Rule 65: You have the freedom to laugh

This Independence Day, laughter has not died. The state human rights commission proved this, as it asked the state government to compensate Ambikesh Mahapatra and his neighbour over the case of the curious cartoons lampooning the chief minister.
The case is a pointer to the fact that in a mature democracy — all of 65 years old — the ability to laugh, especially at oneself, is a precious quality.So, here’s raising a toast to laughter. This August 15, let the cartoonists sharpen their pencils and their wits. Let them target those whose actions raise a storm of jokes on social networking sites. Here’s our list of people we want caricatured. As for the rest: grumpy faces, vanish!
Chhote muh, badi baat!
First, the punch-up with a South African businessman, then the confusion over marriage dates and finally, his ‘joke’ about working with Natalie Portman, our Chhote Nawab has turned his habit of courting controversy into an art form. But Natalie didn’t quite see the joke and was reportedly planning to sue the Bolly actor for spreading false rumours. Last heard, our Tiger cub from Pataudi was issuing apologies all around. If only you roared a little less, Saif!
Keep Paes with controversy
From tennis hero to the ageing zero, our Beckbagan boy travelled the full distance as the Paes-Bhupathi serve-and-volley slanging match got played out on prime time like a saas-bahu serial. Both of them went down — with different partners though — but the biggest loser? Indian tennis! Paes put his big trainers in his mouth as he said he didn’t know if his partner Vishnu has grass-court shoes. Talk about being condescending!
Life on the 'fast' track
Baba Ramdev ko gussa kyun ata hai? Black money, corruption, political wheeling dealing: the Baba showed us how to rave, rant and fast this year. The yoga guru — who thinks sex education should be replaced with yoga classes in schools — showed some smart manoeuvres as he hobnobbed with the Hindutva brigade and lambasted the Congress. He could be a wily politician, only if he wasn’t in the habit of fleeing the police dressed as a woman.
Cut above the rest
Snip, snap, snipe! Our I&B ministry (headed by Ambika Soni) has had a great time this year as the censors went into overdrive, ordering cuts to sex scenes, asking for smoking disclaimers and generally making life difficult for filmmakers and the audience. Case in point: “The Dirty Picture” got clearance for prime-time telecast — but only after 15 cuts! How about loosening up a bit and giving creativity some free rein, Ms Soni?
Is it Mumbai or Dhoble Ghat? Ram says: “I wish Dhoble was alive during my times. I would have sent him to raid Lanka instead of Hanuman.” That’s one of the Dhoble jokes doing the rounds on Twitter. The Mumbai cop showed what it takes to be Killjoy King as he raided pubs and drove out patrons for flouting the city’s archaic laws. He’s been called Taliban and an FB page called ‘Dhoble — Oppressor of the Innocent Public’ has thousands of members. But guess what? Dhoble’s lovin’ it!