As is oft-said, “A good time to laugh is any time you can.” Gandhi Peace Foundation, Ernakulam who has always strived to achieve a Gandhian way of living believes that laughter is a significant part of it and can be a means to attain mental equilibrium.
“As the International Laughter Day falls on Thursday, inorder to widen the mental horizon of children, the Gandhi Peace Foundation, Ernakulam is exhorting every schools to inaugurate a laughter festival on Thursday.
“The idea is simple. The student and the teacher has to sit facing each other and laugh. Besides, creating a positive energy vibe, it helps them understand each other through their eyes. Eyes is a great medium of communication through which one can realsie the importance of the other person in one’s life,” says Soman P Paul, general convenor, Gandhi Darsan.
He says that it is a known fact that children are over-burdened with issues especially in schools. Most of these little tots suffer from sleepless nights due to the mounting pressure from peer circles. Besides this, most homes no longer offer an ambience where can children can feel at ease. With parents turning increasingly workaholic, they spend less time with children at home, which can be more depressing. This has to change,” he adds.
Soman also says that they wanted to spread the message that though tears are an inevitable part of human life, man should realise that laughter can help bring stability to most life situations. “ That is exactly why we have termed this programme as ‘Kanneer mazhayathu chiriyude kuda choodi’.”
This is the first time the Foundation is organising such a programme in schools. “ We have prepared a curriculum as part of it. There are training programmes also. We will either conduct classes for the teachers or we will impart training to teachers to carry out this programme,” he says.