soniasmusings

D for Vir (D)as

Most of the readers would remember Vir Das for acting in a couple of Bollywood movies (Go Goa Gone, Delhi Belly). But what makes him stand-out is the fact that he is one of the first few successful stand-up comedians taking the craft of humor to an international level. In 2017, he was the first Indian stand-up comedian to debut on Netflix with his show ‘Abroad Understanding.’ The versatile performer has hosted shows across different genres, written for esteemed magazines and repeatedly made it to the Netflix platform with shows like ‘Losing It’ and his latest, ‘For India.’

Vir Das - Source:LBB — Vir Das – Source: LBB

Known for his strong opinions on politics, society and human behavior, Das is often seen speaking about the uncomfortable and bitter realities coated with a layer of humor. His bold views have subjected him to trolling but the sassy performer has delivered a comeback in his classic witty style.

This is the fourth post in the Blogchatter A2Z series under the theme ‘Laugh in the time of Corona.’ See you tomorrow as I disclose the name featured in the post for E.

You can read the previous posts here. Have fun watching this clip from Vir Das’ first Netflix special.

C for Captain Nick

Last year, I came across this channel on YouTube called Captain Nick. Content creator Niharicka Singh who runs this channel posts videos of different formats but most of these are hilarious and ridiculously relatable. She plays multiple characters in her comedy sketches, the most famous among this being Mataji. There are comedy videos, sketches, vlogs and a couple of challenges but the intrinsic factor that connects all of these is the underlying humor.

Captain Nick - IWMBuzz — Captain Nick – Souce: IWMBuzz

If there’s one aspect that makes her stand out, it is her straightforward nature and honesty that comes across as her USP in the videos. A former RJ, Captain Nick is ruling the trending list with her characters and content.

This is the third post in the Blogchatter A2Z series under the theme ‘Laugh in the time of Corona’. I hope to see you tomorrow as I reveal the name of the featured artist in the post for D.

You can catch up with the previous posts here. Enjoy this video by Captain Nick as I leave you with a smile.

B for Biswa Kalyan Rath

The first time I watched Biswa Kalyan Rath, more popularly known as Biswa was on the hilarious Bollywood review series called Pretentious movie reviews where he shared the stage with Kanan Gill. I watched a couple of his videos on his YouTube channel and was blown away by the way he found humor in the mundane things. Next came his stand-up special ‘Biswa mast aadmi’ on Amazon Prime. One look at the video and the introduction is bound to crack people up. He spoke about his childhood, his parents (his father Jagan Mohan Rath became a famous character), regular topics like booking an Uber and managed to keep the audience entertained till the last joke. What was unique about the show was that he hardly took any pause between the segments.

He has made a special appearance in a couple of shows like ‘Better life Foundation.’ but it was after he turned a story writer and creator with the show ‘Laakhon Mein Ek’ that Biswa went beyond his stand-up comic persona to showcase the versatile artist within. Both the seasons of the show on Amazon prime dealt with the harsh realities of life but were packed with sarcasm and dark humor. The IIT-Kharagpur alumnus has also been a judge on various seasons of comicstaan and was last seen in his second stand-up solo on Amazon prime titled ‘Sushi’. Biswa’s words have the endearing aspect of being relatable while delivering a punch under the veil of humor.

This is the second post in the BlogchatterA2Z challenge under the theme ‘Laugh in the time of Corona’ I hope to see you tomorrow as I reveal the one who gets featured in my third post for C.

You can read my previous post in the series here. Don’t forget to enjoy humor in Biswa’s style in the video below.

A for Amit Tandon

While Ashish Chanchlani would have been a bigger name for the 17 million followers he entertains on his YouTube channel, my personal favorite happens to be Amit Tandon aka The Family Man.

Amit’s jokes are centered around a typical middle-class family and are generally devoid of abusive language, making him a perfect choice as a family entertainer. He was one of the first stand-up comics to debut with a show on Netflix and has a huge audience base across the globe. You can catch his hilarious videos on his YouTube channel here.

Here’s one of my favorite videos. Have fun.

This is the first post of the Blogchatter A2Z challenge 2020 under the theme ‘Laugh in the time of Corona’. See you tomorrow as I unravel who gets featured in the post for B.

Theme reveal post – Blogchatter A2Z-challenge 2020

This is my third year at the A2Z challenge / Blogchatter A2Z challenge. The first year was thrilling. I wrote on the theme ‘A dollop of Bengal’. I followed it up with my debut Detective Thriller ‘Deal of Death’ that is available on Amazon here. The second-year was a little hectic because my son started school in mid-April. I wrote on parenting with a dash of humor.

This year, I was in a dilemma whether to go ahead with the challenge or drop the idea. I am into my fourth month of an MFA creative writing course and currently, I’m juggling three fiction classes there. At one point, I almost thought of giving up this challenge because I was already writing 4000 words on a weekly average.

But the excitement of participation didn’t take long to rub one me. I started hunting for themes. Blogchatter gave me some great advice. All I knew was that I couldn’t write beyond 100 words per day. So, after ransacking my brains, I realized that I am going to go ahead with the theme ‘Laugh in the time of Corona’.

Considering the anxiety that all of us are going through, I wanted to speak about anything other than the deadly virus that seems to have brought our lives to a standstill. So, I will talk about Indian stand-up comics on the net, shows that promote humor in the form of a stand-up special or through YouTube channel. As we grapple with the pandemic engulfing our existence, this is my way of dealing with stress.

So, hop on as I start preparing this joyride beginning on April 1st, 2020. Subscribe to my blog to stay updated. You can also follow me on FB/Twitter/IG @soniasmusings.

In the meanwhile, stay safe, stay indoors and don’t forget to wash/sanitize your hands.

Double Awards in Literature on International Women’s Day

8th March is celebrated worldwide as International Women’s Day. While I am aware of the history that brought this day into existence, it breaks my heart to think of the nature of crimes, violence, and harassment that women face 364 days a year. If only we had been successful in normalizing the belief of equality between both the genders, we wouldn’t have needed a special day to remind everyone that even in 2020, women are forced to fight for their rights to survive with respect.

This year the day wasn’t meant to be any different because I have stopped celebrating women’s day or rather give in to the discounts and offers that have trivialized the intent behind this day. The only special event on 8th March was that my 4.5-year-old had finished his final exams and we could plan a short beach vacation with our childhood friends and their families. It was a refreshing change to switch off from writing, my MFA course assignments and the daily humdrum of life for three days. We went on a trip down the memory lane as the vehicle took us out of Kolkata towards the Mandarmani sea beach.

TSM Influential Woman Award 2k20

TSM certificate

But life was waiting around the corner with some special surprises in the store. The first mail in the morning arrived from The Spirit Mania (TSM) Group conferring me with the Influential Women Award 2k20 in Literature. Before I could get over the excitement of this surprise win, the second award arrived from the Literoma group in the form of the Literoma Nari Samman 2020 Award in the field of Literature again. While I couldn’t make it to the TSM award venue in person, the pre-planned trip also made me skip the grand Literoma Award function held at the New Town Library, Kolkata. A friend of mine accepted the trophy, medal, and certificate on my behalf and it is only today that I can hold it in my hand basking in the glory of this success. Women’s Day for me became a day of double celebration this year as I won these two prestigious awards as a female Indian author in the field of Literature.

These awards help me stay motivated in my chosen field of creative arts. They give me encouragement on days when the sky outside the window overlooking my workstation feels gray. Thank you TSM group and the Literoma group for appreciating and awarding my work. All the love poured in primarily because of my debut Detective Thriller ‘Deal of Death’ that established me as an author (you can purchase a copy from the link here). Heartfelt gratitude to my readers for choosing to be a part of my writing journey. It is now time for me to go back to reading, working on more assignments and continue creating content with a purpose in mind and stronger determination in the heart.

What it means to be a woman in India!

Today morning, I woke up to multiple messages related to International Women’s Day. 25 percent off on groceries!’ ’10 percent discount on flowers!’ ‘No making charges on diamond jewelry,’ among others.

And at that moment, I realized that the March Madness had begun. Until three years ago, March Madness for me usually began with a gentle reminder from my reporting authority in the banking sector. Or with an aggressive message from the Boss. They would both remind me that after the end of the financial year, there would be an appraisal process to keep my blood pressure and stress levels high.

As a writer, now, the reasons for stress and frustration have shifted reasons but they have not shifted loyalties like my account’s financial statement. Today, a different kind of seething anger gripped my soul. I wanted to question each of these brands and ask them if that is all Women’s Day meant to them.

And yet, all their propositions felt better than any of the headlines, I’ve woken up to in the past few months- violence, moral policing and gender stereotyping. In a bid to highlight the daily struggles we face as women, I decided to take everyone through the stages of being a female in this country.

Stage one- the birth

Since you are a girl, you don’t get to be born. You are aborted in your mother’s womb, itself. In case, you do manage to make your way to the world, you are either dumped in a dustbin or choked to death. Because what are girls, if not unwanted responsibilities?

Click HERE to read about the 11 stages of being a woman in modern India as I pour my heart out in this piece on women’s web. Because we have, for ages and across generations, fought for ourselves and no matter how much fear you instill in us, remember, we will rise. Like the phoenix from the ashes, we will rise.

Snippets from the Thriller Writers’ Panel Discussion at the Women Writer’s Fest, Kolkata

On Saturday 8th Feb, I traveled with my debut book ‘Deal of Death’ to The Saturday Club, Kolkata for an insightful discussion about women writing thrillers. The panel was moderated by Baishali Chatterjee Dutt and had prolific authors like Kiran Manral, Sharmistha Gooptu, and Damyanti Biswas along with me speaking on how ‘thriller’ was an umbrella genre comprising of various sub-categories. We focussed on the stereotyping that women writers face while writing books in a genre predominantly occupied by writers of the opposite gender. In an engaging and thought-provoking session, we shared our experiences of becoming writers in this genre and the way forward.

Sharing a couple of pictures and bits of my opinion recorded live.

The Thriller writers panel — The Thriller writers’ panel

Meeting Anupriya, Damyanti, Paromita and Kiran Manral

The media coverage in the form of an article on the event is available here.

The full recording of the event is available on the FB page of Shethepeople.tv here.

Do let me know what you think about the session.

Speaking at the Women Writer’s Fest in Kolkata

Here’s the big news that I had spoken about in my last post. Tomorrow, Saturday 8th Feb, I will be speaking at the Women Writer’s Fest by Shethepeople.tv on the theme ‘Writing Thrills’ at The Saturday Club, Kolkata. Along with three other prolific writers, we will be discussing our journey as authors in the genre of thrillers. The day is packed with various events and you can catch my session from 11:30 am to 12:15 pm. Entry is free and all you need to do to attend the event is register on the mentioned link below.

Women Writers Fest Kolkata 2020

Women Writer's Fest, Kolkata — Women Writer’s Fest, Kolkata

I will be sharing further details about the proceedings of the day along with some pictures and videos (if possible) in my next blog post. However, if you want to watch me live from the event tomorrow, please follow me on my Facebook page/Twitter/Instagram (I go by the handle @soniasmusings everywhere).

The panel on 'writing thrills' — The panel on ‘writing thrills’

Please wish me luck as I make my debut as an author in the first writing fest of my new journey.

Making it to the Orange Flower Awards 2020 by Women’s Web

January has been a kind month until now. My book has been getting some great responses and I have also been picking up a couple of awards for it. MFA coursework has started taking up every minute of my day. With the beginning of the mandatory courses this week, it has become extremely difficult to read anything beyond the reference materials and write very little beyond chasing the assignment deadlines.

Orange Flower Festival 2020 – pic courtsey: Women’s Web

In the first blog post of January, I had mentioned Orange Flower Awards by Women’s Web. Last year, I had made it to their shortlist for humor and travel writing. This year, the award ceremony gets bigger with celebrity film-makers, actors, entrepreneurs, authors and a host of achievers across the industries making their presence felt on the day of the event. Amidst of thousand of entries in various categories of blogging, social media, and video blogs, it is nothing short of a privilege to announce that my writing got me nominated in SEVEN categories (Yes, you read that right!). Parent Blogging, Humor writing, Writing with a social impact, Writing on Women at Work, Travelgram, Photogram and Best use of Twitter for social impact was where I found myself listed.