WHERE IS MY FUNNY BONE?

Pic.: Prashant Bhat

There is a nice article on today’s Sunday Times about the wonderful benefits of Laughter. It encourages us to see the lighter side of life... yes, even in times of great distress.

Difficult?

Yes.

But, then, imagine the benefits of learning to see the lighter side, the funnier side, of life... and going about it!

I am, essentially, an intense person by nature, almost serious. I am aware of this side of my personality. At times, I do get conscious of the ‘image trap’ I am caught-up in... That, I am a teacher, I am a father of a teenager-son, I am a married man, I am a value-education and Personality-Development guide and so on... Yes, I do see my natural inclination to laugh, crack and enjoy jokes, getting buried under the weight of my self-created image...

So, this morning, as I was reading the article, I found myself asking this:  Don’t I love the sight of laughing and playing children? Don’t I love the mischief and fooling around by the young-ones? Don’t I enjoy all the Santa-Banta and Rajnikant jokes? Don’t I love the LOL’s on the social media? Don’t I enjoy all the comedy shows on TV, the funny scenes in the movies, and, above all, in my friend circle, don’t I indulge in all those ‘adult jokes’?

I kept the newspaper aside and laughed!

I love little kids. In their PD sessions, I, always, encourage them to present some funny stuff on the stage and they happily do. Instead of starting, “Hi friends, I am here to tell you a nice joke”, I encourage them to start with, “Hi friends, I am here to tickle your funny bone.”

And, they all do as I have suggested, obediently. But, the other day, one of them asked me from the stage, “Sir, where is our funny bone?”... and, he began to search for it, by tickling himself everywhere...

“Haan, here; I got it!” the little-brat pointed to somewhere between his elbow and shoulder.

By then, the whole class was checking... and, believe me, I, too!

For years, I have been using this English idiom and I have been encouraging my students – little kids and young-guns all – to use it. Yet, none of them had ever asked me that question...

“Sir, where is our funny bone?”

Luckily, I was spared, that day, from the strain of giving an answer to my little-friend in the class; for, he himself had found his funny bone and not only helped me save my face... but, in deed, tickled our funny bones, too!

After the session, that day, I had googled for the answer. And, what I found had really made me laugh like a little child...

It seems, the so-called ‘Funny Bone’ in our body is not a bone at all! It is, in deed, a nerve called ‘Ulnar nerve’ that runs along the inner side of the arm, and passing near the elbow. Nerves carry messages to our brain. For, some reason, when Ulnar nerve contacts the ‘Humerus’ (Hyoo-muh-rus) – a long bone that starts at the elbow and goes up to one’s shoulder – it sends a ‘feeling funny’ message to the brain!

I have been a very bad student in Science. So, I had no guts to impart this borrowed ghyan to the little-ones, the next day. “What if they come out with one more deadly googlie?” I feared, “Who would save me, this time?”

The next day, another little-fellow, wearing a big mischief on his face, was on the stage. “Hi friends, today, I am going to tickle your lazy brain,” he said before he asked all of us this riddle:

“What is a bone in your body that can not be broken?”

“The Funny Bone,” all screamed.

“Correct!” the little quiz-master cheered.

“But, why?” I couldn't control myself from asking.

After some guessing, blinking and fooling, they all said in a chorus, “Pass.”

So, feeling quite safe to do it, I shared with all my little-funny-friends, the ghyan I had just borrowed, the evening before...

I am still laughing... and, feeling very light, young and blissful!

GERALD D’CUNHA