Popular stand-up comedian Abhineet Mishra took to YoutTube and posted a video highlighting the devastating flood that has hit entire northeast India, displacing around 5 million people displaced and over 40 dead.
Highlighting the devastation, Mishra giving the details about the people affected and total loss incurred, asked his audience, "But you guys don't know about it, right? The media has better things to do."
It may be mentioned here that Mishra did a similar video on the plight of 15 miners trapped in an illegal rat-hole mine in Meghalaya. That video went viral as well and was "pinched" many.
Similar to the miners' video, Mishra's new set isn't performed in front of a live audience either – at the end of the clip, the viewer discovers that the comedian has been addressing an empty room all along.
"Entire districts have been marooned, homes have been swallowed up – but is anyone listening? Do we have the same hashtags as we did for Chennai and Kerala? No, we do not," wrote indianexpress.com quoting Mishra.
The 31-year-old Bangalore-based HR professional further said that he describes his act as a "symbolic action" to highlight how lakhs of people are suffering in silence.
Mishra had spent a majority of his childhood in Shillong, and he feels that northeast might have numerous stories to tell, but no audience who really wants to hear them.
"Why would the jokes from the Northeast be relatable when the entire region is unrelatable?" he asks in the video, with has already garnered a remarkable viewership.
It may be mentioned that the video titled 'Staying Afloat' was shot in a Shillong-based cafe.
"People in Mumbai say 'My house has a swimming pool.' So, what's the big deal, I tell them. 'Come to Assam from June to August, swimming pools have houses'," Mishra says in the 7.50-minute-long video, sending out a strong and direct message.
"Get your act together," he tells the media and politicians.
WATCH: Northeast India – Staying Afloat I StandUp (Not) Comedy ft Abhineet Mishra
