“If you can make someone laugh, you lift them out of their fundamentally tragic existence”, said the famous American actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter T.J. Miller.
And rightly so.
We often hear about civil service officers pursuing their passion for writing, painting, singing, or dancing but rarely do we come across an officer who does standup comedy and make people laugh. Mr. Prashant Arora is one such officer! In an exclusive conversation with Indian Masterminds, the Indian Railway Accounts Service officer talked about his passion, his work, and why he loves to make people laugh.
COMEDY HELPED TO TACKLE BLUES
It is said ten minutes of genuine laughter in your day can automatically increase your motivation thereby raising your productivity levels. Preparing for the UPSC examination is exhausting as aspirants literally burn the midnight oil. On top of that, the pressure of clearing the examination takes a toll on the candidates’ mental health. Mr. Prashant Arora also went through the same phase and experienced the same level of stress. And it was then that he started channelizing his energy towards laughter. He took to comedy to make himself and others laugh!
“I developed a habit of writing poetry and comedy content during UPSC preparation. That phase of life was full of stress along with isolation from friends. So, writing observational comedy was a warm hug for me in the chaos of competition. I got a stage to perform only after selection, at LBSNAA, NADT, NAIR, NIFM, and so on.”
The officer’s first proper standup comedy show took place on the stage of LBSNAA in Mussorie where he gave an award-winning performance! Here is the video:
MAKING TIME FOR BOTH WORK AND PASSION
Buoyed by the success of his first performance, Mr. Arora started doing standup comedy quite frequently during his training days at LBSNAA and made people roll in laughter with his wit. However, after joining the services, due to increased responsibilities and work commitments, he had to pause for a while.
“Today I write comic write-ups and poetry during weekends mostly and post them on Twitter and perform some bits in informal meets of officers.”
Talking about organizing his own standup comedy shows, the officer said, “I have developed a creative process where I zero in on few relatable topics which usually revolve around ‘Sarkari’ culture and daily lifestyles. Then I start writing and rewriting jokes and one-liners and keep on editing them.”
CIVIL SERVICE OVER COMEDY ANYTIME
When asked to choose between civil service and standup comedy, he calmly replied that civil service is a million miles ahead because it gives purpose to life.
He said, “Comedy which started as a hobby has actually become a nature now and a way of life. I see comedy as a helping tool to take off all the anxiety and pressures of life that I have to confront every day as a civil servant.”
The IRAS officer believes that “comedy is also a kind of service to people who are struggling in their own stories. It takes courage and intelligence to be genuinely comic. I sincerely hope that along with providing relief to people as an officer, I will keep on bringing smiles and cheers to people as an artist, too.”
