Comedy Qawwali?

It’s time we had a ‘comedy qawwali’ among members – a friendly contest between the men and women over who would narrate the funniest joke of the morning after the exercises.
Till recently, the practice had been that soon after the surya namaskar prayers, Santosh Tyagi (right) would narrate what could be called the ‘joke of the day’. She'd dig into her stock of 600 jokes and regale us before we dispersed from the Garden.
Then our ‘gyan-guru’, Kishor Babani (right panel) stepped in. Santosh-ji had shifted residence and as her visits to the Garden became infrequent, Kishor-bhai filled in for her with two or three jokes jotted on a piece of paper. These too became an instant hit.
Nowadays, when both Santosh-ji and Kishor-bhai are present, one reads out a set of three or four jokes, followed by the other – each leaving the members asking for more. At times, someone like Srichand Arora (left) could come up with something like: “What is this food? It tastes like cow dung!” says husband to wife.
Wife replies: “Oh, I didn’t know you have tasted everything!”
Santosh-ji’s jokes often border on toilet humour, her most popular one being the explanation given to the common Hindi idiom, “kiye karam pe pani pherna”. According to her, it implies what is done by way of flushing the toilet!
Kishor-bhai’s jokes are comparatively refined, the one he narrated this morning being typical: A linguistically challenged Santa Singh, wants to order a chicken dish in a London restaurant. “Get me the mother of eggs,” he says. If only these jokes could be alternated between Kishor-bhai and Santosh-ji (on behalf of the ladies), one after another, it would make for a rollicking qawwali contest.
The best joke of the day was however, of Mumtaz Jahan’s (right) making when she tried to put an end to the ‘numbers game’ that accompanies the arrival of every member during the exercises. “Aadmi ki ginti nahin karni chahiye,” she declared. For some time everybody looked bewildered. “Nayi baat hai,” said Razia Khan. But Shekhawat-ji was not one to be put down easily. “Theek hai,” he laughed. “Aadmi ki nahin, aurton ki ginti karenge!”
Later Mumtaz-ji corrected herself by substituting "aadmi" for "insaan".
Harish Wadhwa says:
* By the way, Yusuf-bhai had added yet another one towards the end: "Aadmiyon ko nahin, aurton ko ginti karni chahiye!"
* Jokes are the best part of each day's exercises. They are perfect for the face muscles, jaws and health at large, plus the spontaneous trigger of tapping each other in appreciation.
* Kishor-bhai's laughing picture at Guru Gyan is just right for the lovely jokes and shayari he shares each day.
--Harish