The best laughter yoga in India

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We were at a dinner party the other night, watching the sunset from the 13th floor of a seafront apartment block, when one of Tom's superiors told me about a group of 'seniors' who every morning meet at the waterfront near our home for laughter yoga.

I had seen this place already - a fenced garden with the sign 'Laughter Heaven' at the entry - so on Friday I got up at 5.45am and was at its gates at 6.20am to see if I could join in.

The exercises started on damp grass underneath coconut palms. The sun and heat was yet to arrive, and the clamour of auto-rickshaws and the nearby fishing shanty was only just starting. I'd never been awake at this hour in India, let alone outside with three-dozen people aged about 55 to 85. They greeted each other warmly on arrival; one lady said she had lived in Bandra for 40 years.

There was a lot more yoga than I expected, and half an hour in we were doing tough eye exercises, without any hint of fun. Then, on the command of the impressively turbaned class leader Mr Singh, everyone took a deep breath, leant back, and gave their neighbour a two-handed high five accompanied by a deep 'ha ha ha ha!'.

I'm smiling still at the thought of everyone as they then began to flap around the garden like butterflies. You notice so few elderly people in big bad Mumbai, let alone elderly people having a good time. But I'm afraid I gawked when one woman ran up to me, arms flapping, then stuck her food-specked tongue out.

The same woman explained that not just any kind of laughter will do. Giggles are right out. It has to be deliberate, physical laughter from the diaphragm for the benefits of sucking in all that Bombay air to be felt.

At the end, the entire group surrounded me and bellowed with laughter. I'm not sure I'll be back, but I left with a few words of wisdom from one of the more outgoing members: "If you want to cut bills, if you want to stay away from the doctor, come to the best laughter yoga in India."

Apparently, having started here in the city, this laughter yoga is now a worldwide movement. I didn't take any photos but there's a nice one here .

In other news, it has been Navratri this week. It's a nine (or ten?) day festival honouring the female goddesses. There's a lot of dancing in apartment complexes, fairy lights everywhere, and many women wear a particular-coloured sari each day. These photos, taken by Tom, show some of the sand paintings his colleagues made.

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