You’d think no one would find death funny. But The Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPC) has turned the idea on its head to give terminally ill patients something to laugh at.
The public awareness campaign #LaughAtDeath is helping not just the patients but also their families. So much so that they can even joke about it.
Pooran Issarsingh, a heart patient, sat with comedians Kashyap Swaroop and Vinay Sharma to prepare for her performance. “I’m a Sikh, so sick that I was admitted at Guru Nanak Hospital,” she smiled as the audience cracks up.
Sixty-four-year-old Narendra Mhatre, both of whose kidneys failed him four years ago, says he is amazed by how much science had advanced: “I got a kidney transplant – you can call it chota recharge”.
In the video below, his daughter and comedian Puneet Pania reveal how they learned of a different side to death through humour.
Janice Powell, 65, has been through various treatments and admits that her family has worried more than her. Calling herself “bindaas” or relaxed, she comments on the possible perks of dying in the city of Mumbai: “Being buried is the most affordable way to get a place in Mumbai.”
When it comes to talking of her age, Manudevi Singh laughs it off as just a number: “Meri umar itni hai ki main doctor se nahi, doctor mujhse darta hai.” (I’m so old that instead of my fearing the doctor, the doctor fears me.) Singh, a lung cancer patient, shares her experiences comfortably and fearlessly.
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