In December 2018, I was home in Bengaluru, while my parents were actually visiting my sister in Ahmedabad. It was maybe around 9 in the morning when my father called me. He said he wasn’t feeling well, that he was struggling for breath. I don’t know why, but the way he spoke, it sort of shook me. I felt uneasy right away. I told him to calm down, and I said we should consult a doctor immediately. After that, I called my sister, asking her, should I fly to Ahmedabad?

She said don’t worry; she would take him to the doctor and get an appointment sorted. In that moment, maybe my father looked stable enough for her to think everything would be fine. But after I disconnected, I couldn’t shrug off that gut feeling, like something was off, and it wouldn’t leave me alone.

I’ve always been really close to my parents. I tried to get back to my work, but honestly I couldn’t focus at all. My thoughts kept pulling me back to that call. Then, around 11 in the morning, my sister called again. This time, the news landed like a heavy weight. My father had suffered a massive heart attack, and he was in the ICU.

A Flight Filled With Prayers

My brother and I took the first flight to Ahmedabad. During the entire journey, I was praying nonstop; I was talking to God in my own broken way, like He could hear me clearly anyway. I kept asking for a miracle. I remember actually saying, “Please make him fine. I don’t feel complete; I don’t feel that it is his time to go.”

I was scared quietly, and also helpless. When I finally got to the hospital and saw my father in the ICU, my tears just came; I couldn’t stop them. The fear of losing him suddenly became painfully real.

After that, everything got worse. There were complications involving different organs, and his condition kept becoming more serious. Within less than 48 hours, we were getting difficult updates, one after another. We were nervous, frightened, and completely unready for what was unfolding in front of us.

My parents had always lived what we would call a healthy lifestyle. They ate on time, took regular walks, slept properly, and really looked after themselves. So, when suddenly all of this happened, it didn’t make sense. It felt impossible.

When I Forgot About Laughter Yoga

In those hard hours, I forgot about Laughter Yoga completely. I had spent so much time learning about laughter, positivity, and emotional well-being. But when my own family was in crisis, fear took control, like it overpowered everything else.

My mind kept filling with dark thoughts. I kept replaying the idea of losing my father. I kept asking questions, and somehow I couldn’t stay positive no matter what I tried.

Then my laughter buddy, Vinayak, reached out. Vinayak is connected with Dr. Madan Kataria, the founder of Laughter Yoga, and I think he sensed how much laughter had always mattered in my life.

He just kept telling me not to worry and that I should stay positive. Then he suggested something that sounded almost unreal in that exact moment.

“Let’s do one minute of laughter.”

One Minute That Changed My Perspective

I kept thinking, how could I possibly laugh when my father was lying in the ICU? Like, how does anyone really smile when your whole mind is packed with fear?

Yet I decided to try

I started laughing with Vinayak. And then, something kind of unexpected happened. My father’s condition didn’t move; it didn’t get better. The uncertainty didn’t leave. Nothing outside became easier at all, but… inside me I felt different, like quieter somehow.

For those few moments, I was able to step a bit away from the fear. Just like that, one minute reminded me that there are situations in life that we just cannot control. You can worry about them for hours. You can cry, you can picture every possible end result, but still it doesn’t always change what is already happening.

What sometimes can change is not the situation itself; it is how we respond.

I understood that I needed to stay calm and positive, not only for me, but also for my family

Finding Peace Inside a Hospital

Most of my time was spent at the hospital. Whenever I could, I listened to kirtans to stay steady and keep my mind focused. I prayed, stayed near my family, and tried to accept that I couldn’t control the outcome.

Then, around day three, something shifted.

I suddenly felt this urge to conduct a Laughter Yoga session

It was a really odd thought, because my father was in the ICU. My family was going through one of the hardest phases of our lives, and still, I wanted to share laughter with someone else.

I began searching online for NGOs near the hospital.

That search led me to the Gujarat Cancer Society

An Unexpected Invitation

I found Dr. Geetha’s email and decided to write her. I told her I was from Bengaluru, that I was visiting Ahmedabad for a short time, and that I would love to organize a Laughter Yoga session and share the joy of laughter there.

I did not mention my father. I honestly didn’t know how she would react if she knew what I was personally carrying.

But to my surprise, I got a quick reply. Dr. Geetha agreed to arrange a session for cancer patients.

A date was fixed, and while my father kept receiving treatment, I decided… I would go

Should I Really Be Laughing?

On the day of the session, my mind had a lot of questions.

Was this the right thing for me to do?

Was it even proper , me to conduct a laughter session when I was struggling inside too?

How could I stand in front of people dealing with serious illnesses, and ask them to laugh… when I was barely trying to manage my own emotions?

I didn’t have clear answers.

Still, I went anyway.

Somewhere in me I felt it wasn’t random. Like there was a reason I needed to be there

Laughter Inside the Cancer Society

When I reached the Gujarat Cancer Society, Dr. Geetha and her team welcomed me with warmth. There were cancer patients, caregivers, and staff members. Everyone was curious about Laughter Yoga and genuinely wanted to experience the session.

I chose to conduct it in Gujarati. Because I felt speaking in the local language would help me connect more naturally with everyone.

And then we began laughing.

For those few moments, something really beautiful happened. The room filled with smiles and laughter. People going through extremely difficult circumstances came together and joined a simple activity.

Nobody was pretending cancer was not real. Nobody was acting like their problems had vanished.

We weren’t ignoring difficult emotions. We were simply making space for laughter, alongside what was heavy

The Words I Will Never Forget

At the end, I asked everyone to share how they felt.

Some said it was fun. Others said it was surprisingly easy to laugh together.

Then one patient looked at me and said, “Ben, mare kai kehvu che.”

It means, “Sister, I want to say something.”

I told him, please continue

He looked at me and said, “Have hu jya sudhi jivish tya sudhi aavi rite hashish.”

It meant, “I will keep laughing like this for as long as I live.”

For a moment I was completely speechless.

This man was in an advanced stage of his illness, yet he had already decided that he would keep laughing as long as he lived.

His words really touched me. I wanted to cry, but I managed to control my feelings and I laughed with him

The Question I Asked Myself

On my way back to the hospital, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

I kept asking myself, do we really need to go through the worst moments of life before we finally understand the beauty of laughter?

Why was I letting fear take over my mind?

Why was it so hard to accept what I was going through?

Why did I feel like I needed to meet someone facing the final stage of an illness before I understood the value of the present moment?

That’s when I felt I finally understood why I had gone to conduct that session.

Maybe I wasn’t only there to make other people laugh.

Maybe I was also there to learn something myself

What Laughter Yoga Really Means

Laughter Yoga is not just about telling jokes, or waiting for something funny to happen. It is a practice where intentional laughter exercises are combined with breathing, movement, clapping, eye contact, and playful interaction.

The idea is simple. Participants start laughing on purpose, and over time the laughter often becomes more natural, more flowing as the session continues.

You do not need to be naturally funny. You don’t need to tell jokes. You don’t even need a “special reason” to start laughing.

This practice is about creating a positive, connected experience through laughter.

The Lesson That Stayed With Me

My father’s illness taught me about uncertainty.

That cancer patient taught me about acceptance.

Laughter Yoga taught me about the present moment.

I realized that life is beautiful because it is temporary. We spend so much time holding on to fear, anger, resentment and anxiety. We postpone happiness because we are waiting for the right circumstances.

But life does not promise tomorrow.

What we have is today.

What we have is this moment.

What we have is this breath.

Why We Should Not Wait to Laugh

We often tell ourselves that we will enjoy life when our problems disappear. We will smile when work becomes easier. We will relax when our finances improve. We will celebrate when everything becomes perfect.

But life may never become perfect.

There will always be challenges.

The patient I met that day taught me that we can choose joy even when we do not know what tomorrow will bring.

His decision to laugh for as long as he lived changed the way I looked at my own life.

Laughter Can Create Connection

Another thing I learned from that session was the power of collective laughter.

Laughter brought together patients, caregivers, staff members and me. For a short period, we were not defined by our individual problems. We were simply people sharing a moment.

That connection can be incredibly meaningful.

Laughter Yoga encourages people to participate together, making it different from simply watching something funny on a screen. The interaction, eye contact and shared experience can create a feeling of community.

We Still Have Today

The words of that patient have stayed with me ever since.

“I will keep laughing like this for as long as I live.”

That sentence carries a powerful message.

We do not know what tomorrow will bring.

But we still have today.

We still have this moment.

We still have this breath.

And perhaps that is enough reason to smile.

My Answer to “Does Laughing Yoga Work?”

Does Laughter Yoga work?

For me, the answer is yes, but perhaps not in the way people initially imagine.

It did not magically change my father’s medical condition. It did not remove the uncertainty from my life. What it did was help me change my response to that uncertainty.

It helped me pause when fear had taken over.

It helped me reconnect with positivity.

It helped me connect with people I had never met.

And most importantly, it introduced me to a person who was facing the end of his life but had decided to laugh while he was still living.

The Final Message

Laughter Yoga is not about escaping reality. It is about meeting reality with a little more courage, connection and joy.

It reminds us that happiness does not always have to wait for the perfect moment.

Sometimes, we can create a moment of happiness ourselves.

Sometimes, a smile is enough.

Sometimes, one minute of laughter can help us breathe through a difficult day.

And sometimes, the person we think we are going to help ends up teaching us the biggest lesson of our life.

That day, I went to the Gujarat Cancer Society thinking I was going to share laughter.

I came back realizing that laughter had shared something with me too.

A message I will carry for the rest of my life:

We do not know what tomorrow will bring. But we still have today.

So, whenever you get the opportunity, smile.

Laugh.

Connect.

Live the moment.

And if you can, join me:

Ho Ho, Ha Ha Ha!