QUI NON STULTUS?

Long time back as a very junior officer I was called upon to perform duty during the visit of the then Prime Minister to a sub divisional town for a political rally where lakhs of people were supposed to gather. As is the wont in the arrangements of this hype and dimension, several agencies were involved in briefing the officers and men concerning their duties and responsibilities prior to the event. One such briefing was to be done by an officer of the rank of Special Superintendent from Intelligence Branch. We all were dreading a long discourse on the principles and the elements of VVIP security as the April sun was already beating down on us. A pleasant looking officer turned up dressed in smart casuals. His authoritative demeanour and intent looking eyes conveyed an impression to me that he meant business as I prepared myself for a long haul.  He began: ‘How many of you are doing such duty for the first time?’ I was the one amongst some others who raised their hands. With a benign smile he looked vaguely in our direction. ‘How many of you have done this duty before?’ Quite a large number of them raised their hands. ‘So those who have done this duty before will brief the ones who are new’. And with these words the briefing was over. We looked at each other stunned with this ‘brief’ briefing but relieved that we didn’t have to stand in the heat for long. We exchanged glances, smiled and perhaps laughed mildly and dispersed.

Molla Nasreddin was believed to have lived and died during the 13th century in the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, in today's Turkey. He is considered a populist philosopher and wise man, remembered for his funny stories and anecdotes with subtle humour..

 

Once Nasreddin was invited to deliver a sermon. When he got on the pulpit, he asked, Do you know what I am going to say? The audience replied "no", so he announced, I have no desire to speak to people who don't even know what I will be talking about! and left. The people felt embarrassed and called him back again the next day. This time, when he asked the same question, the people replied yes. So Nasreddin said, Well, since you already know what I am going to say, I won't waste any more of your time! and left. The people were really perplexed. They decided to try one more time and once again invited the Molla to speak the following week. Once again he asked the same question – Do you know what I am going to say? Now the people were prepared and so half of them answered "yes" while the other half replied "no". So Nasreddin said Let the half who know what I am going to say, tell it to the half who don't, and left.

Who is not a fool? (Qui non stultus?) – says the Roman poet Horace (65-8 B.C.) in ‘Satires’, a collection of his satirical poems exploring the secrets of human happiness and literary perfection.

Humour is the great diffuser of tense situations.

It may perhaps have been the reason why in medieval times or even later, monarchs and wealthy used to appoint court jesters. The European words used to denote him are numerous, reflecting the mercurial man behind them: fool, buffoon, clown, jongleur, jogleor, joculator, sot, stultor, scurra, fou, fol, truhan, mimus, histrio, morio. Distinction was made between fools and clowns, or country bumpkins. The fool's status was one of privilege within a royal or noble household. His folly could be regarded as the raving of a madman but was often deemed to be divinely inspired. The 'natural' fool was touched by God. The relationship was often very close and amiable, and the jester was almost invariably a cherished presence. He was no rebel or revolutionary. His detached stance allowed him to take the side of the victim in order to curb the excesses of the system without ever trying to overthrow it. There are many stories which show a jester as the only person who could counsel a stubborn king, and as such the myth of the court jester suggests that jesters could act as a check on the whimsical power of absolute monarchy.

‘We have all seen how an appropriate and well-timed joke can sometimes influence even grim tyrants. . . . The most violent tyrants put up with their clowns and fools, though these often made them the butt of open insults.’ —Desiderius Erasmus, Praise of Folly.

In Europe the most eminent jesters were household names, and stories about their jokes and tricks circulated freely.

Sancho Panza, Don Quixote’s squire in the novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, is a short, pot-bellied peasant whose gross appetite, common sense, and vulgar wit serve as a foil to the mad idealism of his master. He is famous for his many pertinent proverbs. Sancho provides comments throughout the novel, known as sanchismos that are a combination of broad humour, ironic Spanish proverbs, and earthy wit.

In India too in recent times electronic media has made some of the comedians like Raju Srivastava, Kapil Sharma, Vir Das popular and they command a huge fan following, though not in the same league as their ancestors in the past.

Gopal Bhar was a legendary court jester in medieval Bengal. He was in the court of Raja Krishnachandra, the famous king of Nadia. Numerous stories about his exploits are narrated to this day. The stories are short, beautiful, and humorous and have a specific social message. His stories are comparable with those of Birbal and Molla Nasreddin.

When I was a kid, my father used to get me a monthly magazine ‘Balak’ perhaps published from Patna. In every issue of this magazine there used to be a story captioned ‘Mithila ke Birbal: Gonu Jha’. I do not remember the stories now but I do have an impression of his being a "Pratyutpannamati" (ready-witted) character. He was a contemporary of Hari Singh, King of Mithila  in the 13th century. There are several humorous folktales about him, depicting him as a witty and wise man.

Birbal, an advisor in the court of the Mughal Emperor Akbar is mostly known for the folk tales that focus on wit. By the end of Akbar's reign, local folk tales emerged portraying him as being extremely clever and witty. These tales involve him outsmarting rival courtiers and sometimes even Akbar, using only his intelligence and cunning, often with giving witty and humorous responses and impressing Akbar.

Garlapati Tenali Ramakrishna popularly known as Tenali Rama and Vikata Kavi, was a court-poet of the Vijayanagara Empire in the 16th century. He was one of the Ashtadiggajas who belonged to the court of Krishnadevaraya in Vijayanagar. He was known for his wit and impressive poetry. 

An offence was registered against Bollywood producer-director Sanjay Gupta, Balaji Motion Pictures and glamsham.com, a movie portal, by the Versova police on March 1, 2012 for the alleged misuse of the name of Mumbai Police Commissioner's office to promote Gupta's film Shootout at Wadala. He had issued an invitation card for a press conference, which was made to look like a summons from the CP. However, Gupta contended that there was a disclaimer issued by them at the back of the invitation card.

"This is an innovative invitation. That's it," Justice A V Nirgude said. "The police officers who registered the offence have lost their sense of humour," he wrote in.

In fact we all have. We are living in a time when an innocuous forward of a cartoon or a remark on twitter or face book or any social media site at once attracts provisions of IT Act or other such laws. Millions mourning the Charlie Hebdo tragedy have roared “the pen is mightier than the sword” – and that pen should always be free to write whatever it wants. Perhaps no longer.  We all have forgotten how to laugh at ourselves. And those who claim to represent us have assumed that we have no sense of humour. We're now so sensitive about everything – from a word in a movie or song, to a tweet, to interpretation of history, to art, to almost anything at all – that we react with anger and end up destroying public assets and endangering human lives. Every issue can be politicized, all in the name of the “common man”. The sunshine and the cheer, the mirth and the laughter seem to have evaporated from our collective imagination long since.

It feels as if 2015 is the year when a war has been declared on humour, with laughter replaced by the curiously modern disease of being terminally offended.

Foolery, sir, does walk about the orb like the sun, it shines everywhere.—Twelfth Night 

Not anymore, Shakespeare sir. These are not your times now.

Your profound and poetic expression may be subjected to an ear shattering prime-time debate and questioned at full throttle ….

                                              …..because the Nation wants to know….