Why India needs more insult comedy

Eight days post Kanhaiya Kumar's arrest, Sanjay Rajoura of stand up comedy group Aisi Taisi Democracy took the stage at JNU's famous ad-block. In an act that covered everything from ongoings at the university to social issues that faced India, Rajoura was absolutely hilarious - and as some would say incredibly offensive.

At one point, he ridiculed the Indian habit of blindly following parents and parents' expectations of their children to the same. He put some weight of the blame on mythology, specifically Shravan Kumar. Yes, the Shravan Kumar who carried his blind parents on his shoulders to all four dhams.

"Abbe yaar, wou andhe hain. Wahin ghuma deta (they are blind, you could have taken them around right there)," he quipped to a guffawing crowd. 

Rajoura saved himself the trouble of countrywide outrage - must be a lucky guy.

Ask Tanmay Bhat, who is facing threats of police action and violence for the second year in a row.

Truth be told, India could do with more insult comedy for many reasons: 

1. We're still taking baby steps in the comic arena 

The words "roast" and "AIB" have literally become harmonious since 2015, before which many of us didn't even know about the concept of a roast. The tradition of roasts actually was started 66 years ago, by the New York Friars Club, where press agents, actors, musicians, and comedians came together to roast one member a year.

Similarly, the stand-up comedy we consume is limited to a few TV shows, a select group of artists and judges with booming laughter.

Not that we lack engaging artists, we have simply remained limited in exploring our options.  Like music, comedy comes in many genres - one of which is insult. So yes, for those of you asking there are people out there who enjoy this "crass", "raw" humour.

As JK Rowling explains: "If you seek the removal of freedoms from an opponent simply on the grounds that they have offended you, you have crossed the line to stand alongside tyrants who imprison, torture and kill on exactly the same justification."

3. We indulge crass humour all the time

We're mostly fine and dandy with jokes on sardars, engineers, eunuchs and fat people. It's the stuff our whatsapp forwards and late night comic shows are made of.

Comedian Kapil Sharma beat Salman Khan - emerging as India's most popular TV personality, not-withstanding widespread criticism calling his humour crass and mysoginistic. In his shows, Sharma has made fun of women, old age, celebrities, and most recently nurses - a lot of which isn't well-received. 

Then sample some of our movies and their treatment of adult humour. Whether or not these are in poor taste in not the point, but that they exist is. And if more artists want to feel these waters it will be hypocritical of us to hold them back or threaten them with violence. 

4. Offence is good 

"Everything that's difficult you should be able to laugh about." - Louis CK 

Comedians, especially stand-up artists, play a very important role in society. First of, they make us laugh because god knows everyone needs more of that. Second, they force a mirror to our faces by joking about topics we're too uncomfortable to confront - that's something worth celebrating, not censoring. 

Case in point, the conversation Tanmay faked: some found it offensive, and others got a chance to give an honest opinion on one or both the stars.

Someone laughed because they thought Sachin should have retired earlier, another thought Lata ruined a lot of careers.

For them, humor served as a tool to participate in a conversation they wouldn't have struck otherwise. 

And it's funny how we're always complaining about the powerful taking things for granted, but we keep putting more people up on a pedestal. Sachin and Lata may be acclaimed in their fields, but that doesn't make them untouchable. 

Fun fact: Peddar Road is one of most congested areas in Mumbai and around 2001, authorities planned to build a flyover to fix the problem. Lata and her sister Asha Bhonsle threatened to leave their apartments since they believed the flyover would be too close to their homes.

15 years since, the project - expected to cost the exchequer Rs 400 crore - remains untouched. A new one proposes to build a "push-box tunnel" below Malabar hill and is expected to cost around Rs 2000 crore. 

Clearly, they don't need anyone's outrage to protect their interests, they've already got that covered.

 5. Historically, our comedians have fearlessly grounded kings (power) 

For those who don't know, in southern India, a king was hardly considered a king without his jester.

Tenali Raman and Birbal are celebrated court jesters, despite how they pushed their kings' boundaries.

Remember Birbal's khichdi? Clearly, Akbar knew how to take joke. Sure, we can imagine their language choices must've been subtler but the idea was the same - offensive comedy.  

We can learn plenty of lessons from societies around us. Last year, for example, Buzzfeed ed Rega Jha was abused online for simple memes she made out of random Narendra Modi pictures.

Now, watch Stephen Colbert decimate the then American president George Bush - to his face - at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner.

"I believe the government that governs best is the government that governs least. And by these standards, we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq."

Talk about brutal!

6. We have restricted ourselves behind too many lines 

"I think it's the duty of a comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately." - George Carlin 

Everday our list of taboo topics grows a little longer - rape, menstruation, condoms, homosexuality, sex, porn, swearing, politics, family ties, religion, celebrities... err, is anything left safe to joke about? 

While we wrap ourselves in rules, societies around the world are trying to do whatever it takes to break out of them. In Australia, comedians have helped promote gay rights and even better treatment of refugees, and only recently, a German comedian called the Queen an "ancient horse faced grandma" because he was super pissed off about Brexit. 

Some comedians have even made offense their thing. Comedian Russell Peters makes jokes on Indians all the time. In nearly all his shows, he interacts with the audience and leaves them red-faced.

Then there's Indian-origin American comedian Azhar Usman. "Assalam Aleikum," he says before beginning his set, "for those who don't know what that means, I'll explain it to you. It means, 'I'm gonna kill you'." 

*** 

Say you're eating at a restaurant and don't like their food - you send the dish back, complain, leave a bad review or simply leave the restaurant.

But if you threaten violence, beat up the chef, ban the restaurant, file an FIR or burn an effigy of the restaurant manager - that would be just absurd, right?  It is to learn this lesson in absurdity, we need more, a lot more, offensive humour.