Vir Das was at the Kennedy Center where he presented the ‘Two Indias’ monologue had reactions from some sources.
Vir Das is currently in the US, and on Monday uploaded a video on YouTube, titled “I come from two Indias”, that was part of his recent performance at the John F Kennedy Centre in Washington DC.
After his satirical monologue, Vir Das was booked For ‘insulting India’, where a complaint was filed against him for making “derogatory statements against India” on Tuesday, 16 November. The complaint was lodged with the Mumbai Police by high court lawyer Ashutosh Dubey, who serves as the legal advisor of BJP-Maharashtra Palghar District.
In the six-minute soliloquy in Kennedy Center in the USA, Das speaks about the duality of the country and discusses some of the most crucial issues India is facing, and with reference to the farmers says, “I come from an India where we take pride in being vegetarians and yet run over the farmers who grow our vegetables”. He also talked about children holding hands with masks and leaders who hug each other without masks. He touched India’s battle against COVID-19, and about the unattainable PM Care Funds. Notably, the part of his speech that struck a rawer nerve was put out on Twitter with clips and pictures from his discourse, particularly the part where he said, “I come from an India where we worship women during the day and gang-rape them during the night.” He made a statement of India, “A great people who built a great thing that is turning… into a memory”.
While in Kennedy Center, the intellectual elite was laughing uproariously enjoying the jest on India and was able to take a joke on themselves where presumably, the majority in the hall were Indian Americans, different reactions arose in India with a section of Indians feeling insulted.
Vir Das has issued a statement clarifying that his comments in his monologue “I come from two Indias” weren’t intended to insult the country.
On Tuesday, Vir issued a statement clarifying that his comments in his monologue “I come from two Indias” weren’t intended to insult the country stating that his intention was to separate as a reminder that the country, despite its issues, was “great.” “The video is a satire about the duality of two very separate India’s that do different things. Like any nation has light and dark, good and evil within it. None of this is a secret. The video appeals for us to never forget that we are great. To never stop focusing on what makes us great. “It ends in a gigantic patriotic round of applause for a country we all love, believe in, and are proud of. That there is more to our country than the headlines, a deep beauty. That’s the point of the video and the reason for the applause,” his statement read.
Vir Das wrote that people cheer for the country with hope and not “hate” and asked his followers to not be misled by edited clips. “Please do not be fooled by edited snippets. People cheer for India with hope, not hate. People clap for India with respect, not malice. You cannot sell tickets, earn applause, or represent great people with negativity, only with pride. I take pride in my country, and I carry that pride across the world. “To me, a room full of people anywhere in the world, giving India an ovation is pure love. I ask of you, the same thing I asked of that audience…to focus on the light, remember our greatness, and spread the love,” he said.
Vir Das’s video went viral on WhatsApp and YouTube. Within a few hours, the video already received lakhs of likes thus far with only around 17 thousand dislikes until now, which is an indicator as to what the country is really feeling, where it appears that most of the people in India agree with what Vir Das says.
However, he offended a small section of Indians and Twitter trenders are working furiously to make the trend rise.
It should be noted that Vir Das did not say anything that was actually unknown, these incidents did happen. and the video came straight from the heart, however, it appears certain people have not learned how to accept the truth even with rueful laughter and aim for change. Perhaps that is what Vir Das desired Indians to aspire for though he must have gauged he would be trolled, attacked, and booked in the bargain as well, but still gave it a shot.
Vir Das is an Indian comedian, actor, and comedy musician. After beginning a career in standup comedy, Das moved to Hindi cinema starring in films like Delhi Belly, Badmaash Company, and Go Goa Gone. In 2017, he acted in the Netflix special Abroad Understanding.
In 2015, he made a comical song summarizing all the events of the year and though sung with great humor, the song hit hard on the ground realities in India.