DIRECTOR K. SRINIVASAN, who sits in Room 131-B of Parliament House, seems to be the keeper of parliamentary humour. According to the Lok Sabha website, he is the “officer responsible for supply of the information for the ‘Wit and Humour, Poetry and Couplets’”, a document issued by the Lok Sabha secretariat. The Wit and Humour document about the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha runs into 189 pages and is available online. Most of it is poetry, and serious poetry at that. The exceptions are far and few between, like THE WEEK columnist and MP Shashi Tharoor’s hilarious, rhyming jab at the tax regime on page 60.
In the first volume of our anniversary issue, Chief of Bureau R. Prasannan takes a wide-angle shot of the potshots in Parliament. Prasannan’s piece marries an essay on humour among parliamentarians with individual instances of banter on the floor of the house. I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I have.
The Rajya Sabha has immortalised much of its humour into at least two books, and the jokes are classy. Quite a few of them are sitcoms directed by the chair; frankly, they lose flavour in the retelling. Then there are quite a few jokes hanging on names, like the ones aimed at M.A. Baby of the CPI(M). Or, this quip by then deputy chairperson Dr Najma Heptulla, closing the discussion on the Tenth Five-Year Plan. “I think it is the first time a Mukherjee started the debate and a Mookherjee replied,” she said. “We are packed between two Mukherjees.” The reference was to Pranab Mukherjee of the Congress and Satyabrata Mookherjee of the BJP.
Speaking of the BJP and the Congress, the second volume of this issue is about how much has changed in the past two decades. I remember an actor telling THE WEEK about how people are surprised when things change. “Even the nature of garbage changes after a week in the sun,” he said. The period between 2000 and 2020 has dumped quite a few changes on us and it has been beautifully curated for you by Anjuly Mathai, Navin J. Antony, Ajish P. Joy, Anirudh Madhavan, Abhinav Singh, Priyanka Bhadani and Nandini Oza. From entertainment to society to politics and sports, the writers have covered almost all bases.
A few other stories I liked include the freewheeling chat with Ritu Phogat on her switch from wrestling to mixed martial arts. There is an experiential piece by Malayala Manorama Chief of Bureau Antony John about Ibiza, the party capital of the world. There are two telling photo-features: one on malnutrition in Palghar by Malayala Manorama photographer Vishnu V. Nair and the other on floating border outposts of the Border Security Force by Deputy Photo Editor Salil Bera. Then there are more stories, like the one on the cutting-edge research into managing Parkinson’s disease.
My mind keeps drifting back to the parliamentary humour package and to the recent protests in Delhi and on campuses countrywide. It is a sad day when a clash of ideas ends in fire and bloodshed. The ethos of a democracy demands that we listen to both sides, shun violence and embrace consensus. Personally, it grieves me to see a year ending on this note. I am hopeful that the remaining two weeks will usher in peace and harmony.
On a closing note, dear reader, please accept my wishes for a peaceful Christmas and a blessed New Year.