Gales of laughter pour down city streets

BANGALORE: The human race has only one really effective weapon and that's laughter, said Mark Twain. How difficult it is to disagree with Twain.
On Sunday afternoon, even as the summer sun glared mercilessly, a group of people were spotted walking by the secretariat. None complained about the scorching heat or traffic, instead they were all laughing their hearts out.Their's was a simple message __ laughter is the best medicine for any problem, with no side-effects!
The Bengaluru Nage Kuttagala Sammilana (Bangalore Laughter Club Association) celebrated World Laughter Day on Sunday. As part of the celebrations, members of various laughter clubs in the city organized a laughter procession from Vidhana Soudha to SJRC College, Anand Rao Circle, via Freedom Park.
Men and women in fancy costumes amidst band performers walking on the road was a rather unusual sight for passersby.
As one of the participants put it, the purpose of the day is to make everyone on the road laugh __ at any cost. Some of the performances were so amusing that even the otherwise sombre cops were in splits.
"I don't understand why people have a problem laughing. Some people have this wrong notion that they have to look serious all the time. So, we decided to make those on the road laugh," said Ragavendra Raju, one of the participants.
"When you are really nervous, if you see someone laughing, it makes you happy and confident," said Prakash Rao, a retired engineer.
The procession on their way to Anand Rao Circle had a pit stop at Freedom Park where the Dollu Kunitha and Nandi Dhwaja dances were performed.
"Problems such as hypertension can be controlled to a great extent using laughter therapy. In Karnataka, we have more than 400 registered laughter clubs and 185 of them are in Bangalore, and we are expanding fast," said Prof P Sadashiv, president Karnataka Laughter Club Association.