The happiness road: ‘Laugh at life and at yourself!’

Manohar, who began to have progressive, degenerative eyesight around then — leading to total blindness — ensured, through his practical thinking and physical toiling, that Mahema never developed a single bedsore for all those years. Such was his love for her! 

Despite a challenged life, Manohar has immersed himself in art — he has drawn sketches of his favourite city Madurai; his ink drawings on a heritage series of greeting cards are still a huge draw! And he has written seven books — two on Madurai and five on Mahema. He is not just resilient. He is happy. You will always find him smiling beneath his thick moustache.This is why being Manohar Devadoss is not easy.

How does he make living with adversity appear so simple? He replies, “I have this natural flair to laugh at things that otherwise make you sad. Laughing at yourself and at life helps.” 

He makes his point with an anecdote. On their 36th wedding anniversary, in 1999, Manohar gifted Mahema and himself a pair of rusted dumbbells. When Mahema looked on quizzically, Mano said, “You weigh as much as a sack of potatoes. My back is giving up. To lift and move you several times daily, I need stronger biceps. This is the best gift for us.” He recalls Mahema laughed unstoppably! But Manohar was serious. He did 700 lifts of the 12.5 kilo dumbbells daily! During the next nine years that Mahema was alive, Mano never had a back problem! He says, “Mahema couldn’t move. I couldn’t see. But I needed to make sure she was moved around painlessly. Isn’t working out a happier way of dealing with a challenge than complaining about a bad back?” 

At his age, living alone now, how does Manohar deal with his insecurities? “I don’t think of the future. I can tell you how I am feeling today, how I am coping.” What an awakening perspective on ‘living in the moment’! It comes from Manohar because he is blessed. He has two rare gifts; the unique abilities to see the light and laugh at life!