by Akhilesh Mittal

Created on: March 17, 2009   Last Updated: March 20, 2009

A man was juggling a stick to make his audience happy and then he intentionally hit the nose of a man. He followed it up with a joke, "Sir, mind your big nose it is coming in the way of my stick".

It was an act to make his audience happy, and happy they were. It was apparent from the loud jeering and clapping. Is this harmless fun? The answer to this question is circumstantial and can be Yes or No. If this was a pre-decided act and the man whose nose was hit was already aware about the act and agreed to do it, then yes it is harmless fun. If he was made fun of without his knowledge then it hurt him physically and emotionally and for him it was not harmless. Harmless fun should never be at the expense of others.

When we say 'Harm' we often equate it with a physical injury but harm can also be caused mentally and emotionally. Fun intended by hurting person emotionally or physically can never be harmless fun. We often see people making fun of others by either mocking their physical appearance, or their intelligence. This can and does cause emotional distress for the person who ic being made fun of. Humor that is not humorous for everyone including the people involved can't be called harmless fun.

The other day I went to enjoy some stand-up comedy. Soon I realized that a stand-up comedian's routine is not complete unless they pokes their audience. They will pick random people from the audience and crack jokes about their names, religion or race. Some of us find it enjoyable and we laugh in the moment of fun and enjoy it. Is this harmless fun? People may have divided opinion. Stand-up comedy is a spontaneous routine and the act is to create humor out of anything and nothing. But then would we have appreciated it if the humor was directed at us? I believe we need to have a yardstick to quantify how much hurt can be caused by a remark. If it is light humor and doesn't cause anyone grieve, we all appreciate it and that is harmless fun.

Bullying is defined as being overbearing and intimidating. Some of us often assocaite it with the act of physically aggression of pushing or making gestures. What if a person tries to demoralize you with his piercing words and remarks and puts up a smile on his face. Is this not bullying? I want to share a small story with you. The reason why I want to talk about it is because underlines the fact that mental agony can be more serious than physical agony.

A woodcutter and lion once became good friends. The lion requested the woodcutter to

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