No joke is needed to get members of one of Mumbai’s 37 laughing clubs to erupt with glee.

Instead, they breathe deeply, yoga-like, reach for the sky to reduce inhibitions, then force a ‘ho, ho, ha, ha’ until the laughter becomes contagious. It reduces stress, claims Dr. Madan Kataria, the clubs’ founder. ‘Laughing is my mission,’ he says, ‘I want to spread it all over the world.’

‘Laughing is my mission,’ says Dr Kataria, ‘I want to spread it all over the world.’

—From “India: Fifty Years of Independence,” May 1997, National Geographic magazine

Read more: http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/enlarge/laughing-club_pod_image.html

Where Is Mumbai, India?