They would roam the streets or sit under a tree with a gathering, calling out the powerful people in the village for the wrongs they did or the mistakes they made. The word harbolo can be broken down into har, meaning every, and bolo, meaning to say - those who say what is beneficial for everyone.
Villages in northern India often witnessed comics called harbolo. The “privilege” the jester was said to have does not remain at all.Ĭriticism through humour has always been a significant part of the country’s history, even outside royal courts. Ironically, despite having shifted to a system where the public governs themselves, voicing of public opinion has become “problematic” simply because it is turned on its head and made to sound non-serious.
What these artists have to say is either not taken seriously at all, or a little too seriously. Stand-up comics could make the most valid point, but it either lands them on Instagram meme pages, or jail. The trend of humorous criticism has not died, but what has changed is how it is received. Since democratic rule has become the norm and circuses have gone out of fashion, jesters now exist as satirists, stand-up comedians, comic artists, poets and so on. He existed as the clown - drawing comical parallels to the tragedies of life. Over the years, monarchy has faded as the standard of governance. There have been stories of kings slaying someone for causing the slightest harm to their ego, but the jester had been known to be exempt from this wrath. If a king made the wrong decision, it was his job to ridicule him for making the poor decision - an entertaining way to receive constructive criticism.
THE COURT JESTER QUOTES PROFESSIONAL
The jester was the “clown”, a professional hired by the king to poke fun at royalty and their rule. When monarchy was the norm, so were jesters.
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