File that under humour

The sad thing about humour is that not everyone gets it. One way to prevent that from happening, those manning the websites of India’s parliament have figured out, is to underline the humour. So, the websites of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha have a section ‘Wit and humour, poetry and couplet’. Click on it, and you get the ‘wit and humour, poetry and couplet’ for each session. Question hour on April 17, 2008 for instance had Varkala Radhakrishnan referring to the Thiruvananthapuram Airport as being very old and the aircraft in it being equally old. Aviation Minister Praful Patel replied saying ‘Sometimes old is gold like in the case of the Hon’ble MP’. The House, the website says, ‘appreciated his sense of humour’. In another instance, LK Advani referred to the Leader of the House as the Leader of the Opposition. At which point, the Speaker remarked, ‘Shri Advani is anticipating the other side’ and, the website tells us, ‘the House burst into laughter’. In another instance, in December 2006, one member kept on speaking, so the Deputy Speaker who was in the Chair interrupted him to say ‘Thank you’. The member replied, ‘Sir, what is the meaning of Thank you’. To which the Deputy Speaker retorted, ‘Thank you means you have to conclude now’ and the House, the website says, ‘enjoyed the humorous remark’.