satire – soniasmusings

S for Sumukhi Suresh

Sumukhi Suresh is a firebrand performer. I was introduced to her skills through the Better Life Foundation web series created by Naveen Richard and Them Boxer Shorts. While she featured in a bunch of AIB videos, sketch comedies like ‘Go straight, take left’, I was mesmerized by dark humor she created in the Behti Naak series with Kumar Varun and Trupti Khamkhar. Through Behti, a ten-year-old with a deadpan expression, she spoke about issues like the perception towards marriages in India, domestic abuse, racism and many more She also created the memorable character of a house-help Parvathi Bai in the form of a series with Sanjay Manaktala. She has been a part of both the seasons of Comicstaan, playing the part of a host in the first season and that of a judge in the second season. She has also acted in the Kannada movie ‘Humble Politician Nograj’ with Danish Sait.

Sumukhi Suresh - Source platinumlist.ne: — Sumukhi Suresh – Source: platinumlist.net

Three years back, I binge-watched Pushpavalli Season one and I was so blown away by her writing skills, thought-process behind creating the not-so-likable protagonist and her acting prowess that I had to write a review for the show. In the last couple of months, her first solo stand-up special ‘Don’t Tell Amma’has been launched on Amazon Prime and she recently returned with the second season of Pushpavalli co-starring Naveen Richard that manages to keep the audience at tenterhooks yet again. Sumukhi is one of the finest humorists we have in India whose range of characters, topics, and ideas re-define the word ‘versatile’.

This is the nineteenth post in the Blogchatter A2Z challenge based on the theme ‘Laugh in the time of Corona.’ I will see you tomorrow when I disclose the featured funny man in my post for T.

You can read the previous posts in the series here. Dark Humour isn’t a genre explored by many Indian artists, so I am sharing one of Sumukhi’s brilliant sketches. It might make you smile but is bound to hit you hard.

M for Men

My posts in the A2Z challenge started out as a fun-filled narration on my experiences related to school admissions. With time, I realized how my thoughts were peeling off layers of issues hidden under the security blanket of education. The moment a child is born, a doctor announces its gender to the parents first. And there begins the first step of discrimination because the birth of a baby girl is considered as a burden in a lot of families while a baby boy is a reason to celebrate even today. And from there on begins the set expectations from each gender.

I grew up in a household where equality was the norm. I have seen my father take care of the kitchen as and when required with the same expertise in which he handled his teaching job. Nothing was assigned to be a job based on gender in my home. But the world outside is never so kind. Glass ceilings are a harsh reality for women and I have faced such biases at various places of education and work. But if there was something that I had decided for my son, it was to raise him sans any gender discrimination. But the ‘well-wishers’ can obviously not let me have my way with the child without garnishing our lives with their opinion in generous doses.

As Tuneer learned to play, the first thing that he was drawn to was a kitchen set that I had purchased for him. It used to be his favorite set until recently when the love swayed towards a newly purchased supermarket set. But weren’t kitchens supposed to be a girl’s domain? To those ‘well-meaning souls’, it didn’t matter that the mother hardly entered the kitchen because what was important was to let the child know that he was expected to play with toys befitting a boy. Some went a step ahead and commented on how I was raising him as a girl. With a smile on my face, I would often reply as to how I was so proud of my MasterChef who already knew how to keep his foodie mother happy.