Dark side of humour

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Nurses in Bengaluru stage a protest to mourn the death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha — AP

The death of Duchess Catherine’s Indian-born nurse Jacintha Saldanha, who allegedly committed suicide after being a hoax call victim of an Australian FM show, shocked the world and raised many questions about where to draw the line when it comes to pulling a prank?

Though this might be one of the instances, but RJs in the city feel it is important to be responsible while being humorous on air.
From being touchy to extremely sensitive, the listeners can get offended very easily, so how does one tackle it? RJ Aparshakti Khurana of Oye 104.8 FM says, “As RJs we are asked to be ourselves, but we keep in mind not get too personal on air. As a rule we avoid pulling pranks or putting someone on a tight spot on a public medium. We try not to use bold content in our show, and if we feel the listener is getting nervous or uneasy during the conversation we try to make them feel comfortable by tweaking the topic.”
RJ Kartik Mahajan of Hit 95 FM says that we rarely do shows where our listeners can get into any professional or personal trouble. He says, “The kind of show we do focuses on music and games that you play with your mind switched-off after a whole day at the office, and not the kind of show which pokes fun at an unsuspecting person. There are no written or unwritten guidelines that we have been told about, but it’s more about common sense and sensitivity. The other thing that I have learned is that it’s never to shameful to say sorry when you’ve done something wrong or something that you’re not particularly proud.”
Whereas, RJs Peeyuush and Swati of Red FM, mention that they try their best not to hurt any political, religious and racial sentiments while interacting with listeners. The duo remarks, “While contemporary issues relevant to the common people make the core of our content, the presentation is in a fun and entertaining manner that comprises purposeful entertainment.”
The duo adds, “The first rule of prank calls is that it has to be initiated by someone known to the subject. Secondly, we ensure that the premise of the call is never offensive. We do not make calls that can offend someone on the basis of their caste, creed, religion and colour. Also, we try not to give them false hopes about their dreams or ambitions. Thirdly, we never include threatening or shock elements in our calls. For example, we would never pretend to be kidnappers or criminals.”
RJ Suroshree also feels that before pulling a prank call on a listener it is mandatory to understand the background and sensitivity of the subject. She says, “Humour can be a very subjective issue and one has to be sensitive enough to understand it. If you feel that someone is feeling offended, we try to calm them down. We also counsel them off air and apologise if required.”