Bharti Singh recalls living life in extreme poverty; shares ‘Someone’s stale food would be our fresh food’

Popular comedienne Bharti Singh spoke about seeing and living life in extreme poverty. In a podcast by a digital media, which is hosted by actress Neena Gupta, Bharti Singh opened up about how she and her family grew up in extreme poverty. She also spoke about how chance meetings with Kapil Sharma and Sudesh Lehri changed her life’s trajectory.

There were comediennes before me too but people didn’t let them come forward. People would shut them down saying, ‘Where’s your dupatta? Go inside’. If we had to sit inside and hide ourselves, why did you give birth to us? These things used to happen a lot before but now the scenario has changed.

My focus has always been poverty. I was two years old when my father passed away. My brothers and sisters left their jobs. They used to work in a factory. They used to carry heavy blankets, blankets which we could have never used. They would stitch them nights after nights. Sometimes my mother would stitch dupattas. I still hate the smell of those blankets and the sound of the machine. I have seen enough poverty with my family and I don’t want to see it anymore. If you do a background check, you will find most of the comedians have a poor background. You won't do comedy in the rich.

I can’t tell you what poverty I have seen. If I used to see people throwing half eaten apple, I would think that the person would get cursed for wasting food. I would even think of picking it up and slicing it in a way so that I could eat it.

There was so much hunger and poverty. I used to get depressed during festivals. We would do Lakshmi puja after my mom would get the sweet box from work. I would go and stand near other kids bursting crackers so that others would think I burst them. When my mom would work at people’s homes, I used to sit near the door. She would clean toilets. While leaving, they would give her leftover food. Their stale food would become our fresh food. And that would make our day. Today I tell my mom, whatever I have done, earned is only because of you. The amount of love I have for my 10-months-old son, I love my mother much more than that.

I love Kapil Sharma and Sudesh Lehri. Whenever I would say anything, people would love. In college, I was making students laugh in the garden. Sudesh Lehri spotted me and left. He told the teacher, ‘There is a fat girl making the students laugh. Call her.’ That was my first national youth festival, for which we went to Andhra Pradesh. Our group of five girls from the skit won gold medals.

In my second year, I met Kapil Sharma. I met him at our zonal level youth festival. He asked me about my wish to perform at a comedy show. First I said no, ‘My throat dries up in front of the camera.’ He convinced me to go to the audition happening in a hotel in Amritsar. I blurted out all the dialogues I learnt during my theatre days. I was sure I didn’t get selected. We didn’t have a phone but got a call at my neighbour’s home. I was asked to come to Mumbai. That was the first time I took a flight with my mother. I was even scared to take a trolley thinking we might have to pay. But when we were about to land in Mumbai, I just felt like it was homecoming.

When I went on stage and started making ‘fat’ jokes, people started laughing. But I don’t know if the generation has changed or people have changed, people don’t call me fat anymore. They call me ‘cute’ and ‘bubbly’. It’s been 15 years in the industry, I still get scared before getting on the stage. But once I get on the stage, in 5 seconds, I forget everything.

Even now, there would be one person sitting in a corner, screaming ‘aye moti’. I am fat, but among 1000 people, who is that one person who gets extreme satisfaction in calling me ‘fat’? I am fat. I am a Punjabi and I eat parathas everyday.