Pakistani crowned as ‘Funniest Man in India’

This story is a few weeks old, but since it has not made it outside India and Pakistan (and becasue it should), I thought this was the place to post this.

Yes, it is true: Indians are laughing at Pakistanis. In fact, they are laughing so hard that the ‘world largest democracy’ just voted a 40-year old Pakistani stand-up comic as the ‘Funniest Man in India.’

According to a news report at rediff.com:

Pakistan’s Rauf Lala has been voted by an Indian audience as the winner of Star One’s popular comedy show, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge: Dwitiya. In a neck-to-neck contest, Lala beat Mumbai’s Rajeev Nigam to become Numero Uno on the show that has been making audiences roll with laughter for 18 weeks…. Among other goodies, Rauf also bags a brand new Chevrolet Aveo as part of the winning deal. Asked to comment on his victory, Lala — who hails from Karachi and has been doing stage shows for more than two decades now – says, “When my name was announced, I thought I was dreaming. I still find it difficult to believe. I am sure everyone back home in Pakistan is proud and happy….” Mumbai’s Rajeev Nigam was the 1st runner-up [and] had to say about him: “We are extremely happy that Bade Bhaiyya (Lala) won the contest. We never had any doubts about his capabilities and knew he was the best and the most eligible. To be honest, I would have felt bad if it were anyone else.”

It seems that while much is not working between these two countries, at least there is something about India-Pakistan people-to-people diplomacy worth smiling–even laughing–about.

More on this, and related, stories at Adil Najam’s blog All Things Pakistan.

Adil Najam