Michael Bates was a very funny actor; he'd served in India, could

“Michael Bates was a very funny actor; he'd served in India, could speak Urdu, and had great comic timing.” – Sanjeev Bhaskar

In this simple remembrance by Sanjeev Bhaskar, there lies more than praise for an actor — there lies a meditation on humility, culture, and the universality of laughter. For in speaking of Michael Bates, Bhaskar calls forth the image of a man whose humor was not shallow performance, but the fruit of experience and understanding. Bates, who had served in India and learned Urdu, carried within him not just the skill of a performer but the wisdom of a traveler, one who had walked among many worlds and found connection through the shared language of the heart — laughter.

To say that a man “had great comic timing” may sound light, but in truth it is the mark of deep insight. For true comedy is not born from foolishness but from perception. The one who can make others laugh understands the pulse of humanity — its fears, its pretensions, its quiet hopes. Bates’ ability to make audiences laugh did not come from mockery or cruelty, but from the harmony of empathy and intellect. He could see through the veils of culture and class, not as an outsider looking in, but as one who had lived among them. His humor, like the finest music, struck chords that resonated beyond language.

There is poetry in the fact that he could speak Urdu, the language of poets, lovers, and philosophers. Urdu itself is a bridge between worlds — between Arabic and Persian, between East and West — much like Bates himself. To know a language is to glimpse the soul of its people, and in that glimpse, understanding grows. Having lived and served in India, Bates carried with him not only its sounds but its spirit, and that spirit infused his art with authenticity. In this, Bhaskar’s words remind us that the great artist is always a student of life — one who learns, listens, and transforms experience into expression.

Consider the example of Peter Ustinov, another man of many cultures and tongues. He, too, found that the broader one’s understanding of the world, the deeper one’s humor becomes. For comedy, when shaped by wisdom, is a bridge between people; it disarms, enlightens, and unites. Bates, like Ustinov, used laughter not as a weapon, but as a balm — and it is no coincidence that Bhaskar, himself a master of culturally rich comedy, would recognize that same spirit in him. Both men understood that the truest laughter carries no cruelty; it carries understanding.

There is also a quiet nobility in the way Bhaskar honors him. He does not praise Bates for fame or wealth, but for his humanity — for having served, for having learned, and for having made others joyful. It is a reminder that greatness often hides in simplicity, and that humor, when pure, is one of the highest virtues. The ancients revered the storyteller and the jester not merely as entertainers, but as keepers of truth. Through laughter, they revealed what sermons could not: that all men are equal in their folly, and all are worthy of grace.

And so, from Bhaskar’s tribute, we may gather this lesson: that art and empathy are inseparable. The great performer, like the wise man, does not look inward only, but outward — toward the lives and languages of others. If we wish to create, to lead, or even simply to understand, we must first listen, as Bates did; we must learn the music of other tongues and the rhythm of other hearts. For every language we learn, every culture we touch, every person we make laugh, enlarges the soul.

Let us then carry forward the spirit of Michael Bates — the soldier who became a comedian, the foreigner who became familiar, the man who used laughter to bridge the vastness of human difference. And let us honor the wisdom of Sanjeev Bhaskar, who reminds us that memory is not just remembrance, but reverence — a way of keeping alive the best of what we have seen in others. For when we celebrate those who found light in laughter and unity in understanding, we too join that sacred lineage — the lineage of those who heal the world with humor, humility, and heart.