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Not just for laughs!

CraYon Impact’s one-of-a-kind stand-up comedy show for disability and sexuality at Daughters of St. Paul, Bandra (W), was a roaring success

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Stand-up comedian Aditi Mittal's avatar Dr. Mrs. Savitri Lutchuke educating about reproductive organs, had the audience in splits
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How many of us have ever gone out on a date with a person who is termed ‘disabled’? How many of us know a person who cannot move about freely in venues across the city because they are not built for people with wheelchairs? How many of us think that somebody on a wheelchair cannot have sex because it just seems unreal? These were some of the questions that drew 260-odd people to the auditorium of Daughters of St. Paul in Bandra (W) last Sunday evening. The evening had one purpose—use humour to dispel absurd myths and taboos about people with disabilities.

Comedy with a difference
Sex and Sexability, a one-of-a-kind stand-up comedy show for disability and sexuality by CraYon Impact, in association with We Care Film Fest, was a grand success. Hosted by the queen of stand-up comedy, Aditi Mittal, whose alter ego Dr. Mrs. Savitri Lutchuke had the audience in splits, the show saw performers Neenu Kewlani, Rohan Sabharwal, Gavin AKA Chubby Methalaka, Nidhi Goyal and Robyn Lambird (via video) tackle a serious subject with possibly the best antidote—humour. Kewlani, who strode in on a wheelchair, saying, “Here I am at a ‘stand-up’ comedy show…” had the audience hooked on from the very first minute. While Kewlani, an activist who works in the area of infrastructural access/barrier-free environment for Persons with Disabilities, and Goyal, who works on issues of girls and women with disabilities, particularly around their sexual and reproductive health and rights, spoke about the ridiculous situations they often find themselves in; Sabharwal spoke about mental health and sexuality, with Methalaka providing his humorous perspective on people with disabilities.

Irony of the situation
Accessibility has always been one of the many concerns for people with disabilities and the irony wasn’t lost on Rohan Sabharwal and Rachana Iyer, Co-Founders, CraYon Impact, when they began scouting for a fully-accessible venue for this event. “It took us 60 days to finally find this venue after going through so many that were either partially accessible or worse—they claimed to be fully accessible but in reality were not!” says an exasperated Sabharwal, who was taken aback by the attitude of the people who run these places.

An ongoing effort
The proceeds from the sale of tickets for this event are planned to be channelised into a campaign consisting a series of short films and comic strips that will explore disability and sexuality in a quirky, fun and non-patronising way. CraYon Impact is a social enterprise that uses the power of design and communication to change the way stories of social impact are told, in order to influence behavioural change. They are best known for their unique presentation of topics that are taboo, buried in stigma or just not spoken about enough. To know more, visit www.getyourcrayon.org

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