By Renuka Dhakal
Kathmandu, Aug. 7: A lady announced from the podium, “I would like to welcome President Trump for a special puja.”
From the edge of the stage, Trump emerged and thanked the announcer. The announcer was wearing a mask which Trump saw and said, “I heard the Chinese formula.” Hearing this, she took off her mask without any hesitation.
Trump then stood on the podium and greeted everyone. “Good evening, ladies and gentleman. Today I am here to concede to my mistakes and carelessness during the coronavirus pandemic.”
He said that he was going to perform an ‘apology puja’ at the White House as per the suggestion of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He announced that the puja would be performed by a Nepali priest.
But it was not the American President who was doing the talking. It was instead famous comedian Manoj Gajurel performing on the seventh day of the Gaijatra Special Comedy 2020 series being aired on AP1 Television and Gajurel’s official YouTube channel.
Gaijatra, or the festival of cows, is specially celebrated by the Newar community in memory of the deceased family members. This festival was originally started by King Pratap Malla, when his wife, the queen, was grief-stricken about the demise of her son.
This festival is known for incorporating elements like humour, sarcasm, mirth, mimicry and impersonation, which makes it a particularly noteworthy celebration for Nepali comedians.
Comedians usually put on stage performances on this day while reparations start months in advance.
However, this time the comedy and parody turned virtual because of the COVID – 19 pandemic.
“Amid the fear and anguish of COVID -19, a gift of hope and excitement” is the theme of this year’s Gaijatra show.
Sitaram Kattel (Dhurmus), Kunjana Ghimire (Suntali) and Gajurel’s two-thirds party captaincy, Subodh Gautam’s preaching skit, Suman Karki’s imitation of Rishi Dhamala, Shailendra Simkhada’s parody and many other sketches on contemporary political issues, the raging pandemic along with caricatures of different personalities elicited uproarious laughter from the audience.
This was an effort by the group of veteran and emerging Nepali comedians to make people laugh during this worrisome time.
And going by the reactions, audiences did laugh, enjoying this year’s offering of the ‘virtual Gaijatra’.
Sushma Neupane, 30, was pleased with the digital streaming. “I have always wanted to see the Gaijatra programme but never had the opportunity. However, this time the virtual broadcast allowed me to watch it and I enjoyed a lot.”
“The impersonation and mockery through acts and parody poems were hilarious,” she added.
The Gaijatra videos have received hundreds of thousands of views and an equal number of likes on YouTube and the comments are also largely favourable with one viewer writing, “Taking Gaijatra to the international level, enjoyed a lot, splendid work, very logical hilarious presentation.”
Laughter is often called the best medicine and this week-long Gaijatra comedy series tried its best to make people laugh.