These are grim days. Any attempt to make one laugh, even momentarily, is welcomed. It is in this context that I feel happy in introducing Rajbir Deswal and his book on wit and humour in Haryana to the readers.
I have followed his writings in newspapers of the region, including the Indian Express and have felt that he knows his land and its people well. His anecdotes and characterisation have the original flavour of Haryana. He sticks to some expressions in the Haryanvi dialect because it is necessary to use it to give the mood and spirit of the people.
Rajbir Deswal claims that such a book is being published for the first time in Haryana. He must be right. In any case, I have not come across a book on the subject. He deserves praise for he has written a book which happens to be a difficult project. It also helps a person to know one aspect of the Haryanvi culture intimately.
Deswal believes that the wit in Haryana is not biting but it does all that 'tomfoolery' is capable of. One may or may not agree with him. One may also feel that the Haryanvi humour is too pedestrian to be made the subject of a book. But these are subjective views. What matters is if you enjoy what you read. If a person has been honest in presenting a true picture of the rural culture and has also succeeded in making others relax and laugh, he has surely done well.
Humour in any society or civilization is a reflection of the maturity and vastness which is encompassed in that particular arena. Haryana has undoubtedly been the cradle of Vedic and Aryan Civilizations; a rose-bed of values and virtues cherished by Indian and envied by the world. And here was the need to bring alive to the lovers of culture, a hidden and so far, un- explored treasure of wit and humour, particular to this land with special emphasis on Haryana.
And they say, there is no better a, way to put across your ideas but by way of wit and humour, as also satire. Since the endeavour here has primarily been to make the readers travel along the unstrolled avenues of Haryanvi culture, the approach of the humorist was preferred, lest dullness and fatigue should take the better of the journey.
The First Part of the book contains about fifty episodes which depict one aspect of Haryanvi Culture or the other; this being explained by a small introduction or opening followed by one or two relevant jokes. The jokes are purely original and not much of craft has gone in, so far as their narration is concerned. Everything has been said in lighter-vein and with no malice to any individual or class. All the episodes naturally grow and emanate from the soil, and soul, of Haryana and if one has a nose, sensitive to this fragrance, can enjoy the aroma.
The Second Part enshrines typical characters found in the Haryanvi cultural milieu. One can find these characters in the entire back-drop of Indian society yet here is something unique.
**Contents and Sample Pages**
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