Tushar Singh was raised in Huntsville, Alabama with a strict Indian upbringing, a contradiction that set him up for years of awkwardness and an arsenal of stand-up comedy material. As a chubby kid and the only Indian in his grade in elementary school, Tushar recalls sticking out like a big brown thumb. Still, he tried hard to fit in and eventually made friends with both rednecks and other Desis in his community. Around his white peers he adopted a relaxed Southern personality, while at home he adhered to a traditional Indian family life and dealt with a strict intellectual father. He spoke Hindi with family, attended Indian conventions, and sat through his fathers astrological readings on a weekly basis.
It wasnt until Tushar went to college that he began to question some of the contradictions hed been raised with. Aspects of Indian culture like the caste system, arranged marriage, sexism, and corruption didnt bode well with the progressive American ideology hed come to embrace. These conflicts, as well as the death of his father, led Tushar to stand-up comedy, which he used to explore these issues on stage in a format hes always been comfortable with: making people laugh.
