Blog 16 : Staying Relevant..

I was a bit free from my normal duty and was locked at home due to covid restrictions and work-from-home phase. Therefore, I saw this wonderful show on Amazon Prime Video, called as “One Mic Stand”. Popular young comedian-cum-writer, Sapan Verma is the host for this programme and the format of this event is to invite one celebrity to perform a stand-up comedy on a Live Stage for some time. Sapan will make the celebrity comfortable by giving him/her a mentor (who is also, of course, a well known comedian) and then put them on stage. The audiences are bubbling youngsters who would be out there to have some real fun.

The format was itself very good and I started this watch. And it was good..!! I could see popular faces here, from YouTube performers to music composers to Bollywood stars. They were very good and the programme was hilarious! However, the job of the entire creative team was quite easy because the celebrities were of similar professional domains. The only difficult part was their performance “Live”, which, with a good practice given by Sapan Verma, was done well.

Why should I write all this? Well, because one of the celebrities was comparatively out-of-box. And that was Dr. Shashi Tharoor. A politician by profession, highly learned person from Tufts University (Massachusetts) and of age of ~ 65! Quite a senior to do many things, but to perform at this Live Comedy Show. Sapan Verma was quite in tension, while he tried to rope him in and get him to agree to be a part of this series. I was amazed seeing the performance of Dr Tharoor!! His ability to reach out to the youngest of the audience and make him/her laugh was incredible. The millennial Lingos he used were just mind-boggling! The ability to connect to the audience kept me spell bound..!! And I was no different. Sapan Verma along with Kunal Kamra was equally zapped..!! The programme was a big hit. You should go watch it..! (https://youtu.be/LSwyY4ode0E)

Why was this so successful? It was because of the ability of Dr. Shashi Tharoor to remain “relevant” to the current generation of people. Be it the language, the style of performance, the slangs they use and ofcourse the Wit they like to listen to… everything! He was “in-sync” with the youngsters! And that too, at his age and stage of life! With the wisdom he brings due to his vast experience and high intellect, it became a powerful show, which no normal comedian can bring on.

“You cannot do today’s job with yesterdays methods and be in business tomorrow” is a very good quote. We can also say, “You cannot remain an interesting person for today’s generation using yesterday’s knowledge and past memories”. To remain relevant at any point of stage in life is very important. It can only come with Learning, Updating and Upgrading. Why do we become friends with few people who are about double our age (or even half the age)? That is because they have remained relevant to us. This can come with a constant urge to know more, develop skills, hobbies and be “student-like” in one corner of your persona.

Especially in our country, I find that vast percentage of elderly citizens who take pride in saying, “It was much better in my times”, “Hamare zamane mein..”, “I cannot use a credit card”, “My daughter/son do everything for me now”, “I am retired, you see. I have done enough. Now it is the turn of my children to pay-back”, “In my times, things were different”, “I don’t know how to use this cell phone! I don’t like it”, “I hate this loud music and senseless new movies”, “In my time, the singers were much better. New singers cannot sing”, “Now it is my time to look after grand-children”. These are signatures of mental retirement. These sentences bring an individual into “non-relevant” category, rapidly.

These pandemic times have taught us to read new things, develop new skills and hobbies, develop new friends, explore new people and connect to family. It is our duty to take care of our body as well as our brain. And brain needs re-assurance of its ability. This re-assurance is obtained from people around us. If we are relevant to the society and people around us, the feedback to the brain will be always positive. That happiness and positive energy will be a part of confidence we would wear in our persona. And then we would be likable, relevant and relatable to everyone around. It is a positive cycle.

So, next time if it feels like “How boring this person is..”, always remember that someone may also say the same for us..!! If we have to avoid this, Stay Relevant!! And that way you would also be “Staying Alive”!

Links:

https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0GUT4NOIVAFUW3YDBI2TSSHS35/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shashi_Tharoor

https://www.primevideo.com/storefront/home/ref=atv_nb_sf_hm

prime video

sapan verma : https://www.sapanverma.in/

Disclaimer: These are personal views of the author. They do not intend to harm the sentiments of anyone.