The laughter club, Sheetal Jogging Association, in action. Picture by Sachin Bhosale

Mumbai, June 28: For years, members of the local “laughter club” gathered under the windows of lawyer Vinayak Shirsat’s home every morning and merrily went “ha ha ha” in chorus.

Today, the laugh was on them at Bombay High Court.

Following the 78-year-old Shirsat’s complaint of “mental agony, pain and public nuisance”, a two-judge bench ordered police to stop the Sheetal Jogging Association’s laughter sessions before his home in suburban Kurla and consider shifting them to a nearby public garden.

“Nobody is asking people to stop laughing. Laughing is not a crime or an offence. It’s just that they cannot do it in front of someone else’s house creating nuisance. Even laughter can disturb people sometimes,” said Justice S.A. Bobade, hearing the case with Justice Mridula Bhatkar.

Sachin Bhosale, 32, a photographer and the club’s only young member, wasn’t laughing after the court directive.

“The rest are all senior citizens. The garden (suggested venue for the shift) is far off and in a heavy traffic area, and the elderly do not find it convenient. It is frequented by beggars and drug addicts,” he said.

Bhosale claimed there was no other open space nearby where the aged could gather together, breathe in fresh air and chat — a serious problem in Mumbai which witnesses several murders of lonely senior citizens.

Club treasurer Prabhakar Naidu said the garden was near a municipal hospital. “Someone could raise a similar complaint there,” he said.

Association members said they assembled at the locality’s only open space — a filthy pond — and under the only shade there, provided by a roofed structure right in front of Shirsat’s three-storey pink house.

“We have about 65 members, but only 10-15 come regularly. After the complaint was lodged, we shifted to another corner,” Naidu said.

The members would gather at 7am to sing bhajans and clap for seven minutes, standing barefoot or in flip-flops or sneakers, wearing shorts or saris. They would roll their heads, swing their arms, circle their hips, stomp their feet and end with vigorous kicks.

Then they would laugh out loud for two minutes. They held their ear lobes, tilted their heads back and stretched their faces wide into smiles.

“Ooh ooh, ha ha,” went the chant. Then they swept their arms to their toes and reached for the sky, opening their mouths wide to say: “Ha ha ha!”

It’s these “loud and vigorous spells of laughter” that Shirsat’s petition objected to. “They laugh at the top of their voices; every member encourages others to laugh to their heart’s content.”

The club’s members had been trying to contain their mirth since the previous hearing on June 18, when the court told the police to do something about the distress to the complainant and his family.

Senior inspector Neelkanth Shivali said the police had served a notice on about 15 club members after the June 18 court directive, asking them not to create a din within 100 metres of Shirsat’s home. “After that they stopped laughing loudly,” he said.

On Tuesday morning, it had indeed seemed as if the members were trying to whisper their laughter. They kept a pillow of air in their palms as they clapped and sang timorously.

A police survey showed that most neighbours were not bothered by the laughter sessions. “They weren’t shouting or screaming,” said Flory Rufus Leitao, 50.

But Justice Bobade suggested it was no laughing matter. “Others might not get disturbed but the petitioner is getting disturbed as they are laughing right under his house. The petitioner cannot change his house for this. You (police) can ask the laughter club to go elsewhere and laugh.”

When Shirsat’s counsel Veena Thadani said there was a garden nearby, the judges immediately suggested the club move there and posted the next hearing for July 6.

Kamal Ahmad Khan, 60, a doctor with a square, bushy beard, said laughing brings peace and good health. “If you are laughing, the mind becomes cool,” he said.

Manjula Raut, 68, said she had joined the group after having heart bypass surgery. “I could not walk properly when I started. Now I’m feeling very nice. I come every day,” she said.

“I had a spinal cord operation,” said F.B. Chavariya, 58. “Five, six years I’m doing this practice and now I’m OK.”

Naidu said the club was formed after local MLA and minorities minister Naseem Khan provided the funds and created facilities for yoga and jogging.

Physician Madan Kataria claims to have founded the first laughter yoga club in Mumbai in the mid-1990s, based on the notion that laughter — whether real or fake — confers physiological and psychological benefits. His website says there are now more than 6,000 laughter clubs in 60 countries.

Some club members want to continue fighting in court for their right to laugh; others don’t.

“We come here for health and mental peace,” said Ranjana Agarwal, 70, a cancer patient. “If we get into fights, the whole purpose of coming is defeated.”