




Many of the readers would already know about him but for those who don’t and feel curious, I provide below a link to know more about him:

http://www.illumine.info/srinivas.htm

I invite you to be my guru-bhai or behen and join my community.

P.S. – I also love and adore his entire team – Biren, Joyeeta, Rebecca, Mahima, Parul …

JAGAT SINGH BISHT
State Bank Learning Centre, Indore

coolbisht@hotmail.com

The Early Years

My name is Vijay Nair. Please excuse my American spelling. I have studied in SGHS from 8th to 11th finishing in 1971. Jagat and I were classmates during those years.

Many of you might be wondering why I chose the title ‘The early Years’. It is because those were the most impressionable years of my childhood. You know, as teenagers we were naturally curious and landed in a lot of trouble! By the way, the photo showing Soumen, Jagat and Casmir was taken in November 2004 when we had a reunion of the class of ’71. Let me talk about the reunion first. How it all started with me was a desire to connect to my ‘old’ friends and to know how they were doing. In summer ’04 I think I first located Barkat Singh in Ranjhi who then led me on to others like, Jagat, Subir, etc. Imagine! Talking to someone after 33 years! I was very surprised I could connect with so many of them. There were others also that I connected like the Ferns family, Elsie’s (she is a teacher at the school now) family, college-mates and others. On Nov 12, ’04 I landed in Indore station and looking out of my window I recognized Jagat right away. We were just kids when we knew each other and now I would be a guest at his house!

Vijay with Jagat's family at their home

His situation was such that he was working in Jabalpur but his family was living in Indore. However, I received a warm welcome at his home. Being Diwali I was expecting some festivities with a visit to a nearby temple, but it was a great surprise to see the unending fireworks that lit up the sky late into the night! It was my first visit to the city and like a proper host, Jagat showed me the sights around town. Two places stand out. One is a palace with French and English influences and the other is ‘Chowki Dhani’. His hospitality was great. It was the first time in over 20 years I had celebrated Diwali like this. Usually here we used to visit a family from Allahabad/Indore, do the Shree Ram ‘aarti’ and have dinner. Here it is illegal to burst firecrackers. Oftentimes, being of a commercial inclination, they set up a huge ‘mela’ which is mostly sales/exhibition. But one can still buy a good painting, clothes jewelry and, of course, have Indian snacks.

Jagat and Vijay inside Indore-Bilaspur Express

On Nov 15 ’04 Jagat and I took a train from Indore and landed in Madan Mahal station the next day. We were met by Babulal, alias Prabhir Mitra, for whom I was carrying what I call expensive plyers! It was early morning. Little by little I met them all. First of all I was struck by the change in some of them. I remembered their faces from a long time ago. It is a trick the mind plays. They too would be wondering at my change, right? I met all kinds of people – my old classmates from school and college, others who were ex-college, and school and college teachers. I will stop the reunion stuff here and move to the years at school.

Vijay was the most sought after class mate during re-union

Class of 1971 re-union at the Kanha National Park

My dad was in the Ordnance factories service and in ’67 he got transferred to Khamaria, near Jabalpur. This is his second posting in the area, the first being GCF where he was till ’62. So after moving we had to find a school for me. I remember when I went to SGHS how they tested me. They gave a set of questions to answer and I remember ‘Godavari’ was the answer to one of them. There was also an ‘interview’. I was anxious how my test had gone, but I was admitted. In those days there were very few houses near the school. One could look out and see open land outside. Ditto for the area behind the school. Here is a list of teachers who taught me that I remember. Br. Joseph, Br. Bosco, Br. Gilbert, Br. Frederick, Br. Justin, Br. David, Mr Shrivastava, Br. Paul, Mr Sharma, Mr Dinkar, Mr Choudhary, Mr. Khare, Pandit sir, Mr Mehra, Ms Khera, Ms Usha, Ms D’Souza, Ms Pathak, and many more. There was a young Englishman visiting, was it ’68? I don’t remember. Later, I wondered what prompted him to come to SGHS.
Br. Joseph was our 8th grade class teacher. With him we went to the yearly picnic to Khatau(?) with a truck lent by Barkat’s dad. We had great fun with all rolling around! Gooseberries (amla) along the river bank were a hit. The next year it was Bargi Tank and then Burno Tank? I do remember seeing the movie ‘Aradhna’ starring Sharmila Tagore and Rajesh Khanna in ’70 after the picnic.

Ms Khera, who joined SGHS in ’69, always used to be dropped off at school by her husband, riding pillion on his scooter. It used to be a Vespa. Barkat used to come to my place to play badminton. I remember one prank played by him. One day in Ms Khera’s class he brought a rose. I am sure he was playing with it innocently when all of a sudden Ms Khera caught him! She gave him a good scolding. What was he doing? Only he knows! She was very strict. I was scared of her, for you know, she would require her home-work on her desk as she walked in. If not, get out! I remember another drama associated with her. Once she stood us all in a line and asked us a question. As to what I don’t remember. She told us to speak the truth. An act of hypnotism followed. We thought we were invincible and she was not able to find out. Here is another prank. In ‘71 her whole class bunked to watch the newly released movie ‘Purab aur Paschim’ starring Manoj Kumar and Saira Banu! But she is what made us all we are today. Hats off to her! The last I spoke to her was in ’05 when she was in Pune.

Simultaneous equations used to scare me in the 8th. So would titration because I thought the end point could vary. Hope they have some sort of ion sensor now-a-days to determine that. But Br. Frederick who taught us Chemistry was very kind. He even helped me do a science project involving photography which is when I was able to coax my dad to get me a camera. It was an Agfa Click III. He taught me the basics of photo development.

I did the NCC program at school. It was the naval corps, so were dressed in white for the evening exercises. Even though tough I remember eagerly waiting for the snack at the end of every session! There was a wiry instructor barking at us to straighten up. The camp at Gwallior stands out in my memory. It was a 10 day event ending just before Diwali in ’69. The camp site in Gwallior was beautiful with a lake nearby where we practiced rowing and took other routine classes. I remember weighing myself at the station before and after the camp and discovering I lost 5 kg in the camp!

Mr Shrivastava was our Hindi teacher. Why we called him by the nick name ‘chussad’ I can’t recall. He used to have dreamy liquid eyes. Mr Sharma also taught HIndi. I remember he made a joke with the song ‘Aaj maine ladki pasand kar li …’ He was tall and had sharp features. It is a pity that with such teachers I find I have not studied the language enough. I am OK with any conversation but it is the reading that I think I missed. Other than one Gulshan Nanda novel, I don’t remember reading any Hindi books. But more than this, I did much injustice to Sanskrit and Pandit-sir who taught us the language from 8th to 10th. I always had the question in my mind what is the need for ‘avam’ in ‘aham, avam, vayam’, that is, the use of a separate word representing two of anything. It is not so in English. Today I wish I had learned Sanskrit more diligently for so many of our ancient texts are in it. The ‘Manorajyam’ story stands out clearly over the years.

Mr Khare had been our Math and Physics teacher. He was strict. One day as a punishment he made us all go out to the ground, kneel on our knees and crawl! That was very hard! I must have been overweight. I saw some sprinting across.How many of you remember the movie we all went out together after 11th? If you said ‘Kati Patang’ you are right! That pretty much ended my association for the time being with SGHS when I went to do Engineering in the nearby Govt. College. But I remember my days with SGHS and the subsequent reunion fondly. I will always hold those memories dearly in my heart.

The Four Musketeers

While attending a workshop on CitizenSBI programme at Hotel Taj President, Mumbai a couple of days back, I noticed that a seminar of Tata Power Company was going on in the adjacent banquet hall. I felt slightly curious and walked in during the break and, after enquiry, discovered Vijay Chourey, my college mate, there. That took us back to our college days...

We studied at the Govt. Science College, Jabalpur from the year 1971 to 1974 and completed our Bachelor's degree there. Those were days more of fun than serious studies. We - Vijay Bajaj, Arvind Harshey, Vijay Chourey and yours truly - were the four musketeers of our class. After the classes were over we used to stand at the tiraha near the CPWD office and talk and talk. Our discussions were not on any particular topic, nor meaningful by any means, but they kept us together. We used to laugh a lot is what I remember now. Arvind stayed in the colony nearby, Bajaj was from Narmada Road, Vijay stayed at the Satna Building and I came all the way from Ranjhi. Arvind looked like a child and the office clerk refused to hand over the scholarship money to him. Next day, he had to come with his father to collect the scholarship.

I am not able to recollect the names of many of my class mates. Some names which I remember are P P Dubey, G P Dubey, Manjeet Kaur Jabbal and Uma Devi. Just four of them. I also remember a fat boy much older than us (whom we referred as Dadaji) who came from the suburban Panagar. He was a warm guy and I wonder where he is now and what he is doing presently. As far as I remember, we had one dark Vishwakarma in the class whom we referred to as the policewallah.

Our Professors were Handa (the Giant), Mahalaha, D K Mishra, S K Mishra, Nilose, Sahastrabuddhey ( also known as the policewallah), Madam Chauhan and Paliwal Sir. I am forgetting the name of a moustachiod Mathematics professor who pronounced "equation" as "yoocation" with a twist of his moustache - probably he was Mr Premchand. All of them were really good. Once a strike was called by the Student Leaders (which included Sharad Yadav) and the four musketeers opted to attend a Physics lecture of Professor Nilose. The leaders came to the class and warned us of dire consequences after we came out but the professor continued with the class.

One of us four musketeers was having a one-sided love affair with one of the college girls. He sent her a love letter full of poetry. Soon he got the reply from her. The reply was Spirituality of a high order with the concluding words -Eeshwar aapko sadbuddhi de!

The flash back has just started. Let us go back in time and re-create those dreamy days. May I request the two Vijays and any one of our class mates who are reading this to continue the string. I shall also contribute when I recollect more incidents. Bye till then.

एक व्यंग्यकार की आत्मकथा

यह एक व्यंग्यकार की आत्मकथा है. इसमें आपको ’एक गधे की आत्मकथा’ से ज़्यादा आनन्द आएगा. गधा ज़माने का बोझ ढोता है, व्यंग्यकार समाज की विडम्बनाओं को पूरी शिददत से मह्सूस करता है. इसके बाद भी दोनों बेचारे इतने भले होते हैं कि वक्त-बेवक्त ढेंचू-ढेंचू करके आप सबका मनोरंजन करते हैं. यदि आप हमारी पीड़ा को ना समझकर केवल मुस्कुराते हैं तो आप से बढ़कर गधा कोई नहीं. क्षमा करें, हमारी भाषा ही कुछ ऐसी होती है.



इस आत्मकथा में जितने प्रयोग सत्य के साथ किये गये हैं, उससे कहीं अधिक असत्य के साथ. यह निर्णय आपको करना होगा कि क्या सत्य है और क्या असत्य. मोटे तौर पर, उपलब्धियों के ब्यौरे को झूठा मानें और चारित्रिक कमज़ोरियों के चित्रण को सच्चा जानें. आत्मकथा का जो अंश अच्छा लगे, उसे चुराया हुआ समझें और जो घटिया लगे, उसे मौलिक मान लें. जहां कोई बात समझ में न आये तो उसका ठीक विपरीत अर्थ लगायें क्योंकि व्यंग्यकार शीर्षासन के शौकीन माने जाते हैं.



व्यंग्यकार ज़माने के साथ चलता है और उनको पहचानता है जो गिरगिट की तरह रंग बदलते हैं. आपकी रुचि और रुझान की भी उसे पहचान है. इसलिये उसकी आत्मकथा में आपको भरपूर मसाला मिलेगा. इस व्यंग्यकार की हार्दिक और शारीरिक ख्वाहिश है कि वह भी कमला दास और खुशवंत सिंह की तरह चर्चित हो. इसलिये वह आवश्यक हथकंडे अपनाने को भी तैयार है.



अब आत्मकथा आरंभ होती है.....



संयोग से मेरा कलयुगी अवतार संस्कारधानी जबलपुर में हुआ जहां से ओशो रजनीश, महर्षी महेश योगी और हरिशंकर परसाई ताल्लुक रखते हैं. आज तक मैं यह नहीं समझ पाया कि लुच्चों-लफ़ंगों के लिये मशहूर इस शहर को संस्कारधानी क्यों कहा जाता है. भगवान रजनीश की प्रवचन-पुस्तक ’संभोग से समाधि की ओर’ का गहन अध्ययन मैंने जवानी के दिनों में गैर धार्मिक कारणों से किया था. महर्षि महेश योगी के प्रति मेरी गहरी श्रद्धा तब से है जब उन्होंने भावातीत ध्यान के माध्यम से विश्व शांति का अनुष्टान किया था और अमरीका ने इराक पर ’कारपेट" बमबारी कर दी थी. हरिशंकर परसाई का प्रभाव अलबत्ता मेरी सोच पर पर्याप्त रूप से पड़ा है. शायद वे ही इस व्यंग्यकार के प्रेरणा पुरुष हैं. उनकी तरह लिखना-पढ़ना चाहता हूं लेकिन टांगें तुड़वाने में मुझे डर लगता है. मैं प्रतिबद्धता का जोखिम मौका देखकर उठाता हूं.



हरिशंकर परसाई के सान्निध्य में कुछ बातें सीखीं. व्यंग्यकार कोई विदूषक या मसखरा नहीं होता. वह पूरी गंभीरता और सूक्ष्मता के साथ घटनाओं को देखता है और विसंगतियों पर निर्ममता से प्रहार करता है. एक बात में अवश्य वे मुझे ’मिसगाइड’ कर गये - उन्होंने मुझे ध्यानपूर्वक रवीन्द्रनाथ त्यागी की रचनाएं पढ़ने की सलाह दी. मैंने उनकी आग्या का पालन किया. प्रारंभ में तो बहुत आनन्द आया लेकिन जब प्रत्येक व्यंग्य में महिलाओं का नख-शिख वर्णन आने लगा तो मैं दिग्भ्रमित-सा हो गया. लिखते-पढ़ते वक्त मुझे जगह-जगह गद्य में उरोज और नितंब छिपे दिखाई देने लगे और मेरी बुद्धि और गद्य भ्रष्ट होते गये. मुझे लगता है कि सम्मानित व्यंग्यकार की खोपड़ी में कोई रीतिकालीन पुर्जा आज भी फ़िट है. मेरे लेखन में जहां कहीं घटियापन नज़र आये तो उसके लिये आदरणीय रवीन्द्रनाथ त्यागी को ज़िम्मेदार माना जाये.



शरद जोशी के व्यंग्य मैं मंत्रमुग्ध हो कर पढ़ता और सुनता था. उनकी शब्द छटा अलौकिक होती थी और मैं मुक्त मन और कंठ से उसकी प्रशंसा करता था लेकिन उनके चेलों में एक अजब-सी संकीर्णता व विचारहीनता दृष्टिगोचर होती है. वे हरिशंकर परसाई और उनके स्कूल के सभी व्यंग्यकारों को खारिज करते हैं जबकि उनके स्वयं के लेखन में दृष्टिशून्यता है. मैंने व्यंग्य लेखन की शुरुआत भोपाल में की थी लेकिन ऐसे व्यंग्यकारों से दूर ही दूर रहा. छ्त्तीसगढ़ अंचल के कुछ नामी व्यंग्यकारों के प्रति मेरी श्रद्धा, काफ़ी कोशिशों के बाद भी, उमड़ नहीं पाती.



आज तक मैं यह नहीं समझ सका कि इतने बड़े सरकारी अधिकारी होते हुए भी श्रीलाल शुक्ल और रवीन्द्रनाथ त्यागी इतने अच्छे व्यंग्य कैसे लिखते रहे. मैं एक अदना-सा बैंक अधिकारी हूं लेकिन लाख चाहते हुए भी लिखने-पढ़्ने के लिये उतना समय नहीं दे पाता जितना उच्चकोटि के लेखन के लिये आवश्यक है. नतीज़ा यह है कि मेरी गिनती न तो अच्छे अधिकारियों में होती है और न ही अच्छे व्यंग्यकारों में. मैं विग्यान का विद्यार्थी था. यह मेरी ताकत भी है और कमज़ोरी भी. जीवन और लेखन के प्रति वैग्यानिक दृष्टि मेरा ’असेट’ है और साहित्य का घोर अग्यान मेरी कमी.



व्यंग्य की दुनिया में महिला व्यंग्य लेखिकाओं और प्रशंसिकाओं की कमी बेहद खलती है. शायद ’व्यंग्य’ शब्द में ही विकर्षण प्रतिध्वनित होता है. फ़िर भी, भविष्य के प्रति यह व्यंग्यकार आशावान है और इंतज़ार के मीठे फ़लों के लिये पलक पाँवड़े बिछाये बैठा है. एक गृहस्थ व्यंग्यकार इससे अधिक खुले आमंत्रण का खतरा मोल नहीं ले सकता. मेरी इकलौती बीवी और मेरा इकलौता बेटा सब कुछ जानते समझते हुए भी मुस्कुराकर सब कुछ झेलते रहते हैं. उन पर दो अलग अलग व्यंग्य महाकाव्य बुढ़ापे में रचूंगा. अभी ’रिस्क’ लेना ठीक नहीं. अपने प्रेम-प्रसंगों पर भि फ़ुरसत में कभी लिखूंगा. इनमेम धर्म, संप्रदाय और प्रदेशों की संकीर्ण मानसिकता से ऊपर उठकर अनेकता में एकता की राष्ट्रीय भावना आपको दिखाई देगी. प्रारंभिक प्रेम कथाएं ’प्लेटोनिक’ हैं और बाद वाली ’फ़्रॉयडियन’ - यानि मैं निरंतर विकास क्रम में आगे बढ़ता रहता हूं.



लेखन और प्रकाशन के क्षेत्र में मैं बहुत ’लकी’ रहा. थोड़ा लिखकर खूब छ्पा और प्रसिद्धी पाई. कुछ साहित्य-संपादक मेरे खास मित्र हैं और कुछ पंकज बिष्ट के धोखे में मुझे बेधड़क छाप देते हैं. कई बार आकाशवाणी और दूरदर्शन पर भी मैं पंकज बिष्ट के नाम से वार्ताएं प्रसारित कर चुका हूं. स्थानान्तरण के बाद जब किसी नये नगर में पहुंचता हूं तो शायद इसीलिये मेरा परिचय ’सुविख्यात’ लेखक के रूप में कराया जाता है. मैं खामोश रहता हूं. मेरा पहला व्यंग्य-संग्रह ’तिरछी नज़र’ भी उसी धोखे में छ्प गया. प्रकाशक बेचारा आज तक पछता रहा है. पुस्तक का शीर्षक देखकर गलतफ़हमी में नौजवान और बूढ़े सभी इसे रस लेकर एकांत में पढ़ते हैं. बच्चे उसको पढ़कर बाल-साहित्य का आनंद पाते हैं. कुछ विद्वान आलोचकों ने इस भ्रम में पहले संकलन की तारीफ़ कर दी कि शायद आगे चलकर मैं बेहतर लिखने लगूं. पाठकों को मैं, खुशवंत सिंह की तरह, मसाले का प्रलोभन देता रहता हूं और वो मेरी रचनाएं किसी झूठी उम्मीद में पढ़ते चले जाते हैं. साहित्यिक मित्रों को बेवकूफ़ बनाना ज़्यादा मुश्किल नहीं होता. उन्होंने लिखना-पढ़ना, सोचना- समझना, काफ़ी समय पहले से बंद किया होता है. उनसे मिलते ही मैं उनकी कीर्ति की चर्चा करने लगता हूं और वे जाते ही मेरी प्रतिष्ठा बढ़ाने में लग जाते हैं. साहित्य का संसार अंदर और बाहर बड़ा मज़ेदार है.



समाज में व्यंग्यकार कोई सम्माननीय जीव नहीं माना जाता. इस जंतु को थोड़ी-बहुत स्वीकृति ’भय बिनु होय न प्रीति’ के सूत्र के अंतर्गत ही मिलती है. नासमझ लोग उससे उसी तरह खौफ़ खाते हैं जैसे क्रिकेट में बल्लेबाज तूफ़ानी गेंदबाजों से आतंकित होते हैं. मुझे तो ’लेग स्पिन’ गेंदबाजी में ज़्यादा आनंद आता है. लाइन, लैंग्थ और फ़्लाइट में परिवर्तन करते हुए, लैग स्पिन के बीच अचानक गुगली या फ़्लिपर फ़ैंकने का जो आनंद है, वो बाऊन्सर पत्टकने में कहां ! सार्थक और मारक व्यंग्य वही है जिसमें खिलाड़ी क्लीन-बोल्ड भी हो जाए और अपनी मूर्खता पर तिलमिलाने भी लगे. व्यंग्य में लक्ष्य-भेदन की कुशलता के साथ-साथ खेल भावना, क्रीड़ा-कौतुक और खिलंदड़पन भी हो तो आनंद कई गुना बढ़ जाता है. गंभीरता अपनी जगह है और छेड़छाड़ का मज़ा अपनी जगह.



यह आत्मकथा मैंने बड़ी संजीदगी के साथ शुरु की थी लेकिन लंबा लिखने का धैर्य मुझमें नहीं है और जो कुछ भी आड़ा-तिरछा लिखता हूं, उसे छपवाने की मुझे जल्दी रहती है. अतः आत्मकथा न सही, फ़िलहाल आत्मकथा की भूमिका पढ़कर ही कृतार्थ हों. शुभचिंतकों की सलाह पर धीरे-धीरे मैं अपने व्यंगों को ’चुइंगम’ की तरह खींचने का अभ्यास कर रहा हूं. अगर सफ़ल हुआ तो कभी न कभी आत्मकथा अवश्य लिखूंगा........

Old Group Photographs

Two old group photographs of Class of 1971, St Gabriel's School, Ranjhi, Jabalpur.
The first one was taken in Class VII in the year 1966-67 and the second one in Class VII in the year 1967-68.

Guess who's who?