Why Shashi Tharoor is wrong in expecting comedians to take on Modi
It's that magical time of the year. The White House Correspondents' Dinner has happened in the United States and a few elites are suddenly reminded of how mediocre Indian comedy is.
Election season is also nigh in this country and the political class, cutting across lines, loves to use different people or vehicles to further its own agenda. The result is that Indian comedy is now once again being bought in the spotlight for its "disservice" in not dissing the establishment enough.
The day an Indian comic can do something like this to NaMo, the Indian media & political establishment, I'd love to tune in! https://t.co/D6sa7QgFCh
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 29, 2018
Shashi Tharoor's tweet reflects a continuous moaning among some Indian elites who expect a George Carlin, Seinfeld, or Rock in their country from a less-then decade old scene. Lenny Bruce's trial, "Seven Words You Cannot Say On Television", the First Amendment, and the over 60-year evolution of stand-up comedy Stateside will not be mentioned even as a footnote. Why are we not willing to give our comedians the natural learning curve?
The simple truth is that such statements have little to do with nuance or facts. The purpose is to ape, what they incorrectly perceive is the sole role of a comedian - trolling to elicit a response. Tharoor's machinations in making that statement could be plenty and in the end, pretty useless, but he did highlight a criticism Indian comedy has been coming under for some years now.
I am a huge fan of the humour at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, both from the host and the president. The first one I watched was in 2011 when Seth Meyers was the host, now infamously cited as a reason Donald Trump ran for President. Stephen Colbert's 2006 hosting easily stands out, not just for its brilliance but because it's similar to Michelle Wolf's performance this year. The room never quite warms up to either of them and the awkwardness hangs over the room, depending on where you're sitting and how much you can take as a joke.
The comedy of this kind is pretty tough and even comedians in the United States recognise the odd significance of this occasion. "This yearly tradition is still the nation's only chance to witness a comedian point out the president's foibles to the president's face in front of the national press-which I believe is America's ultimate expression of free speech," said comedian Jeff Ross who is notable for his insult comedy events called "roasts".
Tharoor's praise for Wolf's roast seems to have forgotten that we live in a country where "roasts" and memes invite multiple FIRs, protests, and threats of violence. How can you ask a comedian to do their job when Indian politicians are known to physically assault bureaucrats for doing theirs? The game of offence is so arbitrary and unreasonable in this country, anyone can become a target, and Indian comedians presently fall fairly low in the popularity food chain to stave off attacks successfully.
Comedian Sourav Ghosh was forced to leave Mumbai in 2017 after the youth wing of Shiv Sena threatened the venues where he performed his stand-up. "We enjoy stand-up comedy and support it," said Varun Sardesai, a core committee member of Yuva Sena, quickly adding, "But we won't allow anybody to just make fun of Shivaji Maharaj."
Indians are not just taught to adhere and blindly respect authority politically but a clique mentality is encouraged for any idea in society. Varun Grover had to learn that the hard way.
A now-viral blogpost from nearly five years ago details Grover's experience at a bad corporate show where the audience feedback ranged from "Sharam nahin aati khud ko Indian kahte huye?" to "Tum jaison ko goli maar deni chaahiye!" The growth Indian stand-up comedy has had since then with professional managers and increased awareness might make such incidents rare but the mentality which guides such behaviour from the public has never disappeared.
The true worry for lovers of good humour isn't the slow gestating arrival in India but what seems to be a worldwide attack in countries which once hailed it as a virtue.
A court in Scotland found a man guilty of hate crime for teaching a dog to do the Nazi Salute in a YouTube video. While he was required to just pay a fine, the arguments in the case stated that context was irrelevant.
The case's legacy could be an important one, studied and cited by others to squash speech they're uncomfortable with the world over. While Colbert's performance in 2006 is now cited as a landmark, Michelle Wolf has come in for more than usual criticism, highlighted by the White House Correspondents' Association distancing themselves from her and some now citing her responsible for the end of the ritual dinner. The environment for comedy is becoming increasingly hostile and it does have something to do with the use of humour as a partisan pinball.
The right wing constantly baits comedians into targeting their adversaries under the garb of "equal opportunity offence". The irony lies in them sometimes using crude language and personal insults to declare that free speech has its limits. If a comedian in India makes a joke which may or may not be related to Hinduism, a common response is to dare them to make fun of Islam. An attempt is also made by the right wing to draw equality with comedians, by claiming their controversial and downright horrid views as "just jokes".
In the absence of free press in India, comedians are the fourth pillar of democracy.
— Shehla Rashid (@Shehla_Rashid) January 5, 2018
(Hyperbole Indian stand-up comedy could do without.)
Liberals and left on the other hand assume that comedians are activists who will help them fight their battles. Trump's presidency has led to an overinflated sense of importance on the power of humour. An autocratic person gets riled by mockery but that still doesn't chip away the power at his or her behest. Trump can do more damage with legislation, orders, and even tweets than countless hours of jokes by Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, John Oliver, or Michelle Wolf could do to his presidency.
Indian liberals may want comedians to target the establishment and Modi as much as possible, but the only concrete results those offer are additional limelight and following for the comedians.
I am personally a huge fan of political comedy and my favourite Indian comedians in that genre presently are Varun Grover, Sanjay Rajoura, Karunesh Talwar, and Kunal Kamra. But at no point, would I ever place any of them in the same league or even above a good journalist who is reporting on vital issues, a politician who represents me or activists who fight for worthy causes.
Comedians may evoke incidental epiphanies and give me essential insights in their comedy but I know that their job is not to give me a balanced analysis of an event or issue with expert knowledge and facts in pursuance of a greater public good. I see stand-up as a gradual distillation of thoughts which evolves with its audience in a mutual growth. The effect it has is profoundly abstract which serves no agenda but laughter.
I wonder how much Tharoor knows about Indian stand-up comedy away from the internet. Talent and hard work in Indian comedy is not hard to find if one is willing to step away from Twitter and religiously explore it.
Aisi Taisi Democracy, for instance, offers some of the sharpest political commentary and satire in the country. I welcome Tharoor and any of the detractors of Indian stand-up comedy to join me in attending an open mic or stand-up show. We may not be the best you have ever seen but we are better than reductive online judgements.