mid-day lunchbox: Talking about the generation

The first week of November is already over and like every year in Mumbai winter shows no signs of coming We are inside Woodside Inn in Andheri and seated before us is 23yearold comedian Urooj Ashfaq Shes mockwhispering into our phone recorder I hate Shayan Thats not on record Shayan Roy a video producer with a popular youth portal is also with us smiling at Ashfaqs antics as she mimics a distressed celebrity We are laughing as well We get them we are them We arethe millennialsAshfaq grew up in Abu Dhabi and moved to Mumbai at the age of 12 Roy who is originally from Shillong moved to the city at the same age At the core of what these two youth icons do is humour But they have chosen different media for it For Ashfaq its through standup and for Roy its through video How are these 20somethings taking the Internet by storm through such vastly different platforms We found outSuman Tell us about your journey How did you guys get hereShayan It was by complete accident I wanted to be a writer since I was a kid So I joined Buzzfeed and I was writing for them for two years Then someone from the video team left and they needed me to edit video memes Thats how I started Now producing videos is a fulltime jobUrooj Every time I say I am a Bombay girl someone corrects me So Ill say I am a Navi Mumbai girl After my bachelors in psychology I was applying to different colleges for a masters But none of them took me in So I was like Okay I have a gap year I have to do something My friend Sumaira Shaikh who is also a comedian and I were in college together and she did an open mic She asked me if I wanted to try one and I did We kept doing open mics and eventually started interning with AIB It just went on from there My gap is still onSuman to Urooj So you never thought of doing comedyUrooj Actually in college I did seriously consider it Throughout the third year Sumaira and I would psyche each other up and wed be like We have to do this We have to go to an open mic Were so hilarious We would keep writing notes at the back of our books and pass them around Everyone would be like Oh you guys are so funny So we thought what do we do with this And finally we did something with it I wouldnt have had the guts to do this without her thoughShayan It sounds daunting People ask me sometimes if I want to do standup because I write funny things but to me its a completely different ball game We study things a lot behind the scenes Whats going to make people laugh at what point of the video are most people dropping off and a lot of research and analytics goes into it even though we make it appear off the cuff So that I think is a big difference between standup and video production and I feel like I might just embarrass myselfUrooj to Shayan I think what youre scared of is the humiliation But the thing is in the first six months you will bomb because youre learning to be on stage And once that happens youre invincible because you feel like youve done badly in every room After that you become confident because youre not scared of doing badly anymoreFresh watermelon juice pesto grilled chicken with fresh mozzarella pizza smoked prawns and calamari ajillo with salsa tapenade and Naga chilli spiced crispy fried chicken burger arriveShayan Oh that smells so good I wish I could have someUrooj I really like these prawnsSuman Are you guys foodiesShayan Umm I eat a lot of foodUrooj Same but I will also eat anything thats in front of me Wed call ourselves gluttons and not foodies because we dont discriminate I think sometimes I eat garbage to spite people who eat healthy and I realise I am making their point for themShayan I am allergic to a bunch of things Crustaceans alcoholbut I have eaten bananas with schezwan sauce and I dont know why I eat a lot of trash and my body does not like me for it but somehow I am not allergicto bulltShayan Roy and Urooj Ashfaq goof around at Woodside Inn Andheri PicsShadab KhanSuman What do you guys have to say about baby boomers trashing millennials and their cultureUrooj You know theres this concept about ingroup and outgroup And I think thats how people view each other when it comes to religion and caste as well Its a case of distinction If youre from an older generation you belong to the outgroup but we are in the group Its very human to resent whatever youre not a part of or what you dont get But also I dont get why they are so surprised We are obviously going to evolve and we cant be stuck riding Maruti 800 for the rest of our lives And even though my parents have never used the your generation thing on me if someone did Id tell them that our generation is a lot more free independent and acceptingShayan I think this will continue I see teenagers today and I am surprised tooQuick takesYour favourite word from the millenial lexiconUrooj Snacc Itrsquos snack but with a CShayan Flex which means to show offWhat do you eat when the stress is too muchUrooj NutellaShayan Either super spicy or super sweet stuff I eat a lot of kaju barfi when Iam stressedBombay for you in one wordUrooj SafetyShayan VividCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates