Opinion Why so serious?

President Barack Obama speaks at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, Saturday, April 30, 2016. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

There was never really any doubt, but that mic-drop just makes it official: Barack Obama is the coolest one. The president of the United States set the interwebz abuzz with his seriously funny act at his last White House correspondents’ dinner. Sure, it was a roast of the man fast turning out to be the great American nightmare (The Potus on Donald Trump’s foreign policy chops: “He has spent years meeting with leaders from around the world: Miss Sweden, Miss Argentina, Miss Azerbaijan”) and there were quite a few jibes at Aunt Hillary’s wooing of young Americans on Facebook. But not a little of the swag came from the fact that he poked liberal fun at himself as “a lame-duck president”, fast-losing clout (“Last week Prince George showed up to our meeting in his bathrobe”).

By contrast, India, in the middle of a bunch of assembly elections, is a landscape of fire and brimstone, charge and countercharge, with our politicians leading the mortal assault on humour. Of course, there is Lalu Prasad and his brand of rustic comedy. The prime minister’s oratory, too, packs in a lot of sting when he takes broadsides at his rivals. But political humour here is not known for self-deprecating send-ups. It is used more as a weapon of scorn, wielded to cut a rival down to size, to label a Pappu and dismiss a Feku.

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You only have to be a part of a WhatsApp group to know that everyone from Arvind Kejriwal to Rahul Gandhi and (increasingly) Narendra Modi is the butt of our jokes. But from politicians, we only expect the thundering melodrama of promises and tears. It could have something to do with our love for hero worship and reverence for hierarchy. Given that every day is an absurdist drama playing out on our streets and timelines, laughter is one serious business we don’t want our leaders messing up.