English Literature – Article ☆ Mission HAPPINESS – My Idyllic Life – My Laughter Yoga Journey-2 ☆ Mr. Jagat Singh Bisht ☆

Excerpts from – Mission HAPPINESS 

MY LAUGHTER YOGA JOURNEY–2

(e-abhivyakti presents chapter MY LAUGHTER YOGA JOURNEY in three parts.)

Laughter yoga, which initially started as a social club movement, slowly entered the business world. By introducing laughter yoga for staff, corporates have reported happier workplace, increased efficiency, better communication, team work, and reduced stress levels.

We conducted a laughter session at our local head office, Bhopal. The audience included the staff, senior officials, and their families. They appreciated it very much.

S K Mishra, chief general manager, desired that an audio track be recorded, containing instructions for a brief laughter session. The track was played every morning at 11 o’clock over the public address system at the local head office and more than five hundred employees spread on five floors of the building chanted ‘very good very good yay’ and laughed in unison, every working day.

We also conducted a brief energizing session of laughter yoga at the beginning of bipartite meeting between SBI management and staff federation representatives at hotel Sayaji, Indore.

One of our most fulfilling experiences has been to bring cheer in the lives of special children. The experience of laughter yoga with special children at Rotary Paul Harris School, Indore has touched the core of our hearts.

The kids responded to our first session with great enthusiasm and energy. We were taken by surprise by the positivity generated by the affirmation – very good, very good, yay! They loved milkshake laughter, mobile laughter, argument laughter, appreciation laughter, and hearty laughter.

But we realized that they could not clap in rhythm, chant hoho hahaha, or follow the deep breathing exercises. So, we decided to focus initially on simple clapping and the laughter exercises which they liked.

Radhika worked hard with the kids on Tuesday mornings week after week and gradually they started picking up. A weekly session on laughter yoga was included in their time table.

Neeti Billore, principal, and her team of teachers were always with us during the sessions. The school authorities told us that they propose to showcase the progress in laughter sessions to the parents of the kids and members of Rotary Club during their annual day celebrations.

The kids were well prepared for the event and laughed coherently to the surprise of all present. We felt satisfied as our efforts had borne fruits.

Gloria Bartusch travelled all the way from Frankfurt to Indore to stay with us as a home guest and learn the life skills of laughter yoga, happiness, and well-being.

It was an intense week of sharing and caring, learning and teaching, and pouring out our hearts and souls in a warm and conducive set-up.

She treasured the life turning experience and expressed deep gratitude to us, while we felt fulfilled to the core for having touched a life.

We often visit our native village, Naula, in the Uttarakhand hills. To reach our place, we pass through the famous Corbett national park, named after a British jungle enthusiast, Jim Corbett, who penned The Man Eaters of Kumaon.

There is a small school, named shikhar public school, in the village. We visited the school and explained the concept and benefits of laughter yoga to the principal and teachers. Instantly, a laughter yoga session was arranged for the kids.

We started the session as usual with clapping and chanting. They chanted hoho hahaha joyously and relished milkshake laughter.

Radhika did the laughter zoo with them comprising of various laughter exercises from the animal kingdom. Children loved moving like animals – lion, elephant, kangaroo, penguin, bird, and monkey.

It touched the core of their hearts and they yearned for more laughter as they had never imagined of such variety in laughter. We realized that the sun was straight over our heads, and it was hot. We tried to wrap up, but the kids wanted more. So, we decided to come back to the school again in the evening.

To our utter surprise, all the kids were there in the evening. We did a quick recap of the warm-up steps and some laughter exercises. Then we played the games ‘pizza pasta’ and ‘follow the leader’ with them. They were simply delighted.

By this time, a word had spread in the village that children in the school were having some real fun. When we looked around, the entire school was surrounded by spectators from the village, who were shouting in chorus ‘very good, very good, yay’.

On reaching Indore, I called my mother to tell her that we have reached back safely. She seemed incredibly happy, “Radhika and you have left permanent footprints in the village. The chants of ‘very good, very good, yay’ by the kids can be heard anytime. Now, you are not away. You are always right here!”

I remember, once a lady of our village praised me before my mother. My mother said, ”Bhagwaan sabko mere Jagat jaisa beta de!” (May God give everyone a son like my Jagat!) That was the one of the proudest moments of my life.

We were delighted to have with us Gulyora Shermatova, laughter yoga teacher from Tashkent. She is the warmest person we have ever met. Her laughter is amazing. She can laugh anytime, anywhere, for no reason. What surprised us was the effortlessness of her laughter. She could continue laughing for hours together.

Ever since we did our laughter yoga training together at Bangalore, we kept in regular touch and planned to visit each other’s homes. She teaches Hindi at the institute of oriental studies, Tashkent and was invited by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations to New Delhi recently.

She took an early morning flight from Delhi to Indore. I went to the airport to pick her up. The members of suniket laughter club were eagerly waiting for her arrival. She greeted them in pure Hindi and won hearts instantly. After exchanging pleasantries, an unforgettable laughter session took shape.

Our club is specially known for doing the four steps of laughter yoga – clapping and chanting, deep breathing, childlike playfulness, and laughter exercises – in a structured and meticulous way. But her unique, spontaneous, and infectious laughter left the members bewildered and spellbound.

After affirming ‘very good, very good, yay’ a few times, we chanted ‘bahut achche, bahut achche, yay’ in Hindi, followed by ‘khorosho, khorosho, yay’ in Russian.

In the evening, we went to the regional park and had a fantastic time. We sat on a bench and laughed incessantly, oblivious of bewilderment on the faces of onlookers, who found it difficult to decipher what was so hilarious around that made us go nuts.

The next morning, we stayed at home to spend some quality time together. We sat in our balcony with the morning cuppa. Lo and behold, Gulyora started laughing for no reason. How could we refrain? We also joined her. Many rounds of laughter followed during the day. We laughed and laughed and laughed.

Her husband’s name is Kakramon, which means hero. She has named him ‘Mahaveer’ in Hindi. He is an introvert and previously worked for the army. But now he is also bitten by the laughter bug. He takes a recording of laughter exercises to his office and plays it for the staff. And then, he gives a command in true military style, “Kulila!” – that is, “Laugh!”

In the evening, she conducted an exclusive session of laughter yoga for ladies at the suniket community hall. Upon their asking, she explained how one can laugh from the diaphragm effortlessly and continuously. The ladies enjoyed her laughter and felt inspired.

Next morning, we went to the Rotary Paul Harris School for a laughter session with the special kids. She was touched by their simplicity and warmth. Tears started flowing from her eyes and rolled over her cheeks.

Gulyora is such a noble soul. She is unbelievably good hearted and positive. We feel privileged to have spent precious moments in her enchanting company. The laughter still lingers on.

Our good friend Duncan Cook, from Ontario, Canada, commented on Gulyora’s visit, “In Guelph, where I live, the laughter club members are visiting each other’s homes now. Bless this house with laughter!”

Many years ago, we had gone to make a small presentation on laughter yoga at Viscus Infotech, an IT company based in Indore. The CEO of the company felt that laughter yoga would be helpful in enhancing the creativity of the software professionals by relaxing their minds and activating the right brain.

The session was well appreciated and, later on, the young CEO himself conducted laughter sessions for his staff. Such actions make the workplace vibrant and full of positive vibes.

After the session, Ranu Jain Gupta, webmaster, specializing in search engine optimization, came up to Radhika, and said that she had liked the session very much and would join us at our laughter club with her husband, Dr Gaurav Gupta.

Laughter, which starts as a simple exercise routine, penetrates skin deep over a period of time, and changes our outlook towards life. We become more loving, caring, and sharing. It seems that Ranu could not take laughter yoga off her mind at any point of time.

We were more than pleasantly surprised when we received a cute video clip from her on world laughter day. It touched our hearts to the core. It was, undoubtedly, the sweetest greeting one could expect.

In the video, she is seen playing and laughing with her child, Kabeer, who might have been just a few months old then. She is prompting him to say, “very good very good yay!” and greet everyone across the world, “happy world laughter day!”