“He gave the constable a punch, where the latter kept his lunch,
The constable said well, well and marched him off to the dungeon cell,
In the prison out the truth came, Sir Percy was the culprit’s name ! …”
These lines are, as ardent fans would guess, from the PG Wodehouse old classic, the immensely funny book “Damsel in Distress” that was the first of his books I’d read as recommended by my Dad, himself an avid reader. This for bringing more sparkle, wit and humour in my English & expression, though it was never part of our curriculum.
Die-hard followers of British humour would recall incomparable, P.G.Wodehouse, one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His remarkably lovable characters included the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeves, Lord Emsworth and the Blandings Castle set, with mirthful stories about golf and tennis and tall tales on subjects from old England ranging from bishops to movie moguls, all without any trace of rancour.
His most well-known duo, Bertie Wooster and Jeeves became popular literary icons, embodying the dry acerbic wit and humour of the English, “Jeeves lugged my purple socks out of the drawer as if he were a vegetarian fishing a caterpillar out of his salad.” Wooster was the amiable and naive man-of-leisure, while Jeeves as quintessential British gentleman, older and wiser, was friend and valet to him. Their tales usually involved Wooster getting into some sort of “scrape” with a woman, an Aunt, or the Law. Jeeves always came to the rescue in his inimitably sauve manner. (much like the wise Birbal of Akbar fame ! )
Not surprisingly for veteran bankers like us, it is reported that Wodehouse, after leaving school, was employed by a bank but disliked the drudgery of the work and turned to writing in his spare time. (Was Chetan Bhagat of modern Indian writers’ era exhorted in the same fashion- we can’t say ?). PG’s many works have gone on to inspire numerous adaptations for television, stage and screen. ‘Wodehousian’ lingo though ‘old school’ is still much loved & even used between old ‘blokes’ like us !
Which brings us to Bollywood film-makers, writers and creative artists. What about some wit and humour without malice. After Kundan Shah, Hrishikesh Mukherji and Basu Chatterji and of course R.K.Laxman, the inane yet intelligent comedy seems to have left us for good (barring some notable exceptions). Now we have ‘Stand Up Comics’ & ‘Kapil Sharma’ for humour, that’s part body shaming and part innuendoes.
Fortunately, the Wodehouse classics are easily available in libraries and book shops for young readers to enjoy. There are theatre groups that from time to time stage such delightful plays. I recall a few years back a famous British group staged “Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense” in Mumbai. Give the chance to see them perform would make us cry “What Ho, lets hang on to this one , Old Chaps !”
Working on Living 