all the Banaras people and I assume
they’re people from other states also so
let me also just give a very warm
welcome to the people from the south and
I hail from south of the country and a
very warm welcome for the people from
the north of the country why should I
miss the west and the East a very warm
welcome to the rest of the country and
to the east sorry we also have a
northeast and southwest fan a south east
and south west the part of the country
around in a very warm welcome and I saw
someone from the other country also here
so a very warm welcome for the people
from the Asia I am sure must have been
from a chef not must be the Europe okay
a very warm welcome to everyone from
around the world here thank you
[Applause]
in other this some lies there people who
do stand-up comedy’s I am sure that you
guys have seen in around the stand-up
comedy’s around and there are few people
whose life is a stand-up comedy and it’s
quite unfortunate it’s one of them is me
this is the power of it around you know
when I say that why is it a stand-up
comedy around what do I do around
sometimes as the interaction went around
I am a con man I could be just meeting
you around anywhere on the road around
and just calling you on something
sometimes I am just in an identity
change something which I constantly keep
on doing change my identities around and
one of this experiments around no could
lead us to different things and this
conman experiments most of it
happening across the borderline I mean
we understand the borderline I mean when
I’m talking about borderline it’s India
was india-pakistan war during the
Bangladesh border India China border
India Nepal border or Bhutan border or a
Burma border so that’s not an easy place
to actually do a conman ship it’s not
and things can go wrong any time at all
you know this but there was a precise
reason why I wanted to do this no con
man ships around and the idea was what
do I find myself in who do I on where do
i blog and that’s something what I call
identity you know I’m sure that you guys
have an IDenticard along with you and
there is a reason behind it to make sure
that things are in proper organized
manner to give you a sense of
empowerment that you are a part of the
community here and that was the same way
around I was born up with a lot of
labels attached a lot of identities
attached in an community which is mixed
so I bought up learning in an English
medium school grown up in and tell Bhumi
elbow atmosphere speaking in Urdu
language at home so it could be just a
mixture of languages here when you just
not sure where do you belong so one of
these questions let me do what do i do
ahead what do I want it to I was
perceiving genetics that was a very
interesting and fascinating subject you
do a lot of research under the
microscope asking yourself hey man this
is something this is no genes around
RNAs DNA’s and during the course of you
know inquiry around I went in to try and
find out my identity three years of that
education and I did come up to one
absolute peculiar subject and one
solution of it all under the microscope
I didn’t find any genes which led me to
study genetics so I shut off the college
I drawed up dropped out of the gen decks
got into arts started doing theater that
was the start of my introductions into I
but how do I just go about it so I
decided to go on a bicycle trip you know
cycling around finding two different
places it’s fantasy traveling around how
many would you like to travel around
this country
can I have raise of hands wonderful and
how many of you have already done some
part of it we all have done somewhat of
it might be from home to Banaras is also
part of traveling around oh yes there is
something oh okay whatever it is it
works strange it’s like me around okay
so as a part of this experiment I
decided to you know just start up love
college you know left your television
job I went down to my parents around
said mom that I would just want to go on
a bicycle trip around this country that
sounds very fascinating you know cycle
around well I was you never invested ISM
you never worked out you never went for
a morning run forget about a bicycling
around and that became actually a very
strong point for me to convince them I
can do this my mom as usual emotional
about it sat down went on with it said
no no no and then she got convinced on
one point he has never done this fifteen
days down the line he will fear the
pains of it and he is going to come back
he will know what it takes to be
actually paddling around because he has
not done it I said okay whatever it is I
am NOT going to come back so that fifty
days actually never finished I started
moving around on a bicycle trying to do
things so during the travel there was a
question mark what do I do with it the
only thing that I know travel and
theater so I try to mix them together
and during my travel in different
villages I try to experiment various
forms of theatre sometimes they don’t
operate you know community theatre forum
theater or even the monologue stand it
up
I mean imagine this place around a
bicycle coming around and saying that
hey guys I want to perform along with
the moon
I haven’t exist in the village is just
like quite funny also when you do it on
the street don’t do that you’re going to
get a couple of bashing around people
[Music]
so that’s that’s how it and then you
have it who here like this I’m sure
about it if you don’t meet me here on
this forum at all and you see me
somewhere on the out I’m sure you would
not have come down and said hey man it
was wonderful talking to you so that was
that was the whole part of experiment I
was just trying to get introduced to
around three years of rigorous traveling
on a bicycle from different places on
the man luxury family out it was
beautiful marvelous I should say as
usual I you know traveling really leaves
you speechless it was and then you are
actually entering into different it as
you are moving into the rural of the
country to perform you’re getting into
social injustice as you’re getting into
human rights violations you’re getting
into you know issues of people which are
very very important to you and it is
going to personally affect you on when
you’re on road so for me the plan will
actually left me with questions and
answers it was a it was just more
confusing what’s happening around is
someone takes about it’s my right and
someone else tells me it’s my right it
was just more and more convincing what’s
happening at all I said okay my mom does
on the telephone
15 days let’s come back are you coming
back or not you’re fine or not have you
had your food or not and this is going
along with part of it then I said okay
let me just pop the bicycle let me just
walk around and take the lips it took me
to a new definition of what I was trying
to do actually imagine yourself on the
road moving on your two wheeler or a
four wheeler a man like this just
walking across showing your thumb out of
nowhere
I bet a town or might be on a hike what
would be your reaction
how would you give a lip would you give
in this okay so it was very interesting
I’ve done fifty thousand kilometres this
where are so there are people who does
give let’s there people who do touch
that is something beautiful and and to
shade around like one of the truck
drivers you know I when Delhi to Agra
and I was hitchhiking around stopped
around okay and you know I was just
asking like this and on the truck was
passing around he stopped it around I
rushed around I got into it and he saw
my face is illegal here yet the London
so there are there are experiments on
the road which is just like you know I’m
sure you do not know how do you react to
it and Travis brings you different
things around I have been we didn’t have
matched up at different places
especially if you are trying to be a con
man around well you come back to that
choice so during this hitch hiking
period there was something very
fascinating I came across I am walking
from the morning to evening just trying
to put a lip the lips are like a
kilometer a half kilometers curves 9850
kilometers or sometimes the world day
you aren’t truck
absolutely adventures now five very
common things every day I was hearing
from the last two to three years where
are you coming from
where you going to what do you do why do
you do what do you get out of it
now this is something five times sitting
here on the start to the end around this
actually 35 times you know if I meet
around 30 buy new people on the road at
out this is a common question something
that you would ask something I would ask
if I have met someone new around this is
nothing new around so I went on giving I
am a comparison traveling I’m from
Heather Abarth I’m travelling this and
trying to do theater this is what I want
to do and this is what I and this is
just going on and on and I was like what
the hell is happening around then I just
decided one thing he doesn’t know Who am
I I could be a Tom Pharaohs from
Mongolia
he absolutely doesn’t know Who am I then
I actually said okay fine you guys want
to play that Who am I I am going to play
along Who am I so I just actually
started to change the subject around and
as along with it was you know lot of
conflicts of you know social justice
that I was traveling to see around in
the world the lot of issues that I
wanted to get associated with was just
trying to find out there’s a lot of
questions for me I said okay it was just
initially was kind of prankster on to
someone that’s saying that you know that
was a time when Israel Palestine
conflict was going on very higher honor
and just I have to interact around
I am from Palestine Israel mother
Palestine father Israel I don’t know it
just was like you know during a wartime
people take the sides of it left on the
right and we all know during conflicts
something which is on the headlines of
the newspaper it’s a curiosity of unity
we do triangle I decided okay what
happens if I actually change this error
and this was actually working and I
started to wonder how and why I’d was
again I came back it was identity it was
all about identity we tend to I used to
meet a lot of people from Andhra in
different states that is Patel whose
care and people would be so warm loving
and I used to wonder if I was from
Mongolia what do you mean is so wrong
with blue Wow how is it going with the
cake you know Telangana and Andhra
Pradesh now this is a common thing to
come with the identities we have no
issues we all have some identities in
different forms why because it gives a
sense of security a sense of belonging
sense of togetherness which is very
important for human being as we move
around we want to feel somewhere around
that I get attached to something I
belong to somewhere around that was a
basic human nature around but then why
does that belonging shape doesn’t get
along with the other one around what
happens to it why is it that it cannot
found find the commonality between and
that’s also as a traveler there was a
dream of mine to go to Hyderabad to
Russia of a mosque where Pakistan
Afghanistan Kazakhstan Uzbekistan
Tajikistan the beginning sucks this is a
hell all of you to explore in this world
I wanted to just walk through taken lip
Tehran and just get into it but there is
someone’s minor problem where they had
the borders between and ever was going
along and just cannot trespass it I was
you know I was talking to my friends
around I was very disappointed here this
is visa issues of the between the
countries is just difficult I just want
to walk to I don’t want to go in and fly
it around I’m going to take on my legs
around I will walk around I want to meet
people I want to talk to
and then of all of my friends is Adele
cake I am I completely understand with
you it’s okay relax don’t think
rationally you know we have a bigger
subject we have bigger conflicts your
bigger issues think rationally that’s
and I said okay internationally that’s
where you know the bulk yes think
rationally yes I’m going to sit down
with you think rationally tell me what’s
the difference in our defense is the
same we have the same landscape changes
we have the food changes we have the
culture changes we have the language
changes we have everything from
Kanyakumari to push me the same changes
and I do not shopping anywhere around
it’s the same distance 3800 kilometers
from Kanyakumari to Kashmir then it’s
4,000 something from Wagah border wall
square Iran it’s the same landscape the
changes of language and yet we belong to
one then we cannot what political
ideology or the sense of belong then I
started to do a research on the models
trying to understand what does it mean
to people why do we hear you do is it
idea of a bodiless we’ll talk about yes
is a wonderful how many of us would like
to have a world passport or a global
citizenship yes I am a global citizen
our world passport I’m sure a lot of
young people do however if we will like
to have a world passport traveling
across this world
yes I mean a lot of us but then while we
the bodice comes with something very
beautiful it’s called but of course two
butts have a border but still this also
comes with a back okay yeah bad you know
bad relationships and these things one
thing I strongly believe a borderless
world is only feasible or tactical or
reality is supreme trade which you do
between two communities two options but
then trust where do you want to play
that’s where the trap States I want to
put my money made why trust him how do
you build the trade trust into the
relationships I was trying to understand
this that’s when I came across in 1900
we had hundred nations 1950s we have
approximate around 150 nations presently
2016 according to United Nations data
193 nations so that way are we dividing
ourselves more on a bodiless world
absolutely not actually this is the idea
of sovereignty is different from a
bodiless world sovereign it is something
very personal to individual to a
community to when you
to the Association one much one miss
leaves him but then this is the new
sovereign nations are coming it on which
is the conflict which has history
attached to it which is sometimes
borders sometimes have a lot of
bloodshed along with it so what do you
know around is you know I went through
the borderline of India Pakistan I was
walking and hitchhiking the idea was to
cover the world border line doing
theater in this villages trying to
understand what is bothering to me so I
decided to ask kids around while I was
talking what do ba dum means to them to
the kids over there one thing they
constantly kept on coming and I mean
that’s what people living at the border
state the kids growing up because how
would we teach an identity to kid around
leaning at a border space around that
you cannot go that side how would you
actually rationally explain a kid what
do you mean by that enemy was the second
one third one was other so there was one
of the experiments that I was doing in
this village one of the community
theater part of it was to get the kids
together you are doing a small theater
in which the village is a lot of
eclipse’ problem maybe even is called in
Hindi and in okay to decide that we want
to do it and whenever there is epilepsy
the people would go to the superstitious
beliefs that I am going to this takes
other that no people would be fine with
it the kid said that no no it works
along with it after one of the kids says
okay fine so one of the character we had
was across the border pipe we say the
doctor is going to be from outside of
that so they played performed it around
so when the person has to be healed one
of the kid runs to the gets other
character who is from the other place
other town or other border side of it
gets in here okay and he will see my
cross that’s fine wonderful theater done
one of the kids comes up from Iran Isis
I rented the people on the other side
our enemy and that’s the whole idea I
felt that you know that art has the
reflection this was one of those play
around which we are doing in that
village okay
and the kid comes up to visit is it that
oppose any that’s a huge thing I feel
that the art actually can make people
think might be yes something which I
cannot belong because it is called
identity perspective the world lacks
about identity perspective that how do I
see borders and identities and how do I
see myself standing in that shoes and
that is where art actually changes the
other kind of experiment I do this is
called invisible theatre I mean if you
guys have heard about it it’s invisible
the trailer which happens you must have
seen it across everywhere it’s an
invisible theater it’s a common theater
this is the part of this invisible hater
I used to walk in different zones rusick
who was go speaker around is a very old
friend of mine so we both are travelling
in a metro along and we’re just having a
conversation if you have been in Delhi
and the Delhi Metro space around you
know there’s a lot of you know bustling
lot of people talking any any common
space you take it out and I get started
you’re Mary Kay healthier with the
letter K person then mummy vom Anthony
just it was a personal conversation
between two people around and I just
said that you know what’s – thing and
he’s trying all my best but I could just
appearance just not listen to me
I just like it cry they say that it’s
just ill I mean how do I feel about it
and then you see the reaction with the
people who think it’s a personal
conversation getting into it though
their legs are moving at all okay they
die to work for you okay but their ears
and eyes are absolutely – it you’re
curious anyone we would like to really
sneak peek an accident around might be
stopped or not but you would just like
to see that on what’s happened will is
something different something new that’s
human curiosity so that’s fine you got
them in what they become the
characteristic people who would react in
to it a Calif karai what is he talking
about you okay and the same character at
the end of the world play around concert
is it he will keep on talking I can
understand and you have narrated a whole
story around in which you have involved
the character to actually change the
perspective because most of the identic
prospective things around we
not experience in hand we have never
made a personal story we have heard a
systemic story we connect to personal
stories much larger we had experiments
here anywhere you go we collect if you
have met someone personally we connect
to them larger he’s never told that it
was a part of theta and that is what he
does is when he goes out of it
he talks about it it’s a boss and one of
the common thing that I used to see was
regret as soon as they get out knew who
he was that you have and this is a
common notion and you wonder why what
and this is gossip we are a very
gossiping anyone we want to talk
something different might be how much
invincibly be giving it topic when
during a discussion we do it so that’s
the power of experiments that I do
during my con man jiggles around so this
is the experiments I believe if you
really want to think of a borderless
world if you really want to think that
yes there is a lot of options that we
can change in identity perspective I
believe art is the man art is a method
because it’s something brings a
different perspective in us thank you
very much [Applause]