Dalit comedian fighting discrimination one joke at a time

Hailing from the Dalit community in Chhattisgarh, Manjeet Sarkar moved to Bengaluru to pursue comedy and is changing the game with his act

Falah Faisal | NT

Bengaluru: Isolation can be a boon in some cases, as it is in that of Manjeet Sarkar (in pic), who was unable to make friends in college and turned to stand-up comedy videos on YouTube to find solace. He found inspiration in the works of Black American comedians like Dave Chappelle, Patrice O’Neal and Kevin Hart, who talk about the oppression faced by their communities in the West.

Hailing from Bastar, Chhattisgarh, from the Dalit community, he could relate to their experience and felt that stand-up was a suitable medium to tell his story.

“In their work, Chappelle and O’Neal question authority and discuss taboo topics. Chappelle says there is no opinion that hasn’t been discussed on stage or in the greenroom of a comedy show. Having experienced suffering throughout my life, I felt it was time to talk about it,” says Sarkar, who moved to Mumbai in 2018 to pursue comedy but has been living in Bengaluru for the last five years.

On how the audience engaged with his material, he says, “It is safe to say that most of the audience who come to watch stand-up in India are upper caste. However, some of them are journalists and scholars who come and interact with me after the show and thank me because my act ‘is helping their research’.

I always want to ensure that even if the audience laughs at what I say, they leave the show with something new to think about.” What makes him stand out from the rest is that he is the only comedian from the Dalit community and hails from a rural area, and he points out the disparity in representation.

“Even though 80 per cent of the population in India lives in rural parts, I am the only comedian and the things I talk about are stories city people haven’t heard before,” he says and hopes he can inspire and give a platform for Dalits from Tier 2 and 3 cities to take up standup comedy.

Last year, he became the first Dalit comedian to tour India and hopes to take his act abroad this year. He will soon be releasing YouTube videos and working on a book about the 1971 Liberation of Bangladesh that turned many