BENGALURU: In the past few years, awareness about caste-based violence and discrimination has been continually in the ethos of the youth with activists and artistes regularly bringing the problems to light. While it can be said that this is a step in the right direction, a lot is left to be done. Caste holds an almost immovable place in the country’s collective psyche, so to see beyond its hierarchy is a revolutionary act.
This week, Blue Material, an independent Dalit comedy collective from Maharashtra, is coming to Bengaluru as part of their third tour in collaboration with Maraa, a city-based media and arts collective. Blue Material has multiple shows lined up starting from August 25 at Maraa, Indiranagar (6.30pm-8pm), August 26 at Bangalore International Centre (6pm-7.30pm) and Shoonya, Lal Bagh (9pm-10.30pm), with the tour concluding on August 27 with shows in Our Theatre (6pm-8.30pm) and Beru Art Space (8.30pm-10pm).
Regarding their present tour, Manaal Patil, a comedian part of Blue Material, says it has been going great. “This is technically our third tour. It’s been so fun. We get to meet a lot of people from our community, a lot of networking happens, and obviously the post-show party scenes,” shares Patil. He believes while caste can be a touchy subject to talk about on stage but such is the nature of comedy.
“Comedy has its ways of making the audience uncomfortable. If they come with an expectation and we cater according to them, in the bigger picture, nothing happens. Every joke has its afterthought and I write a joke keeping that afterthought in mind. The minor discomfort in laughs that leads to that afterthought can’t happen if everyone is ‘comfortable’ with the material,” he says.
Manaal believes it is very pertinent in today’s times to keep the dialogue around caste open. “It is important to talk about it because it’s literally everywhere, but I hate to think of what we’re doing as some world-changing revolutionary thing. It’s just too much pressure, Dalits need to be able to relax as well. This show is just us exploring and talking about our identity. It is more for me than the audience I feel,” he says, adding that Blue Material got their inspiration from Def Comedy Jam, which used to be an all-black comedy show started in the ’90s. The collective is also planning to record their shows to reach a wider audience.
Meanwhile, Maraa Collective has been running workshops looking at comedy as a platform to express new narratives. “Maraa over the last four years has been working and running workshops in the city and country, looking at comedy as a platform for new narratives to be self-expressed by communities who have been silenced and have not had access to the stage. It is about freedom of expression where it’s not just about getting the mic but being empowered to control your narrative through humour. We plan on building on this work in the next year and also plan to work with comedians and collectives,” concludes Nihal P, a member of Maraa.
Ahead of their shows in the city, comedians from Blue Material, a Dalit comedy collective, and organisers of their collaborators Maraa, a city-based art collective, talk about representing Dalit voices on the stage, and the need for such initiatives