Why so serious?

This writer is one of the 12 obscure readers who comic Sorabh Pant imagined will read his new and first nonfiction release Vote for Pant But Donrsquot Rupa Publications She also identifies as a member of the unprofessed club of hardtooffend humans Now although qualities mdash of products of a thinking mind and in people mdash are relative a declaration of intent is fair beyond doubt Pantrsquos foreword is suitably titled Disclaimer And it is here that you decide if you want to read on further It can hover for its plainspoken writing blunt comment on sociopolitical matters and open admission of a common manrsquos struggle to comprehend government reforms But above all its sense of satire prevailsA word of advice The book can rile up zealotsWe vote to elect If we think the title hints at electing a PM Pant affirms our guess According to him PM can be anything from particulate matter and private message to postmortem Principia Mathematica mdash a threevolume work in formal logic andPreligious Messiah While the author is fluent in humour his estimations of change by the timing of the bookrsquos release are blemished We are glad that the book came out before ldquothe Indian cricket team was replaced by AI robotsrdquo and before ldquoprinting presses across the country could gather junk and collapserdquoDoes being a comic help share insights on state affairsBeing a comedian I travel a lot And so I get to read the political pulse of the people of India and their range of reactions Having said that I donrsquot think we are as insightful as we think ourselves to be Experiences shape our views and thatrsquos a recurrent theme in my book I share mine and that can be different from yours And thatrsquos fine Expecting people to be civil about such differences is a problem nowadaysYou have written three fiction titles before this one What prompted the sociopolitical premiseFictionwriting happened when I had a lot of free time Fiction takes time you have to plot out a story and think of character arcs It is easier to write nonfiction I reckoned because I know my character arc My assumption was right to an extent until a certain virus took us on The book happened three months after the pandemic hit us I had not been on stage and that kick of performing on stage had to be met somehow Basically someone had to suffer for my comedy laughsWhat response do you anticipate from the 12 readers who you think will read the bookAll I want from readers is a fivestar rating on Amazon I want you to be amused by the book and think of it as a valueformoney purchaseWhile the language is direct the seething anger comes across For how long have potholes haunted youTherersquos a bit of anger but I love Mumbai I have lived in 10 to 11 houses here and each time there was a lane outside my home that was constantly being constructed I donrsquot know if I am putting it out in the universe but itrsquos true Despite all the insanity I quite like the cityWill Sorabh Pant tell us if he will ever contest elections in IndiaI donrsquot think I will ever try to become a politician I remember as kids 16 of us used to play cricket together This one time we were voting for a captain and I bagged two votes I cast one vote for myself I wasnrsquot even keen on giving it to myself but I did because a few others told me they wonrsquot vote for me so I should help my cause I donrsquot think I am cut out for the political worldAlthough a sharp satire the book ends on a note of hopeI have seen my opinions on a lot of things change because I spoke to people and they were kind enough to hear me out and share their views We should do that more The core idea of this book that I have done some basic research for like any other person would on Google and news portals is to make people read laugh and help each other The pandemic has already taught us to coexistCost Rs 231