Suman Suneja: I’m the Managing Director of Morano lighting company in Dubai, more popularly known as the “Morano Lighting and Laughter Company” in Dubai, because all my staff has learnt laughter from me and are always smiling and laughing, while dealing with customers.
My association with laughter began in 2002, when Dr Madan Kataria visited Dubai and I attended one of his sessions. After that, on and off I have been doing laughter, and conducting laughter sessions. But in 2014, I once again got in touch with Dr Kataria, when I had trouble in my business, which also led to many health problems. I got to know that he was conducting a Teachers training in Bangalore, so I took a flight and reached Bangalore to attend his 3 day program – That was the turning point! From there onwards the journey was totally different - The journey of laughter and smiles; the journey of happiness. What I learnt in those 3 days is that when you keep laughing you have 4 “Hs” expend in your life - Health, Happiness, Healing and Harmony. And from that day, I have been experiencing all these in my life. There was an improvement in health and many of my joints pains vanished. I felt younger and younger. I was in harmony with my friends and clients and all my relationships improved including with my wife!
Besides the 4 ‘Hs”, I also experienced 4 ‘Ps” in my life: Peace of Mind, Patience, Perseverance and Prosperity. I learnt that a day without laughter is a day wasted. From that day onwards, I never wasted any day. But later on, I realized that it was wrong. The correct thing was that an hour without laughter is an hour wasted! So, I put an hourly alarm and went to a balcony to laugh. It was known as the smoking balcony, but I soon converted it into a ‘laughing balcony’. Every hour when I went, there were two or three people smoking and when I asked them why were they smoking, they said cigarettes helped them to relax and relieve their stress. I told them to throw away their cigarettes and laugh with me. They did just that and we all laughed together. Now, every hour we laugh and they are adapting to laughter and smiles. This taught me that every situation can be changed with laughter.
Life without laughter is like a tree without fruits. So, let’s make our life full of fruits, smiles and laughter. Even in my business of lighting, very often, I face customers who get unhappy and angry. All I do is start laughing and immediately they cool down and also start smiling, which helps in calming the situation as well as making good decisions.
Once, while travelling from India to Dubai, a fellow passenger asked me what I do in Dubai. I said, ‘I laugh!’ He thought I did not understand his question, but I told him that he did not understand life. Life is meant to smile and laugh, just like children do. But as we grow older life gets complicated and we forget to laugh. So, let’s become childlike and laugh again and again!
Earlier, I was identified as a typical business man only interested in with cash flow, profitability and all material things. But with Laughter yoga, I evolved as a person. Slowly, I moved away from these materialistic identities and today I have a “Laughing Soul” identity – an identity, which has lent me happiness and joy and has made my life full of smiles and laughter.