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Business Recorder
21-05-2025
- General
- Business Recorder
Say it with humour
Stress. Tension. Friction. Conflict. Strain. Pressure. Everybody is on the edge. There is venom. There is anger. There is fire. There is furor. And, in this boiling, fuming environment, somebody cracks a harmless joke. Many, taken unawares, burst into laughter, others suppress smiles, some become even more incensed. This is as true for individuals, companies, and countries. Case in point is the menacing war environment that took place between India and Pakistan. While the Indian government and media were spitting threats, with mudslinging at its highest, Pakistani public almost disarmed them with memes that have become more popular than the warring statements themselves. Memes are now part of the micro propaganda in wars. They colour perceptions and actions. They mock fake stuff. They create caricatures of the most thunderous claims. The Indians are totally baffled. They do not know whether to laugh or lash out. They are speechless. They are 'disarmed'. They do not know how to deal with this laugh it off meme war. The use of humour to defuse situational stress is well recognized in psychological studies. Jokes and witty conversation can make you feel closer to the people around you. In addition, a key element of jokes is that they force you to look at the same situation in different ways. Humour done well, tends to make people think that it is not the end of the world. Humour conducted with respect brings people closer. Think of that witty friend you have, who always sees the funny side of the situation and gives such funny remarks that everybody has to smile and respond. Think of the fun Uncle you have who defuses a family conflict by telling a hilarious story. Think about a witty boss who bridges the gap between two conflicting team members by doing creative mimicry. Humour needs to be used sensitively. It can backfire if it is used not for fun but to make fun of somebody. Humour with a negative intent includes sarcastic or taunting repartees, belittling comparisons, mocking imitations, etc. These are intentional attempts to put somebody down. Let us look at some ways of using humour positively: Humour as a cultural norm — While most cultures have their own laughing traditions, some cultures by nature nurture funny interactions. Pakistani humour is part of our culture. The tradition of having a court jester has influenced this region. We have a lighthearted community culture where 'bhand' (the street joker) would visit houses during weddings or childbirth and would create laughter as part of celebrations. Pakistan film and theatre industry has produced giants like Munawwar Zareef, Amanullah, Lehri, etc. The Punjabi tradition of juggat bazi is almost a household tradition. People tend to throw funny repartees at each other as a norm. In today's world, some of it may be termed discriminatory or defamatory, but it was the best way to bring a chuckle in a normal conversation. The use of puns, the use of wit, the use of mimicry were all part of this culture of self-deprecating humour that made people grin and chuckle. In more recent times, the late and great Omar Sharif had become a recipe of laughter in the subcontinent. The satirical humour of Anwar Maqsood is still the most looked forward to session in literary events. Pakistan despite its terribly depressed economy and oppressive government continues to fare better on the World Happiness Index than all its subcontinent neighbours. Humour may have some part to play in it. Workplace culture that smiles — Organisations constantly strive to make their companies a fun place for their people. They work on building café corners, gyms, games room etc. However, the ability to have fun is more in the style of management prevailing in the organization. If people come in looking serious and strained, these facilities will be just ornamental. Many organizations introduce the 'happy hour' where weekly teams get together and become a Hyde Park corner type gathering where staff is allowed to do fun stuff. There is always a jester in the team. Use him to defuse tension in meetings. There are humour bulletins sometimes that are used for people to post fun stuff. For all this to happen the boundaries have to be very clearly spelled out. Humour should not be used to make snide personal remarks. Humour should not be used to target people. Humour should be used to ease up the daily grind. Humour needs to lighten up the dreariness of routines. Leaders with sense of fun — Humour when used with courtesy can make leaders more charismatic. It not only helps in ice breaking, but reduces stress, increasing the creativity and engagement of the team. A smile is way better than a frown, and a laugh is way more effective than a yell. Even if you are not naturally witty, learn a few humour tricks. Firstly, a good leader will start by making a joke about himself. Instead of criticizing a complicated IT presentation, the leader may say, 'My IT illiteracy has just set a Guinness Book record'. Start with a short fun personal story of how you misunderstood your wife's/son's message, etc. It has to be something everybody can relate with. Do some fun stuff on time management. When making rules for team meetings, include the team in the rule making. Instead of being sarcastic to late comers, ask the team to decide what penalty to give to people who are late and let them execute it. This switch of boss to team creates hilarity as late comers are asked to sing a song or give money, etc. Everybody is not born with a sense of humour. Everybody does not possess wit. So can humour be learned? Yes. It is a skill. Skills need knowledge and practice. There are certain techniques that need to be learned. Start by making fun of yourself. Have a few light, short, harmless funny stories. Learn some witty quotations. Try some funny puzzles. Keep the audience in mind. Be culturally sensitive. Keep adding to your harmless one-liners. Remember, you are not acting in Sitcoms or doing Standup comedy. All you are doing is creating a lighthearted banter that keeps things alive and kicking. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Express Tribune
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Schools celebrate Punjab's culture
Punjab Culture Day was celebrated with great enthusiasm in schools and colleges across the Rawalpindi district on Sunday. Many schools presented vibrant scenes of rural life, recreating the essence of Punjab's rural villages and mansions. Students and teachers embraced the day by wearing traditional rural attire. Teachers were dressed in colourful dhotis, long kurtas, and turbans, while also bringing along the cultural specialty of Punjab the hukkah. They lit the hukkah in schools and smoked it gracefully, with some even carrying pipes. Traditional Punjabi delicacies such as green (saag), cornbread, and cold sweet lassi were also served, as teachers sat on mats to enjoy the food together, accompanied by round pillows and colourful village-style beds. Students wore traditional shalwar kameez, kurtas, and khussas, with some tying small turbans on their heads or wearing caps. Female students and teachers adorned colourful braids and traditional attire. Traditional games such as stappo, getian, pithu garam, bandar qila, gulli danda, volleyball, and kok lakh chapaki were enjoyed by the students. Quiz shows, speech competitions, and tableau performances were also part of the day's festivities. Prizes were awarded to outstanding participants. Teachers and school heads delivered lectures on Punjabi culture, and the entire event was conducted in Punjabi. Amanullah, Head of the District Education Authority, emphasised the importance of preserving Punjabi culture, noting that it is essential to promote the use of the mother tongue in homes and public spaces. Presidents of the Educators Association, Akhyan Gul and Basharat Raja, expressed their joy over the success of the day, reflecting on the memories of the past fifty years. A student, Kamil Hassan, shared his excitement about wearing a turban for the first time and playing traditional games, urging the government to promote such games once again in schools.
Express Tribune
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Buildings lack facilities for differently-abled persons
Karachi, the capital of Sindh, is home to dozens of buildings of the federal and provincial governments alongside those of various government agencies, yet most of these buildings do not have special arrangements for persons with disabilities (PWDs). This is in spite of the fact that the Sindh Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Act 2018, mandates the provision of special arrangements for PWDs in all government buildings managed by the provincial government. Under this law, all existing government buildings were to be made accessible to PWDs within 5 years. However, even after the passage of seven years, no progress has been made in this direction. Abdul Haseeb Khan, a teacher at the Sindh Education Department office in Tughlaq House, shared the challenges he faced as a differently-abled person due to the lack of designated parking spaces. "Sometimes when I visit the building for my official work, I am unable to find a disabled parking space to park my car near the building. Hence, it takes me a long time to find a parking space and even when I can, it is usually quite far from the building," lamented Khan. Similarly, Amanullah, a government employee with a locomotor disability, also faced a similar problem while visiting the Health Department Office in the New Sindh Secretariat. "When I reach the building on my three-wheeled motorcycle I cannot find a designated parking space near the building," said Amanullah, who too had to park his car far away from the building, forcing him to walk a long distance with one leg. "Even though different laws do exist at the provincial and federal levels to protect the rights of differently-abled people they have not been implemented properly. Under a federal law 'Accessibility Code of Pakistan, 2006' all new buildings in the country should be accessible for PWDs. Similarly, the ruling of the 'Sindh Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Act 2018' dictate that facilities for people with physical disabilities are mandatory in not only the new buildings but also the existing ones," informed Abid Lashari, President of the National Disability and Development Forum, who further revealed that wheelchair ramps were only available at the Social Welfare Department in Sindh. It is worth noting that under the Sindh Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Act 2018, the provincial government was supposed to allocate special parking spaces for PWDs in all public places, but this has not happened yet. As a result, the vehicles of differently-abled employees and visitors are parked on the road outside the buildings. This can be gauged from the sheer number of official and non-official vehicles parked outside all buildings of the Sindh Secretariat including the New Sindh Secretariat, Tughlaq House, Old KDA Building and Finance Building. A similar situation was observed at the Income Tax Building of the federal government located between these buildings, where no space was allocated for disabled parking. Similar was the predicament at the Sindh Assembly, located near the Sindh Secretariat, when it came to the provision of parking facilities for PWDs. A few years ago, a multi-story parking lot was built in the premises of the Sindh Assembly, where a parking space had been allocated for the Speaker of the Sindh Assembly however, no space was allocated for PWDs. In this regard, The Express Tribune contacted Tauha Farooqi, Secretary of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Sindh, to delve into the reasons behind the non-implementation of the said law but he failed to respond.
