THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: While returning a hand gesture, a monkey tactfully snatched away the woman’s bag, to which her response was a lecture, starting with ‘How dare you?’ and ending with ‘Don’t you dare!’. What was evaluated by the narrator’s husband as her best ever lecture also turned out to be effective, as she was able to snatch the bag back from the monkey.
Reading out this episode from the first chapter of her newly launched book ‘Happy Go Funny’, renowned writer Khyrunnisa A spread a wide smile across the faces of the hundred-odd crowd that gathered before her. The 19th book of the author, which is a sequel to her fan-favourite ‘Tongue-in-Cheek: The Funny Side of Life’, the book was launched by MP Shashi Tharoor in a ceremony held at the Christ Church Centenary Hall in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday. Releasing the book, the MP said that the author gives her readers the exquisite permission to laugh at their own misadventures through the book. “True humour is not about stating reality; it is about confronting reality with a smile... If you know someone who takes life too seriously, buy them this book.
And if you are someone who takes life seriously, buy two copies and read them twice,” Tharoor said. Fondly calling her “a permanent settlement of Murphy’s law in Thiruvananthapuram city”, Tharoor also pointed out the impeccable manner in which Khyrunnisa has depicted the city in her work, beyond a collection of landmarks. “She never strains for comedy in her works, but rather allows reality to reveal its own absurdity.”
Retaining the humour in her vote of thanks, Khyrunnisa commented how her book launches have become an annual get-together. A writer known for her children’s books, she also thanked everyone who attended, which she called ‘her third book for adults’.
