Jest a minute
http://www.dailypioneer.com/vivacity/jest-a-minute.html The fun of being physically challenged is to be able to see the humour in the ignorance, misconceptions and perceptions that layer people’s minds, says stand-up comedian Nidhi Goyal. Ankita Jain reports Stand-up comedian Nidhi Goyal has come a long way in dealing with her physical challenges. But not only has she conquered her disability (she doesn’t mind being called the politically incorrect disabled or blind), she is raising awareness about it through humour, in her case the best medicine as well as a communication tool. India offers a lot of stereotypes, when it comes to gender, caste, sub-groups and the physically challenged. Nidhi usually narrates stories around her experiences, what she calls a situation-based comedy. “The fact is I have acquired my disability. I wasn’t born disabled. So when you are sort of dealing with that and you gradually become comfortable in your situation, you find people’s ignorance and reactions weird and funny. I would make people laugh and I had a way to narrate such incidents without evoking pity. The idea was to do issue-based comedy and within that genre I believe very few people are comfortable talking about their lives. Basically, because I am a woman and also a disabled one, it is a complex portrayal of gender disability. I just bring that out. Once I was travelling in an autorickshaw with my sister when a homeless kid came up to me and started touching me. I just exhorted him not to because I don’t like random people touching me anyway. Eventually, I must have looked in some other direction for the child asked my sister, ‘andhi hai kya? (Is she blind?).’ She said ‘haan haan, jao (yes, now leave).’ The child actually looked at me and said ‘fir rehne doh (let it be then).’ So the whole idea of who is marginalised exhibits how under-privileged disability is. These incidents keep happening in my life. And then I convert them into humorous situations.” Asked why she chose to use comedy as a medium to raise awareness, Nidhi says, “The fun of being disabled is to be able to see the humour in the ignorance, misconceptions and perceptions that layer people’s minds. Of course, it is frustrating and annoying, but beyond a point, it stops being that. It becomes ridiculous and hilarious that many people around you are not inclusive, and quite frankly, many a time, when prejudices are exhibited, I find them laughable.” She rejects the naive notion that there is any sort of catharsis in using comedy. She says, “I do not consciously make it cathartic. As an empowered woman with a disability and a zest to change things, I can joke about my experiences. But, at the end of the day, these are serious issues.” Sharp and effortlessly witty, Nidhi is aware about the backlash that women stand-up artistes have to face sometimes. “I had performed with Aditi Mittal in Mumbai and she had put a part of her set on breasts out on YouTube. There were many comments on that video online and some of them were threats of a sexual nature. Today I say that I am comfortable with my disability but If somebody tells me, ‘you are a disgraceful woman,’ it might affect me. Very frequently women with strong opinions face online threats,” says Nidhi. So why doesn’t she explore the more democratic space of digital platforms? She agrees that while the medium gives a lot of exposure, it has some cons which have to be dealt with much tolerance. “I haven’t put my set out yet. I will upload a mere two to three minutes on YouTube. We also have to understand that my exposure is limited to the reactions of certain people since I have performed up to an audience of 350 from 20 initially. When female comedians particularly put their matter out for public viewing, they do receive a lot of online threats. And I don’t think that’s okay. Women’s safety both online and offline are equally important. If you meet the people who threaten comedians, they would gladly say that it is democracy and they can say whatever they want to. But when a woman stands up to say whatever she wants to referring her experiences, she is threatened,” explains Nidhi. Friend Pramada Menon, a feminist activist herself, insisted that Nidhi join her next stand-up set. That was how Nidhi found herself at her first stand-up show Can You See Me Now? in Kolkata. “I didn’t study comedy as such. It wasn’t that I had decided to become a stand-up comedian. I would humorously try to narrate things to put people at ease. Eventually, it became a part of my personality and I brought my personality and activism together through my shows. But one person who motivated me was Pramada Menon. She was the one who came to me and said that the way I narrate stories is comic. So I debuted with her exactly a year ago.” Citing an example of her recent gig at the American Centre, she tells us how she deals with negative feedback. “I said infiltration at LOC without mentioning any country, name, nothing. Someone from the audience said it is very dangerous to say this. I heard it. Immediately as a comic, I get a feedback. Usually I keep my jokes clean.” Amateurs usually struggle to get an open mike spot. Asked about her struggles, she says, “Comedy is not my bread and butter. I work on disability rights and gender justice through training, campaigns, research, writing, advocacy and now through art. Comedy is not my only focus. While I can crack jokes on electricity, politics, buildings and roads, I don’t do so. My performance is only issue-specific. And I want it to stay that way for now. Yes, people do get shocked looking at a woman with a disability starting to talk about gender and stigma in a funny way. Comedy around women’s rights and stigma is now finding its space and hopefully disability will find its space too. Because humour is the best way to bring about a change.” “I haven’t gone through the entire open mike struggle. Because my aim is not to leave all my other work and projects and perform seven shows a week. Till now I have been invited to collaborative shows which are issue-based or topical. I have also performed at some laughter clubs and, of course, at conferences. I do have some private shows lined up and my plans are to engage more with corporates. Through stand-up comedy, I hope to ease conversations around diversity and inclusion which is a very real need,” she adds. Given that India has such a long way to go in terms of removing stigma around disability and providing equal access to all, Nidhi surmises that while things are changing, they are not happening as fast as one would ideally hope for. Regards Mr. Sameer Latey Mumbai, India Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
