Mahesh Dube wows Club members with his sense of humour

Mahesh Dube

Each week, members of the Rotary Club of Bombay gather as a group for a meeting (and have been lucky!) to hear from speakers who present a multitude of topics in their speeches. The programme committee has relentlessly strived to get personalities from wide and varied backgrounds to ensure that their lectures are of informational, motivational or entertainment value to all members. While a lot of serious topics have been covered in the past, the new programme committee decided to do something different — they invited stand-up comedian Mahesh Dube as the first speaker of the new Rotary year. At the meeting, Programme Committee Chairperson Rtn. Nanik Rupani introduced Mahesh as ‘the man who makes everybody laugh without a smile on his face’ and said, “We have seen many serious speakers in the past and we felt let the first speaker this year make members laugh and give them their money’s worth.” Mahesh, who then took over, ensured that he lived up to his introduction.

It is said that in stand-up comedy every comedian follows a process — he assesses his audience, builds his act and shapes/filters his jokes depending on the response. Mahesh was no different. He began his speech by thanking Rtn. Nanik for a flattering introduction and got down to business right away. His amusing four liners, poetry and unique narrative style had the Rotarians in splits.

Throughout his speech, Mahesh took a satirical approach — mixing serious issues with humour — which was an instant hit with the audience. His jokes and poems dealt with topics such as corruption, social inequality and the financial position of poets in our country, thereby, giving Rotarians some food for thought. Drifting a little towards philosophy, he said that the world may throw many problems at us — some small and some big — and when we climb the ladder of success we often forget how to laugh and thank God for the small joys of life. He urged the audience to use their ability to express emotions because he feels that a life without laughter is not worth living.

Most of Mahesh’s jokes weren’t calculated — they thrived off audience interaction. He managed to combine comedy and philosophy flawlessly through his poetry. He said that if a man finds peace within himself then no power in the world can make him cry; all he needs to do is put his ego aside. When Rotarians clapped and cheered for him he smiled and said, “Kaviyon ke liye sirf taaliyan hi petrol hoti hai aur kuch nahi.”

He then joked about himself by explaining how his audience laughs at his jokes. “They laugh thrice at my jokes — they first look at their neighbours laughing and join in. They then understand what I am saying and laugh. And, in the end, they wonder why they laughed earlier! But it is important to laugh irrespective of how silly a joke is. We know how to get angry and upset over the smallest of things. Learning how to laugh over those things instead can make our lives easier,” he said.

Towards the end of his speech he spoke about how his travelling experiences across the country taught him many things in life and said that a person who doesn’t care about his country does not deserve care himself.

After his speech an amusing Q&A session followed where Rotarians asked him a couple of questions and his witty answers were met with roars of laughter. He also said that he was glad to see many senior citizens present for the meeting and hoped that they enjoyed his performance. He then thanked the programme committee for inviting him and said that he felt privileged to perform at the Club’s meeting.

Get involved!

The Rotary Club of Bombay has spent `1,50,000 for the Annapoorna project which fed more than 3,000 children at the Colaba Municipal School on July 1. Members are requested to donate to this noble cause to feed more children in the near future and eliminate malnutrition. Our Club’s President Rtn. Shailesh Haribhakti has contributed `11,000 towards this project.