A feast of comedy and mimicry regales the Indian Community

Comedy trio: From Left Nirav Mehta,Mahesh Shastri(centre) and Gopal Barot

the three well known, respected and seasoned comedians from Gujarat, India-Mahesh Shastri from Ahmedabad, Gopal Barot from Saurashtra and Nirav Mehta from Baroda. The Gujarati trio comedians have arrived in the U.S. on August 1 for a five weeks tour. The Atlanta show is their 9th show. None of them is a stranger to Atlanta.

Widely traveled, Mahesh Shastri is on his fourth trip to the U.S. His first visit was with Gujarat’s eminent comedian Shahbuddin Rathod, and later with another well known comedian Dinkar Mehta. Maheshbhai has also acted as ‘bavis varsh no baabo’ in one of the longest running Gujarati play’ Preet, piyu ne panetar’.

Gopalbhai Barot, who is from Saurashtra, is on his second visit to the U.S. He is well versed in Gujarati literature and folklore. He has performed in many a ‘Dayro’ and in shows aired on Doordarshan.

Nirav Mehta, an international mimicry artist and singer has traveled extensively-to East Africa; U.K., Europe, New Zealand, U.S. and Canada, and performed with Johnny Lever, Shekhar Suman, Shahbuddin Rathod, etc. In a brief interview both Maheshbhai and Gopalbhai emphasized that their shows had high cultural and family-values content devoid of any vulgarity. They applauded the role played by Gujarati Samaj in preserving and promoting Indian culture, heritage and Gujarati language and expressed their appreciation of the warm hospitality extended to them by the Indian community.

The three comediennes soon had the audience in stitches with their flurries of jokes in their inimitable styles. Their jokes are based on a keen sense of observation and nuances of everyday life. Maheshbhai spoke of cricket fans who behave like experts on the game. They gather near a paan kiosk after the match is over and analyze the match. If India wins, they are full of praise for the players. The same fans do not

	Kalakars From left:Nirav Mehta;Gopal Barot and Mahesh Shastri

hesitate to trash Indian players when they lose on the following day! Gujarati women,who keep servants have ample time to band together with neighbors and gossip about their husbands, politics, etc. They are also shrewd in dealing with the street hawkers. A street hawker was trying to impress one housewife with the incense sticks he was selling. A hawker selling incense sticks tried his sales pitch, “Even the lady in the tenth house away will be able to smell this.” ‘Why don’t you go and sell it to that lady then” snapped the housewife. There were jokes about old men ever willing to offer unsolicited advice, comments, solutions or suggestions to unsuspecting victims. And how some try to deal with stupid customers. One guy went for a passport size photograph” Take my half pose but showing my shoes as well.”” The photographer replied coolly,” How about keeping the shoes on your head!” As one devout worshipper came out of the temple a beggar asked for help.” Aren’t you ashamed of begging?” the worshipper asked. The beggar quickly retorted,” What were you doing inside the temple,then?” There were jokes about smart children. One boy was asked how to prevent milk from going bad. “Keep it in the cow” he said. One boy saw a dead body being carried to the crematorium. “Uncle, what are they doing”. The uncle replied, “When a person dies, his family and neighbors take him to the crematorium”. “Oh,but then what about the last person to die-who will carry him?” There were jokes about food-the growing craze for pizzas-Maheshbhai compared eating a cold pizza to a dog chewing on a slipper!.There were jokes on arranged marriages, wedding-night fun between newly marrieds, etc.

Niravbhai won repeated applause with his proficient mimicry artistry. He mimicked voices of BJP leader Advani, noted singers Rafi,Kishor Kumar,Mukesh,Bollywood stars Amitabh,Amrish Puri,Kulbhushan Kharbanda,Dharmendra, Amol Palekar, Sanjeev Kumar, Raj Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, Naseeruddin Shah, Dilip Kumar etc. He mimicked their voices through snatches of dialogues from movies like Sholay, Devdas, etc. He brought the house down with mimicry of Paresh Rawal and did an encore at audience’s request. But it was not all funny stuff. Maheshbhai commented on the eroding family values. The blind aping of Western lifestyle by the present affluent young generation is a cause for concern. Old taboos are breaking down. We are witnessing a craze for consumerism and permissiveness. “Sadly we are witnessing growing instances where a widowed father or mother despite having several grown up children feels lonely and neglected because no one extends a helping hand.”. He advised the youth, “Your parents took care of you during your first ten years. So remember it is your duty to take care of them in the last ten years of their lives”(applause). Gopalbhai emphasized the richness of Gujarati language, literature and culture.

During the interval, the attendees were served tea and tasty snacks-chevdo, khaman and delicious pendas generously provided by Kalpeshbhai of Patel Bros., New Delhi Imports and K.B.Zaveree respectively.

It was well past midnight and though no one wanted to leave, it was curtain time. Gopalbhai thanked Mustafabhai, a ubiquitous presence at all performing arts events for his ‘can -do’ spirit and unflinching support. Mustafabhai responded by thanking the three outstanding ’kalakars’ for a memorable feast of fun and laughter. He also thanked the National Promoter Parimal Butala,Gujarati Samaj. the media who helped with the publicity and coverage of the event, Ramesh Pandya(Gujarati Samaj,Board member) and C.M.Patel for their help and support . He especially thanked Sanjay Patel for going the extra mile in extending his tireless help in all aspects of the show, from beginning to end, including serving snacks and tea during the interval. He further thanked the team of volunteers Rajni Parikh,Vishnu Trivedi, and Upendra Bhatt, for their services. A surprise awaited the attendees-stainless- steel thalis as they left the auditorium, courtesyApna Bazar.

August 26, 90