Laughing in the face of death

Without having to Google it, there is no ignoring the word 'death' right now more than ever. Reflected in death counts or just the deep breath you have to take every time you wear a mask and step out of home, the realisation that mortality doesn't seem like something far out of reach can be crippling. "Death is a serious business. We talk about dying really lightly sometimes but when we wish to convey condolences, we don't know what to say," says Jeeya Sethi. This lightness of the term, as Sethi shares, is found in our everyday vocabulary - when you're exhausted, you could say, "I'm dead," and when you're confronted with a meme, it is appropriate to comment "dying".

Thus, on this note today, 39-year-old Sethi will put together a comedy show about death on Zoom. It's a trial one and hence, her first time at addressing this subject. The city-based comedian began pondering on the subject three years ago when she lost a friend to breast cancer. "When she did pass away, it changed my life as well. I've seen people stigmatising it so much. They put the blame on the person suffering from it and say it's karma. They also don't use the word 'cancer', and you can't say 'breast' either," Sethi says.

Our understanding of death, as a society, Sethi believes, hasn't evolved yet; we still don't know how to deal with someone passing away - be it a friend or a family member. The only thing that perhaps has changed, she quips, is that it is more acceptable for women to enter crematoriums. She also asserts that the best thing to come out of the pandemic is that those who lose loved ones can now have space to themselves for grieving due to the need for social distancing. "When you lose someone, you just want to be left alone for a few days because you haven't digested that such a thing has happened. Another thing I believe is that evil people get to live longer than good humans, and that's something I'm going to be making fun of in the show, too," Sethi informs.

While acknowledging that the uncertainty that looms over us all is intense, Sethi also wishes to address how the lockdown has driven people lonely and anxious. And reiterating that the show is suitable for everyone, she wants the audience to know that like birth, death should be celebrated, too; that "people live forever if they live in your heart."

On Tonight, 10 pm
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Cost Rs 200

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