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February 11, 2017

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In Conversation with Wannabe Anonymous, the stand-up comedy duo from DCAC

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College is a great time to explore and discover one’s passions. The experiences, adventures, and occasional escapades enjoyed are perfect shapers and nurturers of one’s innate talent. While most are exposed to the opportunity of taking on something new, only a few actually have the dogged determination to pursue their interests and persist in only getting better along the way. Siddharth Singh and Prakhar Maheshwari from Wannabe Anonymous are perfect examples of how a passion identified and shared in college by two like-minded people can be transformed into a rewarding side-career:

Q: Let’s hear about you from you. Take us to the beginning.

Siddharth: Prakhar and I are from Delhi College of Arts and Commerce. We studied Economics, and met in our second year of college. We both had an interest in comedy. We used to follow and share videos of Kenny Sebastian and Vir Das. Inspired, we decided to actively venture into the niche comedy scene. Initially, we wanted to convey our comedy through the medium of nukkad natak, but then we decided on stand-up comedy instead.
Prakhar: Yes, because sense prevailed! (laughs) We figured that the latter form would be more apt, especially in the initial stage, because we weren’t very sure about our content. The reception and response to a stand-up gig is more encouraging as it helps you gauge the demands of the audience and learn what works and what doesn’t. We decided to combine our humour and thus, Wannabe Anonymous was born.

Q: You’ve put yourself in an extremely competitive field, which is only growing by the day. At any point in your journey till now did you find yourself questioning your instincts and giving up?

Siddharth:  After conceiving ‘Wannabe Anonymous’, we applied to perform at Rendezvous 2015. The video we sent to them got rejected. But we didn’t let that bog us down. We performed our first show at a café in Hauz Khas Village.
Prakhar: Towards the beginning of our show, the crowd was thin. But after a while, the café started filling up. That really encouraged us. We were really happy with the way we performed that day.
Siddharth: But then when we had to upload the video of our show online, we realised that we were capable of much better. We had second thoughts and didn’t want to put the video up.
Prakhar: However, we decided to learn from our experience. That video made us want to do better and strive to achieve the level of comedy that we knew we could create. We faced some lows. We do so even now. Instead of letting that pull us down, we like to let that motivate us to do better.
Q- Tell us about your most successful and special show?

Siddharth- I remember Indraprastha College for Women as a fantastic show. We had prepared a script for 25 minutes and the show went on for 45 minutes. It was the kind of show we live for.

Prakhar- It was all impromptu. The audience was very engaged and responsive, it was the kind of connect that we always aspire for.

Siddharth- I think it had to do with something that I like to call induction. It’s like when the first five minutes of the show go well, then automatically the chances of the whole show going great goes up. That’s why before starting we try to the get the audience riled up and get their attention.

Q- How do you do that? Are there any tricks?

Siddharth- I do this stupid thing – and Prakhar hates me for this – where I just ask the assemblage to show us how to clap, how to whistle etc. Basically we just make them look at us, ensure their attentiveness, and get them energised.  It works.

Prakhar- Once you have the audience hooked, your lamest jokes will work. I find this phenomenon worked with Kenny Sebastian often. Once during his gig, Kenny simply said that “I’m going to shave.” and the people went berserk. He just said “I’m going to shave”. It wasn’t a joke, but it was still funny. That’s the kind of charm we want to own.

Question- In recent times, we have seen that controversies and comedians have had many run ins. Kiku Sharda was booked under section 295 A of the Indian Penal Code (outraging religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious belief) and recently the Tanmay Bhatt and Lata Mangeshkar fiasco happened. What are your views on this? Do you think comedians should be more responsible?

Prakhar- I think people should just have a sense of humour. In case of Tanmay Bhatt and Lata Mangeshkar controversy, I find people to be unnecessarily touchy. Why it was even made into a big deal? It’s beyond me.

Q- But, do think this applies to the sexist jokes too? Someone might say that “yes, it’s sexist. If you don’t like it then ignore me.”

Siddharth- We personally do not crack sexist jokes. We make Punjabi jokes, we make jokes on colleges about certain DU colleges, and chances are someone will always be offended at something. We know we can’t always prevent that from happening. However, we know where to draw the line. It’s about one’s own discretion.  About the ethical aspect of jokes, should they be offensive or not, I don’t know honestly. I haven’t formed an opinion on this.

 

Prakhar– Last year we performed at IIT Delhi. Some of our jokes were sexist in nature and they were being received very well by the crowd, which was was male dominated. There were two girls there and in the middle of the show they left. We don’t know if they left because they were offended or because they just wanted to leave for other reasons. Now when we think about IIT Delhi, it does make us uncomfortable. After that show we made a point not to crack such jokes, even if they are in demand.

Siddharth- Another time, during the show at Indraprastha College for Women, I made a joke on how women are bad drivers and the crowd started screaming “Offensive”, “Not funny” and “Sexist”. Thankfully, my senses prevailed quickly and I moulded it into something else.  Anyway, we are not proud of these jokes of ours. That is something we realise now.

Q- Judging from this instance that you talked about, what do you do when a joke falls flat?  No one laughs and it’s just gone.

Prakhar- See, the fact that it’s two of us to take the fall helps a-lot. Sometimes when we are fortunate, we improvise something on the spot and it works, sometimes we simply move ahead. Initially we used to explain our jokes expecting that the audience will laugh. We would assume that no one got it, instead of accepting that it was lame. This was a horrible thing to do. Now we know (chuckles)

Q- You guys have a regular job, so how sincerely are you guys thinking about stand-up comedy?

Siddharth- I know this lexicon is clichéd but I’ll use it anyway. We both belong to a typical middle class family, which means we have a fair share of duties and moral dilemma. Papa CJ is one of my favourite comedians and one thing he says is that financial independence is the best gift you can give to yourself and your parents. I agree with this 100%. I can’t allow myself to depend on my dad’s  money because I’m aware of the responsibility I have towards my family. Stand-up comes with certain risks and I can’t afford those risks right now. However, that doesn’t mean I’ll use this as an excuse for not working on Wannabe Anonymous.  I love Wannabe Anonymous.

Prakhar- A nine to five job that ensures that we get paid every month acts as a safety net that we need. It’s like what Biswapati Sarkar categorises as:  area of interest and area of knowledge.  Our jobs are our area of knowledge and Stand-up is our area of interest. Right now we are in our early 20s and we feel believe that we are able to balance job and passion very well.

Q- Recently you did your fist ticketed show which was a success. How do you see this transition from free shows to ticketed shows?

Prakhar- It was great! I can’t explain how awesome it felt to be on stage and to see that these many people have bothered to pay for us.

Siddharth- When I was preparing the script for the show my brother asked me, “How is it going?” and I casually replied, “It’s okay, let’s see.”  To that, my brother said, “Listen, please be serious because people have paid for this. You must do justice to their money.” Some extra responsibility is always there when it’s a paid performance.

Prakhar- Though it’s not like we are not sincere otherwise. We are very serious comedians. (winks)

Q- If you were given a chance to relive your college lives, then which college would you choose, except Delhi College of Arts and Commerce?

Siddharth- Shri Ram College of Commerce

Prakhar- St. Stephens College.

Siddharth- But then who will be your friend? Stephenians won’t befriend you, right?

Prakhar- But dude, if you stay in the same collage from the starting then one or two nice people will be kind enough to be my friends.

Q- Last question: where do you see yourselves 5 years from now?

Siddharth- Ideally, I see myself doing stand-up full time.

Prakhar- When you start from the bottom it only goes up. Five years from now, I think we’ll still be doing stand-up.

Feature Image by Alex Arthur for DU Beat

Interview by Kriti Sharma ([email protected]) and Niharika Dabral ([email protected])

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JNU Sedition Row: A timeline and analysis

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For most people, February 9th will be just another day in the calendar. But, in the history of student movements, this day will be known for the beginning of a remarkable battle between the sedition-professing state and the students, who advocated absolute freedom of expression. This row erupted after a public event organized by a few students corroborating the judicial killing of Afzal Guru and demanding the right to self-determination of Kashmir dominated the public discourse for months and in the process raised many plausible questions pertaining to nationalism, dissent, activism, politics, and policies. Yes, we’re talking about the famous (or infamous) JNU Sedition Row.

Here is a look at the sequence of events:

• A program organized by a few students, including Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya ,against the execution of Afzal Guru and for Kashmir’s right to ‘self-determination’ takes place on the evening of 9th February, 2016. Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) protests against this event and a scuffle takes place. Meanwhile, a few media channels (mainly Zee News) that were present at the ground report that anti-India slogans such as “Bharat ki barbara di tak jung rahegi” and “Bharat tere turkey hongay” were raised and contested videos of the same are widely circulated.

• On February 12th, Kanhyaiya Kumar, then JNU Students Union(JNUSU) president is arrested by Delhi Police for sedition and criminal conspiracy. Many JNU students are booked for the same; five of them go into hiding. Protests in support of Kanhiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, and Anirban Bhattacharya erupt.

• On February 15th and 16th, there is mob violence outside Patiala House Court during the hearing of Kanhiya Kumar. Journalist, JNU teachers, Kanhaiya Kumar himself, and activists are assaulted by a group of lawyers.

• On February 17th, JNU faculty members start open lecture series on Nationalism and 133 eminent professors from prestigious universities, including Noam Chomsky, writes a letter condemning the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar, and expresses solidarity with the students and faculty.

• On February 18t,h three office-bearers of JNU unit of ABVP resigned by stating disagreement over the Centre’s crass handling of the matter.

• On February 21st, all the absconding students return to the campus and offer themselves for surrender.

• On February 24th, Delhi Police arrests Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya.

• On March 24th Kanhyaiya Kumar returns to JNU amidst much media attention.

• On March 19, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya are released on bail and subsequently address the huge gathering at JNU’s administrative block.

• On April 26th, varsity’s inquiry committee found 21 students guilty of breaking disciplinary norms, the Student’s Union and Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) rejects the punishments.

• On 10th and 12th May, rusticated students move to the Delhi High Court against their rustication.

• On May 13th, High Court stays the disciplinary action against the students.

A slew of confrontations and protests between students, teachers, and administration regarding multiple issues continued throughout the year.

The best and worst of media coverage
The reason why a seemingly small public meeting, which is typical of a politically charged campus like JNU, became a subject of prime time after prime time was not because the media was interested in discussing the controversial trial of Afzal Guru, the Kashmir problem or student politics, but because an incident was blown of out proportion to suit another agenda altogether. The narratives that many sections of media weaved reduced many complex issues into simplistic binaries and the dangerous Bush discourse of “you’re either with us, or against us” was created. The media trial that was run against students and against JNU as an institution itself incited violence towards the accused and jeopardized their safety. Multiple false claims such as: Umar Khalid visited Pakistan (except that he doesn’t hold a passport) and that he made 800 calls to Gulf countries in 4 days (which means 8.9 calls per hour) were callously thrown around. Mainstream media houses like News X quoted an unverified Intelligence Bureau document and announced Umar Khalid a Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist, but conveniently forgot to add a correction disclaimer when Intelligence Bureau denied any such findings. Even Home Minister Rajnath Singh made an unsusceptible statement saying that “The incident at JNU has received support from Hafiz Saeed“. With an enthusiastic circulation of morphed videos and jingoistic shooting matches, JNU row could be seen as a perfect example where certain section of media lost its credibility to some vested interests.

However, while it was the worst of times, it was also the best of times. Independent and alternative portals like Newslaundy, The Wire, ScoopWhoop, Catch News, National Dastak and India Resists provided the much needed unbiased coverage of the whole fiasco. Taking a stand against Zee News’s propaganda laced documentation of JNU issue journalist Vishwa Deepak openly resigned from Zee Media. Somewhere in the media frenzy, we also saw journalist Ravish Kumar’s Black Screen prime time episode which was an epitome of fair reportage.

Current status of cases
The sedition cases which were to be investigated by Delhi Police’s anti-terrorism unit, the Special Cell, are presently at halt. No charge sheet has been filed. Delhi Police has seen two police commissioners in the past year and it appears that except for BS Bassi (commissioner during February 2016 who filed suo moto cases against the students) no one is interested in further pursuing the cases. This indifference is understandable since the grounds on which the charges were filed are fragile.

What changed for the anti-nationals?
Kanhaiya Kumar reached instant fame after his arrest and the much broadcasted ‘Azaadi’ speech. He bagged a book deal with publishing house Juggernaut Books and subsequently released ‘Bihar to Tihar: My Political Journey’ on 1st July 2016. Kanhaiya Kumar has addressed multiple rallies across the country in past one year.

Umar Khalid is currently working on final semester of his Ph.D which is centered on the tribals of Singhbhum district in Jharkhand. Because his face was continuously splashed across the television screen for weeks, Umar became a familiar face and unfortunately still has a fair share of haters (both online and offline). Even though the Umar is a popular activist and has been invited as a speaker to several conferences and demonstrations, he still faces security issues as a result of the vilification.

Shehla Rashid Shora, Vice President of JNUSU 2015-16 spearheaded the stand with JNU movement and represented the university in all major forums. She has signed a book deal with Penguin Random House. Her book titled ‘I, Student’ is expected to hit the stands this year.

A year on, five of those six students at the heart of the controversy are still studying at the university except for Anirban Bhattacharya, who left after submitting his Ph.D. thesis. Currently, he works as a researcher with a Delhi-based think tank.

Questions that remain unanswered
It’s been one year since the arrests were made and an esteemed institution was equated as ‘the den of terrorists’. However, unlike last year, T.V studios are now busy covering the Uttar Pradesh elections, those self-righteous anchor-students who were baying for the blood of so-called ‘anti-nationals’ are today silent on the police and state inaction. The question arises: Should the media be held accountable for the victimization of students? Should Delhi Police, which actively raided hostels and made arrests be asked about the developments of the case? It is still unclear who were the people who raised the anti-India slogans or if at all there was any sloganeering.

However, what is clear is that Jawaharlal Nehru University students are stronger than ever: They are still dissenting despite the grills that are installed at the administrative block. Yes, their protests are not being televised but they sure are alive.

Niharika Dabral
[email protected]

Image Credits: Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters

 

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Mental health and the stigma around it

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Depression is more than just feeling sad and anxiety is more than just being stressed – it is the 21st century and some people still don’t understand the difference…

“It’s so depressing!” is a phrase that many people use when they see grey clouds wash over a sunny sky. Most people say it to express a feeling of sadness and it isn’t surprising that depression has become synonymous with feeling low over something like the weather. This is just one of the many myths that surround mental health and all of them create a stigma that prevents people to seek help.

Mental illness is an umbrella term used for a variety of disorders that hamper a person’s well being.Every disorder has different symptoms and each such disorder has to be treated separately. Labels like ‘crazy’, ‘attention-seeker’ and ‘suicidal’ contribute to not just social stigma, but also self-stigma, keeping victims from accepting their condition. Most people who suffer from depression and anxiety don’t realise their condition because friends, family, and teachers ask them to “Cheer up!” or “Take it easy”.

Why does this stigma matter? It matters because if mental illness goes untreated, people turn to alcohol, drugs and self-harm. The stigma also hinders effective recovery from these illnesses and awareness is important for social inclusion and effective treatment. One of the major reasons it is difficult for people with mental illnesses to confront medical help is the negative attitudes of society.

Mental illness can fall upon anyone.But it can be easily and effectively treated with the eradication of these stigmas and hence it is important to encourage mental health awareness. And awareness is necessary to tell people that mental illness is as real as physical illness.

Anagha Rakta
[email protected]

Image credits: MedicalDaily

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Bigotry at show on third day at ‘Musha’irah’

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Ideas often grow in spaces which celebrate freedom. These ideas, both radical and revolutionary are double edged swords. While ideas that led to the birth of Facebook and WhatsApp have the ability to change the world for the better, others like the holocaust, can leave a stain on humanity forever. Academic spaces are the best incubators for the growth of ideas. Hindu College’s annual literary fest Musha’irah is one such platform, where students come to celebrate literature and ideas. The fest is known to provide a conducive bed for the generation and propagation of liberal ideas, like that of Freedom, Inclusivity, Love and Compassion. But this time, one more idea made an appearance- Hate.

I have been a regular audience to events and programmes at Hindu College. Being a proponent of the democratic ethos that Hindu College has inspired since ages, through its elected Hindu college Parliament, I ensure that I don’t miss any popular events that happen around the college. But unlike other times, this time Hindu College had a speaker who is highly controversial. Tarek Fatah, known to host a show called ‘Fatah ka Fatwa’ on Zee News was the speaker of the session on day three of the fest. He is under police protection and this turned the college into a virtual fortress, with platoons of police all around. Nonetheless, he ensured that the 45 minute session during which he addressed the audience, albeit with police officials ambushing the area, was enough to incite the feelings of hatred amongst the students.

He started with denouncing the whole culture of a mushairah, a way to celebrate language. According to him the language Urdu, which caused millions of death during the partition and amputated the country, has no place to be celebrated in our country. Doing so, he said, was equivalent to confirming to the two nation theory, as propagated by Pakistan, and imposing the divisive lines on languages across India.

He went ahead and spoke about the politics of names, censuring the fact that Delhi had its famous gardens named after Lodi, who was an invader. While praising the recent order of the government to change the name of Dalhousie Road to Dara Shikoh, he went on to target Saif Ali Khan for naming his new born Taimur. He also took a dig at Ghulam Nabi Azad of Congress, for naming his son ‘Saddam’, almost in the same breath.
Even after having written four books on different topics, Fatah choose to portray a name through the lens of history, rather than its conventional meaning in Language.

He also discouraged students from preparing for Civil Services Examinations (CSE), saying that in our country people spend so much energy and time to become a ‘servant’ at the end. In his entire speech, he made several responses to demonize Pakistan, claiming that it is a country which is dying to destroy India. His speech was filled more with political bashing than any inspiration.

When college unions aim to gain some goodwill from the establishment by allowing academic spaces to be used for bigotry, it is high time students realise that saffronization is not limited to ballots only. Now, it is coming for our books too. We, as students, should be aware of where to draw the red lines for ideas, to uphold the liberal ethos of our academic spaces.

In his entire session, the only point that I liked was when he asked students to be rebellious and embrace non-conformity with an iron will. As I Googled the meanings of names that he condemned in his session,I learnt that Saddam means ‘someone who confronts everything’ while Timur means ‘iron’. Such an irony.

Srivedant Kar
[email protected]

Image Credits: www.TedX.com

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