Nidhi Goyal is a visually impaired stand-up comedian in India who is making her mark in an industry dominated by men.
Nidhi wasn’t born blind.
At the age of 14, she was diagnosed with an incurable, irreversible eye disorder (retinitis pigmentosa) that eventually robbed her of her sight.
She learned that many people have various preconceived notions about disabled persons.
"People generally [try to] be polite, and they don't ask you if you are disabled. They say - do you have a problem?"
In cases like these, Nidhi would either call the person out or make a joke. It was on such an occasion that her friend, stand-up comedian Pramada Menon, asked Nidhi, “Why don’t you do comedy?”
Nidhi agreed but when it came to the time of her first show, as she was at backstage, she cursed herself for not having thought the decision through.
“I kept telling myself, who asked you to get into comedy? You crack a few jokes, and think you are a comedian!” Nidhi recalls.
But she could not go back on her word; she had to step up and perform a set.
This set the ball rolling for her journey as a comedian.
Watch Nidhi perform below and listen to her full interview (in Hindi) with SBS Hindi in the audio player above.
Nidhi also loves to paint and has been doing so from the age of four. Had her eyesight not gone away, Nidhi aimed to be a portrait artist.
She dabbled in the performing arts in college, exploring every creative endeavor as her eyesight worsened.
But she eventually chose a career in mass media and then transitioned to rights-based work for people with disabilities.
She currently also heads a program on sexuality and disability at the non-governmental organization, Point of View, where she is researching disability and gender violence for Human Rights Watch.
She is also part of Civil Society Advisory Group to the UN Women initiative.
