First Person - Humorous Articles

	"Deep, profound!" reads the latest book review. "A thought - provoking, 
	disturbing portrayal of the psyche of modern man." Nowadays it seems that 
	with reviews like this, a bestseller is made. The book in question is 
	vigourously debated and critiqued and it’s author honoured with any 
	number of high - brow awards.
	
	"And Elijah said to Berokah, ‘These two will also share in the world 
	to come.’ Berokah then asked them, ‘What is your occupation?’ They 
	replied, ‘We are merrymakers. When we see a person who is downhearted, 
	we cheer him up.’
	
	These two were among the very select few who would inherit the Kingdom 
	of Heaven." These lines from the Talmud express my views exactly. What 
	I want to know is, why is it that only serious writing is considered 
	‘good’ literature? Intellectual snobs seem to view humourists as the 
	lowest strata of society. Why is it that no humourous writer has ever 
	been a Nobel Laureate?
	
	I have enjoyed writing several humourous articles, all of which have 
	been published and appreciated by numerous people, and yet people still 
	have a tendency to say to me, "Yes, that’s all very well, but when will 
	you get into serious writing?" The theory is this - humourous writing 
	is frivolous and for young people, but once you grow up, you graduate 
	to more serious literature. For some reason the world seems to think 
	that serious writing is the be - all and end - all for all writers. 
	The general view is that humourous writing is fine, but it’s soul 
	searching, grim writing that benefits society.
	
	Serious writing is associated with great depth of meaning and 
	profundity of thought, but there are too many people writing 
	thoughtful analyses of the world, and too few bringing smiles 
	to others’ faces.
	
	In Shakespeare’s time, the court jester occupied an enviable 
	social position. Not only were his wit and intelligence widely 
	recognised, but even the King acknowledged and respected his trade. 
	He was allowed to burlesque or ridicule anything absurd in society. 
	For some reason matters have deteriorated since then.
	
	There seems to be far too much analysis, and far too little 
	entertainment. Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath wrote serious 
	literature - look what happened to them (in case you didn’t 
	know, they both committed suicide). P.G. Wodehouse, on the other 
	hand, died at the ripe old age of ninety - two. Need I say more?
	
	Life is quite grim and gloomy enough without authors writing morbid
	articles on human weakness and corruption. Therefore, as I see it, 
	humourists are doing a great service to a Prozac - prone society 
	by livening the situation. Most people insist that humourists see 
	the world out of focus. The way I see it, it’s the world that’s 
	out of focus, and the humourists are the only people who can 
	see straight.
	
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	© 1997 Maya Chandrasekaran. Maya is an 18 year college student in 
	Banglore, India. Her first novel was published when she
	was 13. Since then, she has four novels and numerous articles 
	to her credit.'
	
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