Having the last laugh
- Image Credit: Arun Sharma
- Jolly (Jatinder Singh)
New Delhi: Jatinder Pal Singh, aka Jolly Uncle, is as popular in Patna as he is in Pennsylvania.
New Delhi’s most famous jokes writer, Jolly has been regaling people
with his short stories and snappy funny lines in Hindi for almost two
decades.
Writing for portals and newspapers, Jolly has a fan following from as
far as the US, UK, Switzerland and Canada. And, almost all cars parked
in west Delhi’s Tilak Nagar colony, where he resides, have smiley
stickers pasted on them!
The 59-year-old humorist says he was not always a jolly fellow. But
diagnosed with Deep Vain Thrombosis that led to several heart attacks,
which left him bedridden for several months, changed his entire life in
1994.
“I was devastated when doctors told me that there was no cure.
Initially, it was very tough reconciling to the idea that I required
total bed rest, but as time passed, I began feeling less depressed and
made best of the time in hand.”
Even while his social circle reduced and relatives maintained sombre
faces and sympathised with him, Jolly did a total turnaround. He began
cracking jokes first at his own predicament and then in general. Soon,
people began enjoying his company and Jolly started living life to the
hilt. He is now a role model to many.
“Undaunted by restriction in my movement and having all the time in the
world for myself, I began writing jokes and short stories and sent them
to various newspapers,” he recalls.
After a newspaper by mistake published his joke under the name ‘Jolly
Uncle’, he became famous by this name. But maintained, “A lot of elderly
people feel embarrassed referring to me as Uncle!”
It is not all fun and games with him. Jolly runs a government approved
cargo clearing agency under the name Aman Cargo, having establishments
in Delhi and Mumbai and has been in the trade for the last 30 years.
He tasted success in writing a couple of years after newspapers began
publishing his jokes. Initially, he sent the jokes to local newspapers
of west Delhi, but soon flooded several portals with his humorous notes.
Appreciation led to Jolly, an admirer of Charlie Chaplin movies,
receiving fan mail and writing became a passion with him. He has written
jokes for more than 100 newspapers across the country. For the last
several years, he has been writing regularly for Punjab Kesari, the largest selling Hindi daily in India.
A sample of his joke: Once Bollywood filmstar Mallika Sherawat was
stopped by a beggar, who asked for money saying: “Behenji kuch dete
jaiye” (Sister, please give me something). A beaming Sherawat handed him
Rs500 note. Aghast, a friend who was with Sherawat asked her, “Why did
you give him so much?” Sherawat responded, “You will not understand.
Actually, no one has ever called me behenji (sister) before!”
Jolly’s most popular characters are Veeru and Basanti, from the Bollywood blockbuster Sholay. He has written a script for a movie starring veteran TV comedy couple Savita and Jaspal Bhatti. Titled Chadha Chadhi Te Nikke, the film has been in the making for some time.
“It is a slapstick take on the state of affairs in the medical field.
The protagonists are two government hospital doctors who misuse the
facilities of the hospital they work in,” he informs.
Besides that, Jolly has authored six books that comprise motivational
stories. “My aim is to do good in life and I would feel blessed if I am
able to motivate people into doing good for the society in any way.”
He has been awarded by a number of institutions for his motivational writings.
As for the jokes he writes, Jolly says, “There is humour all around and
I draw inspiration from everyday life’s happenings. People write to me
from all over the world to inform that it is a ritual in the family to
go through my Facebook page. And I ensure that my fans get their regular
dose of humour and post jokes on the page every morning.”
The jokes reflect social realities and deal with corruption, inflation and politics.
Writing has made Jolly’s life easier. As he says, “It’s not a joke that
I am living and having fun despite suffering from a deadly disease.”
