Criticism, jokes, and hustle... Sharon Verma, who went viral for describing herself as a "weak independent woman," spoke to Brut about her journey from Bihar to Bandra.
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00:00Weak independent woman, that's me.
00:02I'm not able to be a strong independent woman.
00:04Some people have sent me their bio photos
00:08of being a weak independent woman.
00:10I'm thinking, I'm not the only one who feels this way.
00:13So many women are feeling this way.
00:16Some guys have also messaged me
00:17that I'm also a weak independent man.
00:20So, my mom, actually she's my strong independent woman.
00:24So, why are you a weak independent woman?
00:27Like, what does it mean?
00:28Weak independent woman, man.
00:44And I actually left home when I was 16, 17.
00:58I was actually teaching theater to little children.
01:09So, I used to think that I'll become very independent.
01:13Then the job war started.
01:15When life throws challenges at you,
01:19then you feel, I'm a little weak.
01:23So, I think it comes from there.
01:26I've accepted that I'm not very strong.
01:29But I'm not very weak either.
01:31I always try to be positive.
01:36So, can you tell us about your journey from Bihar to Bandra?
01:40I was born in Patna.
01:42My mom is from Darbhanga.
01:45My dad is from Patna.
01:46Like, 16 years of my life, I spent there.
01:49Then I left for Delhi.
01:51What were the challenges that you came across
01:54after you moved to Delhi?
01:56Just in terms of language first.
02:01Because we have a very different accent.
02:03So, initially, I think my accent was made a lot of fun of.
02:07Because we talk like this, right?
02:12I think my insight for okay also came from there.
02:15Because I was so used to saying okay
02:18at the end of all of my sentences.
02:20And then someone would just make fun of it.
02:23So, that's where I connected.
02:25We have this habit of saying okay in every line.
02:29And then you mould yourself, right?
02:31If you are in Delhi.
02:34So, you just start saying,
02:35yes, I'm like this, I'm like that.
02:37But in my mind, it was like,
02:38no, no, we're like this, we're like that.
02:40Why stand-up comedy?
02:42Stand-up, I was in love with stand-up
02:45since very early on in my life.
02:47I think when I was 13, 14
02:50is when I started watching stand-up.
02:53A lot of English stand-up at first.
02:55And then when I did theatre in college
02:58is when I fell in love with performing.
03:24And in total, two people laughed
03:26in the whole set, in the five-minute set.
03:30But I liked it so much that I wrote all this.
03:33And then people heard it.
03:34So, I thought, I have to do this again.
03:37So, then I did two, three mics.
03:40Actually, I did four, five mics there.
03:42And then COVID came.
03:44So, I thought, great, I did comedy.
03:47COVID has come.
03:48So, then I couldn't do comedy.
03:51Actually, I couldn't do it for four years.
03:53Because COVID came, I had to ship back to Patna.
04:00But there were a lot of inhibitions within me.
04:04Because I'm very averse to criticism and bad comments.
04:11I think, like most people are.
04:13But I think I'm very sensitive.
04:15So, I was always asked,
04:17how will you do stand-up comedy when there are so many?
04:20Because comedy is very subjective, right?
04:23Some people might like it.
04:24Then some people might not like it.
04:27So, in those four years, I was also thinking
04:30whether I should do it or not.
04:32But then my birthday comes in April.
04:35So, I promised myself that this year,
04:39I would get on stage.
04:42And I would actually give stand-up a shot.
04:45Since you spoke about criticism or bad comments,
04:48so, can you share any experience or any instance
04:52which happened with you?
04:54And how did you deal with it?
04:55It was when, actually, in Mumbai only,
04:59in one of these open mics that I had gone to,
05:03there was a guy there who heard my set.
05:07But then he went to my Instagram
05:10and sent me very, very, very bad, bad, bad, bad abuses.
05:15So, I felt really bad.
05:18I cried a lot.
05:20And then I also started doubting
05:22whether I should do it or not.
05:23Because this will happen at some point or the other.
05:26Because some people, I don't know what they thought was bad,
05:31but they said something so bad.
05:35So, but then...
05:37You can't tell what kind of comments they were?
05:39No, no, of course not.
05:41I can't even say it.
05:42Let's say, somebody is trying and getting up on stage
05:45and you're just shattering their confidence
05:48by saying these things.
05:49So, I was just very confused and taken aback also
05:53because it was the first time something like this happened to me.
05:56But then I told myself, no, no.
05:58If I have to do it, this is what I enjoy.
06:01So, I will have to muster up the courage
06:04and face these things also.
06:05And my mom, like always, she was very, very supportive.
06:10She was like, no, let anyone say anything.
06:13You have to do what you want to do.
06:16Actually, she's my strong independent woman.
06:19If I am the weak independent woman,
06:21my mom is the one who, you can do it.
06:22You can do anything you want.
06:24So, did the visibility after the weak independent woman comment
06:28bring any change in your life?
06:30Life has just changed in the way that I see stand-up now.
06:34Like, I see that maybe I can actually pursue it as a career.
06:41Like, a love of mine, I can actually pursue it.
06:44I'm performing every day.
06:45I'm writing a lot more than I was writing before.
06:49Performing a lot more.
06:52Just because people want to hear my comedy,
06:57I really want to do a stand-up full-time.
07:01And because that's, like, that's what gives me the most joy.