Three comedians from Gujarat, Mahesh Shastri,
Gopal Barot and Nirav Mehta, gave a rib-tickling show at Sardar Patel
Bhavan Hall in Tucker on Aug. 21.
The comedians were in America on a five-week tour. The local show,
organized by Mustafa Ajmeri’s Global Entertainment, was their ninth
show.
Shastri from Ahmedabad, Barot from Saurashtra and Mehta from Baroda
had the audience in stitches with their flurry of jokes in their
inimitable styles. Their jokes were based on a keen sense of
observation and the nuances of everyday life.
Shastri spoke of cricket fans who behave like experts. They gather
near a paan kiosk after the match and analyze the match. If India wins,
they are full of praise for the players. The same fans do not hesitate
to trash Indian players when they lose the following day.
They joked about Gujarati women who keep servants and have ample
time to band together with neighbors and gossip about their husbands,
politics, etc. They are also shrewd in dealing with street hawkers. A
street hawker was trying to impress one housewife with the incense
sticks he was selling. A hawker selling incense sticks tried his sales
pitch: “Even the lady in the tenth house away will be able to smell
this.” “Why don’t you go and sell it to that lady then?” snapped the
housewife.
Mehta won repeated applause with his excellent impressions. He
mimicked BJP leader L.K. Advani, singer Kishor Kumar, Bollywood star
Amitabh Bachchan, and many others. He brought the house down with his
impression of Paresh Rawal and did an encore at the audience’s request.
But it was not all funny stuff. Shastri commented on the eroding
family values. The blind aping of Western lifestyle by the affluent
younger generation is a cause for concern. “Sadly we are witnessing
growing instances where a widowed father or mother, despite having
several grown up children, feels lonely and neglected because no one
extends a helping hand,” he said. He advised the youth, “Your parents
took care of you during your first ten years. So remember it is your
duty to take care of them in the last ten years of their lives.”