Media Release

Mangaluru, Mar 19: In view of the pan-India spread of coronavirus pandemic, Bondel Laughter Club has suspended its daily sessions effective from March 20. The sessions were held on the 10-acre PWD Maidan from 6 to 6.20 am.

The laughter sessions were sought to be suspended a week earlier; but the laughter-cracks, as they are dubbed by onlookers, dismissed the idea supported by the adage that 'Fear killed more than plague' which was the main mass killer before the new strain mass-killing emerged post-2000.

This adage was strongly supported by an ancient story wherein a Sadhu going to Banares halted at a wayside inn for rest and refreshment. The inn-keeper asked the Sadhu what was his mission in Banares. The Sadhu said that he was going there to kill 50 people by means of plague.

On his return journey, the Sadhu went to the same inn where the inn-keeper asked him if he succeeded in killing 50 people in Banares. The Sadhu replied that 500 people were killed – 50 by plague and the rest by the fear of the plague.

During the latest meeting on suspending the laughter club sessions, the laughter-cracks ignored the adage that fear of plague killed more people than the plague itself.

Bondel Laughter Club was started in 2002 by John B. Monteiro, veteran journalist and writer in English. He continues to be the chief anchor of the club.