The Funny Bone
How did your Felicitation function go? asked my husband even as he was unwrapping the memento they had given me.
O.K. I said in a lackluster manner.
You don’t seem to sound very happy. What’s the matter? He inquired.
Well, there were many surprises, I said.
Like what? he said.
First let me talk about the pleasant ones. I was introduced to the audience as a “specialist” in humour writing and that the function was got up to felicitate me on the completion of my 150th.Column on a popular web site.
Then you should be overwhelmed with the tag attached to you and feel flattered that even in these days of tension filled life, you find there are still some readers who not only appreciate humourous writing but also think of felicitating the writer, he observed.
It was heartening to hear a few of them say they enjoy my column which makes them wear their thinking caps in order to comprehend what the writer is getting at, I said.
Is that supposed to be a compliment or a complaint? teased my husband.
I would rather take it as a compliment, I averred.
Then there were a few who wanted me to offer them some tips to appreciate and develop a sense of humour. They even asked me if I could suggest a short term course/books in this regard.
Quite a tricky question. I wonder what you had to say to that.
I had to be rather frank. I said if the “Funny bone” happens to be missing in some, it can’t be “transplanted.”
They must have laughed at your answer, observed my husband laughing.
No, they didn’t see through my sarcasm. On the other hand they appeared disappointed and thought I was cynical, I chuckled.
N.Meera Raghavendra Rao
Funny bone metaphorically means a sense of humor. It has also a physiological meaning referring to a point near your elbow, where a nerve may be pressed against the bone to produce a tingling sensation. Maybe the missing nerve or the bone can be transplanted!