Ratilal Borisagar, an expert on the Gujarati classic Bhadrambhadra, explains the origin of humour in literature and shares how the Gujarati novel tackled the orthodoxy of Indian traditions using satirical narratives. Author Ramanlal Nilkanth’s legendary novel Bhadrambhadra (1900)– about a Sanskrit scholar named Bhadrambhadra who with his friend Ambaram humorously takes on Indian orthodoxy during the time of the British –surpassed its purview as a satirical novel in the 1900s to emerge as a household name, and is still read by thousands of voracious readers, possessing the same appeal it did 117 years ago. The book is an excellent example of using humour as a tool for improving society and generating awareness amongst people about the wrong practices of child marriage, dowry, and women dis-empowerment. Ratilal Borisagar, a celebrated humorist writer of books like Marak Marak (1977) and Anandlok (1983), is an expert on Bhadrambhadra and on its author. His presence on May 26, 2017, at the auditorium of Navjivan Trust, created an optimistic aura of mindful and no mocking humour, which attracted an army of young as well as senior vigilant listeners. Gujarati literature connoisseurs and adorers alike reminisced about the era of the early 1900s when the clarion call of…