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Journalism of Courage
Vir Das, arguably India’s most popular English-language standup comedian, has often courted controversies. In 2023, his monologue titled “Two Indias,” shot during one his shows in the United States of America, caused a huge stir on the internet. Then, many accused Das of vilifying the nation, and some even filed police cases against him.
An X user, who referenced Das’s seven-minute “Two Indias” poem while commenting on how the staff at the famous Lalbaugcha Raja pandal in Mumbai treat people, those with VIP tags and others, differently, saying, “When Vir Das talks about ‘Two Indias,’ we troll him a lot.”
Das quoted this post and said, “Troll? :-) that’s cute. The average troll on this platform couldn’t deal with .000001% of what actually happened,” referring to the intense backlash, threats and formal police complaints he had faced at the time the poem went viral.
In the X post, Das also wrote, “But hey, all’s well that ends in a joke.”
Many X users responded to Das’s post. One user said, “Abb jaa k samjhi hai aapki “2 Indias” wali baat sabko. (It is only now that people understand what you meant by ‘Two Indias’) No doubt they call you ahead of our times.”
Another user said, “You should talk publicly about it. Hopefully a time will come where you will be able to name a few too.”
A third user commented, “I hope someday you actually talk about what happened. Not in a comedy setting or a casual setting, but seriously, what actually happened. This would help as an example in the freedom of speech discourse in the country.”
Das is also an actor, currently basking in the praises he is receiving for the portrayal of a sadistic TV news anchor in Dharma Productions’ latest series titled “Call me Bae”. He has also became the first Indian to host the International Emmy Awards. This year, the show is scheduled for November 25 in New York City.
