Jokers All

Today's breakfast offering from Santosh Tyagi

If joker, as the dictionary reminds us, is ‘a person who tells jokes’, we should soon qualify to be all top-class jokers. What began as a routine Santosh Tyagi ritual (many call it 'morning naashta’ or breakfast) was partly taken over by Jagmohan Papneja who added his own share of wit and humour. Then Nahid Khan joined with her risqué jokes which raised more eyebrows than laughter. Occasionally Dilip Babani and Harish Wadhwa pitched in, adding more spice to the proceedings. Then yesterday, Srichand Arora regaled everyone with a new brand of joke narration. And today, Bhaswati Bose too became a joker!
The test of a joke narration is whether it is amusing enough to tickle the funny bone. It requires the skills of a seasoned raconteur, a sense of timing and above all, an emotional connect with listeners. So narrating jokes is no joke. In this, Santosh deserves huge credit as the ‘mother of all jokers’.

Happy Birthday, BHASWATI BOSE!

Every morning, without fail, she manages to rustle up a fresh set of jokes (never repeated) and deliver them in typical deadpan fashion that would only leave us red-faced and asking for more. Papneja is comparatively more slapstick, but just as hilarious and regular as Santosh. But the real ‘master’ used to be Kishor Babani. He was the one to have started it all and none among us can match him in the quality or quantity of jokes in his stock – not to mention, his unique delivery style.
The best joke today was triggered by Papneja when he compared girls of the past and present. “A girl of the 20th century would say that for the sake of her love, she’d sacrifice the world. And guess what a girl of the 21st century tells her beau? ‘I will sacrifice the old for the new’!”
Geeta Sardana agreed with Papneja and everyone burst into laughter, but somehow, it made no sense to Monthi Serrao. “But what will happen to the old?” she asked, genuinely confused. “Who will take him? Better to repair the old fellow and carry on, rather than take someone new, isn’t it?”
That was the joke of the day. And it was in this atmosphere of good humour and bonhomie that Bhaswati celebrated her birthday with a round of aflatoon sweets. Everyone sang and rejoiced with her and as usual, an extra laugh was raised to mark the occasion.
Harish Wadhwa:
A very Happy Birthday, Bhaswati-ji. Thanks for the lovely aflatoon. The usual morning chai and the sweet made my day, before I left for work.
Jagmohan Papneja:
Birthday Greetings Bhaswati, filled with love and blessings. You had such an interesting narration that everyone enjoyed the moments with pleasure and aflatoon. Wishing you a day that is special in every way. Happy Birthday, once again.