The Collector of smiles

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Humour and PC Sanalkumar are two sides of the same coin. The reason why this retired civil servant has been one among the most sought-after public speakers.His innate ability in tickling the funny bone and in creating parody songs have landed him in ‘Curiocity’. In fact, it is the collection of programme notices of the functions where he has been the speaker that is being featured today. The notices, which he carefully preserves in bunches of files, is more than a treasure for him. The number has already crossed 3,000 and is growing!“Public speaking just happened in my life. Like many other unexpected things...” he pauses. The earliest in the notice list is dated February 21, 1981. It is of a sports meet organised by the DYFI at Perambra, when he was the special tahsildar.Do note that he entered government service right after his post graduation. “In fact, I wrote my MA (Malayalam) final exam with my appointment letter as clerk in KSEB in my pocket.”He remembers that earlier he used to talk about only serious things. And it changed, for the better, in 1989 when he was posted in the capital city as Deputy Collector (Housing). “Since I got a job soon after my studies, my dream for higher studies remained unfulfilled. But once I got posting in Thiruvananthapuram, I joined the Law College in the evening batch. And there everything changed!”On December 20, 1989, he took part in ‘kathaprasangam’ in the youth festival, with a story he wrote -  ‘Vayassante Kalyanam’. The whole piece was interspersed with parody songs of the then famous film songs. That was news for the media and he emerged hero on the campus. “That attempt at humour clicked beyond my expectations.”Sanalkumar soon became an integral part of many functions. And later when he was conferred with IAS (in 1993), that became more of a reason for many to invite him. By then he was a part of Narmakairali, the organisation of writers who handle humour, and has so far covered nearly 3000 stages under its banner.“It is not at all easy to make others laugh. Also, you can’t survive with a joke that is 25 years old! You have to update it regularly,” he shares the secret. And even gives us a sample, a parody of the song ‘Kanne kalaimane...’, ‘dedicated’ to Kanimozhi now spending her days in Tihar jail.“Parody is often looked down upon because of the cheapness that often creeps into the lyrics. I have tried to bring in sophistication into it and have succeeded to some extent.” The book ‘Paradeeyam’, which features 110 of his parody songs, is a testimony to that. He has already made some 500 parody songs! He also shared the experience of singing a Hindi parody of  ‘Chinna chinna aasai...’ when he went for IAS training in Mussoorie. “That was all about the ‘thattudosa’ available in Kerala.”When he became a civil servant, he had programmes almost everyday. “As the District Collector of Kasargod, I was a part of 198 functions. For me, that is a huge achievement.”He ensures that he always speaks about small, simple things. “Some are my own jokes, some I borrow. The other day, when I went to a school, I just talked about Tintumon.”Sanalkumar, who retired two years back, stressed that he has started asking  remuneration for his speeches.“When I was in service, I never used to do that. I found it improper. Now, I deliberately charge for my speech. Because, we Malayalis attach little value to things given gratis!”A self-taught photographer as well, Sanalkumar has a regret. “I am often considered a silly and boring person. However, I firmly believe that laughter is a good medicine, for me and for those whom I make laugh!”‘Curiocity’ would also have found another treasure with him. His ‘pattupusthakam’ collection. “There were seven volumes of the song books. They were bound and kept. But, I lost most of them, except for one volume.”