https://indianmasterminds.com

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

A Bureaucrat Excelling In Stand Up Comedy

IRAS officer Prashant Arora has a passion for standup comedy. He has given award winning performance on the stage of LBSNAA. He loves making people laugh and considers it a service to society.
Indian Masterminds Stories

“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.

The officer with a fan art

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.”


Indian Masterminds Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Related Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
NEWS
Odisha govt_resized
Odisha Government Transfers Bhadrak SP, Appoints Manoj Kumar Rout as Replacement
Karnataka-govt-announces-state-wide-close-down-for-14-days
IPS Seemanth Kumar Singh Appointed New Bengaluru Police Commissioner Amid Stampede Fallout
NALCO
NALCO Refutes Reports of Capex Deferral, Confirms Rs 30,000 Crore Smelter Expansion is on Track - Know the Matter
Northern-Coalfields-Limited-NCL-Resized
NCL Signs MoU to Support Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities in Singrauli - All Details Inside
Ruchika Chauhan IAS
Leading By Example: Gwalior DC Ruchika Chauhan Arrives At Her Office Boarding An E-Rickshaw! Delivers A Strong Message On World Environment Day
KVIC Khadi and Village Industries
KVIC Disburses Rs. 300 Crore Margin Money Subsidy Under PMEGP to Boost Self-Employment - Details Inside
HUDCO New Logo
HUDCO Champions Green Urban Development on World Environment Day 2025
Mayur Dixit IAS
Who is IAS Mayur Dixit, the New DM of Haridwar? Uttarakhand Bureaucracy in Buzz Amid Land Scam Fallout
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
Monika Singh
Monika Singh’s Life Beyond the Bureaucracy | Video Interview 
IAS Tushar G Nikhare
Modernising Governance: A Digital Transformation in Gangtok
IMG-20250523-WA0036
Abhishek Singh's SECRET: Vipassana, Anthropology & Smart Answer Writing | Video Interview 
ADVERTISEMENT
UPSC Stories
Divyanshu Pal Nagar IFS
5 Years, 5 Mains, 4 Interviews: How Divyanshu Pal Nagar Stumbled in CSE, Triumphed in IFS - A Lesson for Every Aspirant
Divyanshu Pal Nagar’s inspiring five-year UPSC journey shows how perseverance, disciplined self-study,...
ANUBHAV SINGH UPSC IFS 2024
9 Years, 8 Attempts, 7 Failures: How Anubhav Singh Cracked UPSC IFS 2024 with AIR 3 Against All Odds | Exclusive
Anubhav Singh’s inspiring journey to UPSC IFS Rank 3 showcases relentless perseverance, strategic preparation,...
Jogender Sihag
“I Cleared UPSC, But My Grandfather isn’t Here to Hear it,” Jogender Sihag, AIR 521, UPSC CSE 2024
"Life is short; make the most of it, whether in civil service or any other field. Just have a clear vision...
Social Media
Tiger jump Sundarban
Stunning Viral Video Shows Royal Bengal Tiger Making Spectacular 30-Foot Leap Across River in Sunderbans - See It Here
Retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Susanta Nanda shared the clip online, which quickly went...
shubham kumar ias marriage
IAS Topper Weds BPSC Topper: Shubham Kumar Marries IRS Officer Priyangi Mehta in Patna; Wedding Video Goes Viral
Topper Couple Alert: Shubham Kumar, Priyangi Mehta’s Wedding Grabs Spotlight in Bihar
parveen kaswan elephant
Elephant Outsmarts Electric Fence! IFS Parveen Kaswan Shares Incredible Video!
In the now-viral 51-second clip, the intelligent giant approaches a wooden pole supporting high-voltage...
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Latest
Odisha govt_resized
Odisha Government Transfers Bhadrak SP, Appoints Manoj Kumar Rout as Replacement
Karnataka-govt-announces-state-wide-close-down-for-14-days
IPS Seemanth Kumar Singh Appointed New Bengaluru Police Commissioner Amid Stampede Fallout
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
Monika Singh
IAS Tushar G Nikhare
IMG-20250523-WA0036
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT