That's the Parsi way

There is something to be said about Parsis their sense of humour is unique Maybe they tend to make fun of themselves before others do as a defence mechanism considering their minuscule population which is also rapidly shrinkingIn other Indian cities people donrsquot know much about Parsis but in Mumbai they are a much loved community as much for their achievements in every field as for their quirks their peculiar way of speaking Gujarati mangling Hindi and Marathi and using the choicest abuses in their routine conversations without even realising what slipped through their lipsMehernosh Siganporia is the lsquoMad Bawarsquo character Danesh Irani portrayed in two productions The Class Act and Four Square a character who is loud obnoxious and rude to everybody in sightAll their foibles are in full display in the Parsi plays that are performed specially for Parsi New Year and Khordad Sal when itrsquos a tradition for the community to watch a play and then go for a lavish dinner It is understood expected even that a Parsi play will have lsquonaughtyrsquo jokes which they will guffaw at but also call ldquokoilurdquo and cluck their tongues at in mock horrorDanesh Iranirsquos standup comedy show The Last Parsi encapsulates the Parsi character with a rambunctious sense of fun and since the audience at the opening shows are also Parsi maybe friends family neighbours the inside jokes go down particularly well Like a Parsirsquos horror of vegetarian food their running gags against Gujarati miserliness vegetarian and teetotalling ways and the Parsirsquos mistrust of Muslims because ldquoNo Parsi can see eye to eye with a community that fasts for a whole monthrdquo according to DaneshAnd why donrsquot Parsis allow outsiders to enter their fire temple Because they were driven out of their homeland and figured if they donrsquot let anyone in they canrsquot be pushed out The thing about a Parsi standup act is that it can make fun of everybody and nobody minds because the biggest target of the Parsirsquos jokes are Parsis themselves Danesh brings the house down with the episode of his grandmother driving a Nano even though the ldquokoilurdquo element gets full playAlmost everybody has seen his earlier plays and when the name Mehernosh Siganporia is uttered there is spontaneous laughter This is the lsquoMad Bawarsquo character Danesh Irani portrayed in two productions mdash The Class Act and Four Square A character who is loud obnoxious and rude to everybody in sight A fellow who ought to get his own comic book series or at least memesIn an earlier Parsi New Year production Soda Bottle Opener Wala Danesh played a waiter in an Irani cafeacute with the oddly appropriate name of Chashni sugar syrup And he is well loud obnoxious and rude to everyone in sightDanesh is part of a theatre company called SillyPoint Productions and acts in almost all their plays with his cohorts Meherzad Patel and Danesh Khambatta writing and directing by turn They have understood the tastes of their audience and have come to specialise in comedies that have Parsi characters but the stories are universal For instance Rusty Screws has a guy of the typical lsquosandwichrsquo generation coping with pressures of aged parent delinquent son hassles at work and disgruntled wife Irsquom Bawa And I Know It starts with a housing shortage and goes on to tackle homophobia and narrowmindedness but in a humorous waySoda Bottle Opener Wala takes off from the recent social mediafuelled panic about Grant Roadrsquos iconic Merwanrsquos shutting down and sweeps in real estate problems greed and the old ways versus the new Their latest The Buckingham Secret is about the British Royal family which works with a fictional scenario but pokes fun at the Parsisrsquo adoration of all things British and still bowing to lsquoAapri Ranirsquo our queen Some old Parsiowned establishments still have a picture of Queen Elizabeth on the walls and the death of Princess Diana was mourned by the whole communityAccording to Danesh the only thing a Parsi canrsquot do is get into Bollywood mdash try getting a Bawa to say Didi tera dewar deewana But still Parsis were showbiz pioneers Ardeshir Irani the Wadia Brothers and therersquos Boman Irani breaking down barriers leading a small but determined roster of Parsi actors in films and television Add to that half Parsis like Farah Khan and John Abraham and the numbers add upThe standup show may be called The Last Parsi and its poster may show Danesh Irani with a vulture perched on his head but the community is far from giving up the ghostDeepa Gahlot is an awardwinning film and theatre critic and an arts administrator You can follow her on twitter deepagahlot