Women's Day: Women are eager to share their stories, says Aditi Mittal

Sex education sanitary napkins bras periods misogyny feminism and the list goes on Theres no taboo topic that standup comedian Aditi Mittal hasnt talked about From being single at 30 to womens hygiene issues and how sex is portrayed in India Aditi Mittal has been there and done that Aditis comedy is inspired by personal experiences and observations and is considered as sharp as a knife Such is her persona and knack to tickle the bone that Indian sexologist Dr Mahinder Watsa couldnt stop completing her for her hilarious take on sex education and much moreJust as the world marks the celebration of International Womens Day today we had the opportunity to interact with Indias best standup comedian Aditi Mittal who in a candid conversation talks about everythingHere are the excerpts from the interviewFrom working in New York to being the 1st Indian comedian to perform at The Laugh Factory how has the journey been so farThe journey has been exciting enthusiastic It has been humbling and all I can think of is adjectives But I would say I have miles to go before I sleep I think its only the beginningYou were the first woman to start standup comedy in India How has standup comedy evolved over the yearsToday there are so many more women eager to tell their stories now and there are many more women willing to step out and take the mic And thats really exciting and thats been one of the changes that there is a variety of voices now in standup comedy Such is the growth that today we have a show like FemaPalooza which is exclusively for women only There are only women performers women as the audience women producers which is very rare in our industry Its an allwomen show It is one of the best things to come out of the heightened awareness around women in comedyYour comedy style is considered to be sharp and cutting edge How do you go about penning down jokes Women in general have a lot of st to deal with And so the stuff that comes out of them when they joke is a lot more potent and its a lot more poignant and that makes you think a lot Because women stories have not been at the forefront and centre And when people are like your humour is so sharp I am like Ya Because just compared to the dudes around us we see a completely different world We get to experience a completely different world And so the standup comedy that we have is a lot more insightful sharper and it says a lotWho is your inspiration behind pursuing standup comedy and whyOf course its my dad and my mom Because they are both amazing and frankly if you think I am a terrible comic then you should blame them because they should have gotten on stage and should have done this because they are truly my two inspirations Having said that right now there are so many people who are so f good There is Wanda Sykes Sara Pascoe Ali Wong Paula Poundstone and Lynne Koplitz to name a fewWho according to you are the top 5 standup female standup comics to watch out for in 2019Jeeya Sethi Pavitra Shetty Sonali Thakkar Prashasti Singh and Unnati MarfatiaWhat is your take on taboo topics in India such as sanitary napkins sex education condomsThat take is my comedy only Hahaha Because the more taboo they are the more fun it is to try and figure them out When the topic is taboo it is surrounded by nonsense rumours and a lot of misinformation so its much more fun to pen down jokes on them Most of my jokes are based out of personal experiences My approach to comedy has always been that if I dont understand something then I start talking about it If I cant wrap my head around a concept I will write about it and then I will track and crack a few jokes about it And to me the act of standup comedy is sharing in confusion Its all of us in that one moment laughing away that even if we dont fully understand this thing even though its not fair or even though its not right And maybe in that moment we are all powerless but the one thing that we can do is laugh at it To take away the power from it just a little moreHow do you deal with critics and people who body shame and defame youWhen I started and people would say good stuff I would be like Aye chal na Hey go and if anyone would say anything bad then I would be like Aye chal na So I would not let even the good or the bad affect me Earlier it used to feel like really OMG but now if there is substance in it then I always pay attention If there is something in it for me apart from 20 bad words then I am like Am I going to learn a new bad word So I always look for something to learn Even if someone is abusing me 50 times I wonder is there a new one that I can useEven though women are carving a niche for themselves in many fields the country overall still have the same preconceived notion about them Your thoughtsThe universal stereotype that we must get rid of is that all women are not the same And that everyone has different problems and it is not that personal problems are bigger than the others One could be working in a corporate office and facing sexual harassment and that is as bad as women not having access to good maternity health especially during scary pregnancies in a rural area The idea is that women cannot be approached or defined as a single group of people There is a wide variety of women with a variety of experiences and with a variety of voices and a variety of jokes And its time we started paying attention to thatGive us 2 smart tips for women who want to pursue standup comedy in the near futureFirstly get the f on stage yesterday and secondly love your failures as much as you love your successAlso ReadWomens Day 2019 As soon as the day is over the sexism will return says Ariana GuptaCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates