The Hindu reviews "How to be Middle Class & Happy"

by S R Madhu

Dr G Lakshmipathi launches his laugh-a-minute book, How to be Middle Class and Happy

Dr G Lakshmipathi, the Coimbatore-based doctor (a specialist in internal medicine) has just turned out another humour book, his sixth. The 350-page book is titled How to be Middle Class and Happy . Lakshmipathi says the middle class is the one best-equipped to enjoy life – because of its education, range of interests and social skills. But it faces many irritants and challenges in daily living.

His book offers remedies for some 40 of those challenges. “How to shave,” “How to avoid boring people,” “How to tell a joke,” “How to avoid doctors,” “How to travel by auto-rickshaw,” and “How to write an autobiography” are some of them. For several challenges, he says, there are no solutions, you just have to laugh them off.

Writer/Politician Shashi Tharoor who has written the foreword says “The eclectic list of light-hearted suggestions the book provides ranges from the absurd to the macabre.” Former cricketer VVS Laxman says Lakshmipathi “...approaches every peeve with the enthusiasm of a schoolboy on his first visit to an ODI at Wankhede stadium. Reading it is like watching an imaginary IPL final over. If you believe laughter is the best medicine, just read the book.”

At a spry 83, Lakshmipathi is well-qualified (MD, FRCP and FICP) and also has to his credit two highly regarded medical books. He has practised in Coimbatore for more than 50 years and taught medicine for over 30 years.

Four professions

Lakshmipathi says he practises four professions. He is a physician to patients who think experience is equal to wisdom; he teaches medicine to students who think ageing is the same as gaining knowledge; he speaks to audiences who think verbosity is profundity; and he writes humour books for readers who think that borrowing a book is the same as buying one.

How to be Middle Class and Happy was recently launched in Chennai by eminent diabetologist Dr C V Krishnaswamy. Dr Lakshmipathi’s other books include Ha Ha Therapy , Delights of Dementia and Other Essays , Dictionary of Cynical Medicine , Quotes Therapy, and Laughing Through Medical Specialities.

For several challenges,

he says, there are no solutions, you just have

to laugh them off

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http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/the-giggle-therapy/article23665227.ece