If holding an Indian passport is the only proof of being an Indian national, then Arun Govada doesn’t pass muster. But when begins to sing Annamaya Sankirtanas or chant the ‘Vishnu Sahasranamam’, this non-resident Indian will probably put most Indians and advocates of safe-keepers of Indian traditions to shame. “My accent makes people I meet at a bar or a club respond to me with a smirk ‘you are not even an Indian.’ That’s when I am forced to discuss culture, tradition, classical music etc. Indians born abroad are always under pressure to be more Indian or prove their ‘Indianness’ by way of learning classical music, read Indian literature etc.
If Arun is asked to introduce himself it would go as: ‘An American-born, Hong Kong-raised Indian musician and comedian. He’s opened for YouTube Music Sensation Clara C and has competed in competitions from Hong Kong to USA. Most recently, Arun performed as a guest artist on Taiwan Super Idol singing in Mandarin, and released original singles called ‘When You Go’ and ‘Super Star Wish’. Growing up in Hong Kong, while being Indian, his mind is a cluster of cultures, languages and accents. He is fluent in Mandarin, speaks broken Telugu, abysmal Hindi and British English with an American accent.’
Living in Hong Kong, he thought he was almost settled with a good place at IBM, but then “I loved doing standup acts and I was a regular at various shows in Hong Kong on the stage. Then eventually I quit my job to take up the tasks assigned by my mother to set up her Architectural Services firm. Travelling here and there made me talk at various places for open mic sessions and it was quite a show.
It gives anyone an opportunity to make others laugh and that can never be bad,” explains Arun who now has open mics under the name of ‘Hyderbadass Comedy’.
Arun was aware that the extension word on Hyderabad might be taken in the negative sense, but he was delighted when things took a different shape. The crowd felt it was good to be made fun of sometimes and “had no qualms of making an ass of themselves.”
The ‘Shit ____ Say’ epidemic on YouTube is what pushed Arun into the likes of comedy, after his viral hit “S*** My Indian Parents Say” amassed over 300,000 hits. This inspired him to perform comedy for the first time in Shanghai and then Hong Kong. He has opened for the hilarious Tom Rhodes, Neville Shah, and is growing his performance repertoire as we speak.
Talking about this new genre of entertainment (besides club hopping and hitting the dance floor or ‘just hanging out’) in Hyderabad, he says, “In Hyderabad we are at a growing stage. Comedy here still means taking a dig at one’s culture or about race etc. I like to cull out comedy from my own personal experiences with life and work. I’d rather make jokes at myself first rather than take a dig at people, especially when everyone is warming up to it,” explains Govada.
As a tribute to Mother’s Day, Arun invited three stand-up comedians from Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
Says he, “Only moms know what the day means to them. So I wanted to dedicate a day and since it was a charity show the proceeds would go to Spandana an NGO.”
