It’s Monday yet again and Truclusions is back with a new story for you to begin the week. It is believed that laughter is the best medicine and today I am going to share a story about a friend who turned his passion of making people laugh into his profession; a pretty successful one at that! Before we get to know him, let me share three stories of a legend who was well-known for his wit- Tenali Ramakrishna, the wisest of the ministers in the court of King Krishnadevaraya of ancient Vijayanagar.
The Ancient Witty Comedian – Tenali Rama
Legend says that once upon a time there was a severe drought in a village called Tenali in the kingdom of Krishnadevaraya. All the residents were worried for their survival in the village. In a few days, a sage stepped into the village and the moment he stepped in, it started raining. The people of the village bowed down to the sage, and they believed that it was the mystical powers of the sage that had brought the much-needed rain.
But Rama was the only one who didn’t believe this, and so he laughed at the ascetic. The sage was angered and declared that he would prove his power to Rama. He whispered a magical verse to Rama and told him that the verse had the power to make Goddess Maha Kali appear before him if he recited it with complete devotion.
The Master Of Knowledge & Wealth
Rama did as he was told, and Goddess Maha Kali appeared before him in her enormous form with a thousand heads. Rama looked at her and started laughing uncontrollably. The Goddess was perturbed and asked him the reason for his laughter. Rama then told her that he just imagined how troublesome it would be if she had a common cold and would have had to wipe a thousand noses!
The Goddess liked his innocence and said that she would bless him with the boon of knowledge or wealth. She gave him two bowls of milk to choose from; one would give him immense wealth and the other would give him vast knowledge.
Rama asked if he could taste the milk in both the bowls and then decide. He was granted the permission to do so. But, within an instant, Rama drank both the bowls and asked for mercy from the Goddess, explaining to her that neither knowledge nor wealth would be of any use without the other. The Goddess was pleased by Rama’s cleverness and blessed him with both knowledge and wealth before disappearing.
The Mystery Of Tilkashtamahishabandhana!
With his cleverness, new found knowledge, and matchless wit, Rama became famous and eventually became the favourite minister of the king himself. Once it so happened that a learned man from a faraway land visited the king’s court with the intent of challenging his world-renowned ministers for their intellect. He claimed to defeat them in an argument in any subject and the challenge was accepted. The man defeated all the king’s men in debate; that was when Tenali Rama was summoned by the king. Tenali brought a bunch of paper tied by a rope and said that he would debate on the subject that’s in the book he holds called “Tilkashtamahishabandhana”.
The great pundit said he hadn’t heard of the book and would need a day to prepare. The requested time was granted; he tried all day to figure out what the book was about but couldn’t. He was so petrified at the thought of losing that he fled away the same night, leaving a note to the king. The next day Tenali arrived at the court at the decided time only to find out that the pundit had gone away.
The king asked Tenali, “What book were you talking about? Even I haven’t heard of it.” Tenali then confessed that there was no such book! He had just used some sesame seeds that are called “til” in Sanskrit, sheep dung called “kashta”, tied them with a rope made of buffalo hide that’s called “Mahisha” and tying is called “Bandhana”; all these words together made the word – “Tilkashtamahishabandhana”!!! The king was very impressed by Tenali’s cleverness and he hailed him greatly!
The Comedian Who Can Laugh On Himself – Sundeep Rao
Now coming to my friend I mentioned earlier, he is one of the most popular stand-up comedians in the country- Sundeep Rao! A graduate in sociology and political science, he tried his hand in various careers like advertising copywriter, radio jockey and many other things including IT. But he found his space when he started doing stand-up comedy in 2010 as a part-time job.
In the initial years he experimented with different ways of doing comedy. But then he realised that true comedy can only happen when one can laugh at his own problems. It’s true, isn’t it? A perfect life without problems becomes boring! That was when he shared with his audience that he was partially blind and had been diagnosed with juvenile macular degeneration.
He says he finds scripts for his comic performances through life and life itself is his inspiration. When asked if he wanted to be the next Russel Peters, he says he wanted to become the Sundeep Rao! If he couldn’t be happy being himself, how could he be happy being someone else. He does what he does to be happy!
Food For Thought
Tenali Rama, the legendary comic character, was also considered a failure in life, but now his stories are read and told as inspirations. If we could laugh at ourselves and at our problems, life would be so easy and happy. After all happiness is all that we want! Think about it.
Liked reading this? Then you might also like to read Monday Truclusions – The Life Lessons Garnered From My Himalayan Journey
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