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.’

Indian Laughter Clubs in the National Geographic Magazine

‘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?