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For the past two episodes on the “American Desis” Podcast, co-hosts Arjun Gupta and Akaash Singh sat down with their guest Tushar Singh for a back-to-back discussion.
When they introduced Singh as a person of Indian origin who was born and raised in Alabama before moving to Atlanta, I felt like they could have been introducing me. Of course, they proceeded to talk about his career as a comedian thus far and his 6-foot-plus height, and I was immediately reminded that they are speaking about Singh.
Part one of this podcast was mostly about helping the listeners learn more about Singh and his upbringing. Being a South Asian who also grew up in the Deep South, I was not surprised by the questions the hosts asked, one of which included whether or not Singh faced racism in Alabama. And, in line with my own experiences, Singh also reported that the city he grew up in was educated and diverse, thanks to the presence of the University of Alabama at Huntsville and NASA—which also meant he never really experienced direct racism.
This alleged diversity still made Singh one of only about seven Indian kids in his school, but that is still more than I can say for the Indian kids at my Birmingham high school (I was one of three or four in my graduating class).
Singh discussed how, thanks to being overweight, most of his childhood was actually spent dealing with body image as opposed to dealing with his race. For the “white world,” Singh was “different,” and for the “Indian world,” Singh was “fat.” Again, his words could not have been more relevant to me if I had spoken them myself!
The struggle as a brown kid in the Deep South for both of us seemed to be more in line with the struggles faced by all kids, regardless of race or geographic location in this country. Singh used his humor to fit in as the “fat kid,” while I used my congeniality. To-may-to, to-mah-to.
After I got past how similar our childhood experiences were, I could focus in on the controversy that erupted in the discussion when Singh said Hindu mythology is “ridiculous.” This did not sit well with Gupta, who wanted his guest to back his statement with some solid reasoning. A few awkward moments later, Singh opened up about his complaints with religious institutions in general, and proclaimed that despite being atheist, he wished he could have the faith that so many in this world hold near and dear.
This tangent wrapped up the first segment of the podcast, and listeners were left wondering when they could hear more about Singh’s career as a comedian, which kicked off around 2006 alongside his day job as an engineer. You can take the man out of the desh, but you apparently can never take the desh out of the man.
Fast forward to today when Singh has actually quit his day job to pursue comedy full-time. He has recently completed filming a documentary regarding the comedy scene in India, which covers the recent All India Bakchod comedy roast controversy that proved beyond a shadow of doubt the lack of the concept of freedom of speech in our motherland.
Singh plans on moving to India to pursue comedy and said he believes his niche as an Indian-American comedian is “easier” for him in India than it actually is here in America.
Again, I can very much relate to what Singh referred to in the podcast, but you will have to take a listen to the conversation for yourself to see if you can relate to Singh’s approach to his life, career, and identity. Check out Singh’s Twitter page for regular updates about his career and upcoming documentary.
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