From Middle-Middle Class Struggles To Stand-Up Success And More...

I belong to a middle-class family. To be precise, I’m neither from an upper- or lower-middle-class family. I come from a ‘Middle-Middle Class Family’. I know there is no term called ‘Middle-Middle Class Family’ to define the standards in our society. But I believe in it. ‘Hum wo log hote hai jo ghar ke andar kya jee rahe hai us zindagi ko bahar nahi dhikhana chahte hai, aur ghar ke bahar jo jee rahe hai ush zindagi ko andar nahi jee paate hai.’ One of our constant struggles is to decide what to buy next and not forget to pay the EMI.

My father had a small clothing business. We have seen many ups and downs in life. When the times were good, my father didn’t hesitate to buy an expensive generator overnight because we couldn’t sleep at night due to power issues (it was a big thing then). But after his business shut down, my mother had to run the house by making scrunchies (hair bands) for others. There was a time when ‘humara teen waqt ka khana sirf aachar-roti hua karta tha. Maine 11th main tution padhana shuru kar diya tha, to help my family financially.’

Regarding studies, I was a decent student - ‘humesha 3rd, 4th aane wali.’ After 12th grade, I took a drop year for medical preparation and a course in ‘Travel & Tourism’ ‘ki side se thoda bahut chalta rahega, lekin medical ki preparation karenge.’ But in the same year, my father passed away.  So, I had to get a full-time job soon.

I left medical aspirations and completed the ‘Travel & Tourism’ diploma to get a job. With the job, I supported my family. My mother and my siblings all worked hard to recover from the loss of my father’s business and rebuilt our home from scratch. I continued the job for ten years and then started Stand-up Comedy as a side hustle at the suggestion of my manager.

One of the reasons for switching from a regular job to being an artist was my work at a MICE company. There, my work was to book artists and tickets for corporate events, and I used to think, ‘ki yaar table ke us taraf jana hain.’ And I’m glad it happened through stand-up comedy because this industry is the best!”

I am blessed to have wonderful people around me, “bahut - bahut saare dost hain mere”.

Like when I was selected for Comicstan, I was in two minds due to the risk of my job and the uncertainty of the comic world. My company was very pleased and sad at the same time with my selection. In fact, my VP and GM offered me a sabbatical, even though the sabbatical didn’t apply to our company policy. They said, ‘Hum approve karte hain tera sabbatical wapas aana ho toh aa jaiyo.’

But then COVID-19 came. Unfortunately, I also became its victim. My condition turned so critical that I was hanging between life and death. Doctors had given up on me, but luckily I survived. My friends did every possible thing to save my life. Right from taking me to the hospital on day one to shifting hospitals to collecting money for my treatment everything. Not just me they were keeping a check on my family as well. They were standing by my side all throughout.

2023 was the memorable year after coming back to comedy post covid. I released my first standup video, did writing work for many artists, and did my first ad with Ranveer Singh. It was a small role but a big one for me. And now, I am also co-writing a web series along with standup.

Delhi Stories is an emerging platform to feature inspirational, motivational, relatable and beautiful stories. Do you also have an interesting story like Daahab Chishti?