The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : The wheelchair cannot blunt his wisecracks

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 12, 2006

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

The wheelchair cannot blunt his wisecracks

Y. Mallikarjun

LAUGH QUOTIENT: Jai Chiniara with his mother in Hyderabad on Wednesday. - Photo: K. Gajendran

Hyderabad: His wisecracks defy his tender age and affliction. Not only that he has the heart of a selfless missionary with a passion to help disabled children.

Meet 12-year-old Jai Chiniara of the Great Indian Laughter Challenge, who with his pithy jokes and spontaneous wit has become the darling of the people ever since his participation in the television show on September 20.

In tune with his growing popularity, he is set to be an attraction at the cultural programmes of the AICC Plenary to be held here later this month with the organisers extending an invitation to perform on January 22.

Accompanied by his mother, the child prodigy told The Hindu how a few years ago he first performed on stage by sheer default at Rajkot. At a family function, the organisers found to their chagrin that the main artiste had slipped away during a brief power cut after collecting his fee. "I thought why not take a chance when they (organisers) said that anybody could perform."

Cerebral palsy

"Everyone was so happy that they said that they made me a permanent invitee," said a smiling Jai, who is afflicted by cerebral palsy. He had no problems with arc lights either when he was asked to participate in a show for a TV channel in Gujarati. "There were eight artistes but I gave very good performance", said the ebullient Jai, who moves in a wheelchair.

What is his ambition? "Well I want to continue in this line. I want to help handicapped children through my earnings."

How did he take a liking to narrating jokes? "Six years ago, I had both my legs in plaster of Paris after an operation. A relative gave me a cassette of jokes to forget the pain. Later that day I narrated all the jokes to the children."

Since then there was no looking back for this child humourist who intersperses his jokes freely with profound Urdu couplets. He was invited to perform at Navaratri celebrations where the popular dandiya was stopped for two hours for him.

Listening to Mohammed Rafi's songs is a favourite pastime of Jai who passed the audition test on three occasions for the Indian Idol programme.

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