Words

"You realize nobody gets you and your struggle with identity."

Rupi Kaur -- interview with Firstpost

She came to Canada from India when she was four. She didn't learn English until third grade. She self-published milk and honey and sold 12 million copies in over 40 languages. She performs at Union Hall Brooklyn on September 17. Tomorrow night, Laughing Lassi opens at Broadway Comedy Club. Saturday, Desi SNL runs its last showing. The feeling of nobody getting you -- and then the relief of a room that does -- is what all three events are about.

Shreya Ghoshal -- Chai with Manju interview, indianewengland.com, October 2013

Sadhana is the Sanskrit word for devoted daily practice -- the discipline that sustains a musician across decades, not seasons. She won Sa Re Ga Ma Pa at 16. Her first Bollywood song was for Devdas in 2002. She plays Prudential Center on September 5. The word applies equally to Sonu Nigam at Nassau Coliseum on September 13 and L Shankar at Adler Hall on September 18. Three artists, one standard.

Aparna Nancherla -- her opening standup line, documented across multiple sets from 2012 onward

She said it every time she walked onstage. As far as the audience knew, it was a joke about South Asian women in comedy. Her parents heard it as an essential truth. On Sunday October 18 at Top Secret Comedy Club, she headlines the Desi Women Takeover -- the closing show of the first South Asian comedy festival in New York City. Nobody is surprised anymore.

Desi SNL is a live sketch comedy show written, directed, and produced by Bande-Ali, whose work critics compare to Hasan Minhaj and Mike Birbiglia. Episodes 1 and 2 combined for eight sold-out shows. The festival opens October 16. The Gundecha Brothers close August at Chhandayan on the 29th. Three very different rooms. One August.