DEALING WITH FEMINIST ISSUES

RADHIKA VAZ’S IS USING HER HUMOUR TO ADDRESS TABOO TOPICS IN THE INDIAN SOCIETY

Radhika Vaz never identified as a feminist until she scripted her first comedy show Unladylike and followed it up with Older, Angrier, Hairier. She says, “I write about whatever makes me really angry, irritated and annoyed. I take that negative emotion and turn it into something I can laugh at. I am doing this mainly for self-preservation. If I didn’t make jokes, I would be a full-time assassin.” Radhika explains the different reasons why today’s comedians are tackling weighty subjects as well as what the future of comedy might look like. “I can’t speak for all the other comics but I am pretty sure it’s the same reason as mine — you see something unjust, suspicious, or downright disgusting and you want to say something. You want to fight it as well as try and change it or at the very least, bring attention to it,” she says. Radhika has written two shows, one book, a web series and countless columns and almost all of these are issue-based pieces. She elaborates, “Comedy is, to a large degree, about instinct. I think I have that instinct and so the bigger challenge is making sure the jokes are unique and not done to death.” Radhika believes stand-up comedy also opens a path to social change. “I for one will never stop talking about feminist issues. I know that even if it’s one person at a time, I can change people’s minds. Men and women alike have approached me after a show or after reading my column or book and tell me they had never thought about how bad sexism could be until then. That makes me very proud,” she says. Speaking about marital rape, Radhika says, “India is a country where marital rape is legal. However, bestiality is illegal. So my husband is more likely to go to jail for fornicating with a farm animal against its wishes than he is likely to go to jail for fornicating with me against mine.”

You can’t fake laughter. So if you find me funny that means I have managed to enter your mind. And even if you don’t agree with me, you will remember the punchline and maybe that would make you a little more open to another point of view