Laughing your heart out loudly improves breathing and blood circulation

Laughing vigorously but without making a sound is a good workout for your lungs

Calcutta: The cliché that laughter is the best medicine has become a way of life for thousands of elderly citizens in and around Calcutta.

Laughing clubs, which have popped up at every second neighbourhood, are drawing in members every day. From keeping blood pressure and sugar under control to stress management, members can blurt out dozens of health benefits that they have experienced after joining a club.

"We have come a long way. People used to watch us like clowns when we started. Now, people have accepted it as a way of life," said Ram Narayan Nandy, 76, the president of the Laughing Academy of Eastern India, an umbrella association that counts some 50 clubs as members.

The association recently held its annual get-together at an auditorium in Paikpara, in north Calcutta, with more than 800 participants from the city and outskirts.

But improved health is not the only reason a bunch of middle-aged and elderly men and women gather in parks in the morning and produce bouts of fake but frenzied laughter.

A chance to spend some time with others is another reason. Laughing clubs across Calcutta and on its fringes are gradually becoming a melting pot for people from different walks of life.

Mallika Shome, 55, has been been a member of a laughing club in Uttarpara, in Hooghly district, for more than 10 years. Her son passed away in 2011, aged 24. "The association has given me the strength I needed to cope with the loss. The club members are far dearer to me than my relatives," said Mallika.

A typical session includes loud laughter with an open mouth, silent laughter with an open mouth and laughter with a closed mouth. As soon as a person starts laughing, others join in. People warm up before and practise deep breathing at the end of the session.

Pranab Chowdhury, 64, a supplier of medical appliances to retail stores, is a member of the College Square Laughing Club, one of the oldest is Calcutta. "Apart from daily laughter sessions, we organise plays, picnics and music festivals throughout the year," said Chowdhury.

The first laughing club in Calcutta was founded way back in 1996, at Rabindra Sarobar, said Nandy.

The man behind it was the late L.N. Daga, who was in turn inspired by Madan Kataria, the founder of the Laughter Club of India.