An angry man wielding a thick, heavy stick storms onto the stage. The collar of his shirt is popped up, and the sleeves rolled back in true 1990s Bollywood-thug-style. At most stand-up comedy venues in the city, this would mean the night is unfortunately, going to come to a premature end. If you’re at comedian Manoj Verma’s shows, however, the party has just begun. The comedian, who grew up in Haryana’s Bhiwani district likes to bring a bit of his hometown on stage with him. We can’t (and would rather not) complain.

“Artistes like Manoj are deeply connected to their roots. Their mannerisms, writing and delivery are all inimitable. These voices are often relegated to smaller shows in Mumbai where we’re obsessed with Hinglish comedy,” shares social activist and host Rakshita Manglani, who is organising Zubaan Sambhal ke, a multilingual comedy showcase this weekend. For Manglani, the convergence of Hindi, English, Bengali, Marathi, Haryanvi and Tamil comedians is part of a larger vision to acknowledge India’s diverse linguistic heritage, including her own Sindhi origins. ‘Dadho sutho!’, Manglani suggests, would be the right term to applaud an initiative like this.