An elderly Indian migrant in Canada has become a social media rage with his jokes finding their way from family gatherings to the world wide web and resonating with almost every Punjabi family across the globe.
SBS Punjabi caught up with Tarlok Singh Chugh as he walked us through his rather recent journey of becoming a social media humourist, well after the age of 70.
“I’ve become so busy by just telling jokes that I’m busier at 75 than I was during my youth. I’m on a mission to make people laugh because there’s too much stress around us.
“I never expected this sudden fame when I casually started telling jokes in seniors’ meetings after my retirement. Our family home in India was always resounding with laughter, so humour comes naturally to me,” said Mr Chugh, a humourist whose videos have become viral on social media.
His YouTube channel with 63,500 subscribers is less than a year old and has already garnered nearly 6 million views in a short time span. He is also active on Facebook and Instagram.
“I owe my quick fame to social media and media houses like SBS who gave me a platform to showcase what I have been doing since ever: telling jokes,” said the Punjabi-Canadian whose jokes have become a rage.
An engineer by qualification, Mr Chugh moved to Canada in 1981 from Chandigarh. He made the snowy Calgary his home.
In his inimitable funny style, he has you believe that the name of this city was given by Indians.
“Calgary is known for its incessant snowfall. So when Indians started coming here, they would ask each other, when did it snow? And the reply would always be: kal giri, kal giri (it snowed yesterday). So kal giri transformed into Calgary,” he chuckled.
His jokes are often centred around relationships born out of marriage, usually involving the in-laws. So does taking potshots at these relationships impact his personal ties with family?
“People have become quite large-hearted nowadays. My daughter-in-law often asks me to crack a joke. Jokes must go on as every person on earth has some problem or the other and laughter is a remedy for problems,” said Mr Chugh.
Click on the player at the top of the page to listen to this interview in Punjabi.
