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HT Brunch Cover Story: Sibling revelry
Author Meghna Pant and her brother, comedian Sorabh Pant, are shattering stereotypes and changing the rules of sibling relationships
The first time author and screenwriter Meghna Pant laid eyes on her younger brother, comedian Sorabh Pant, she smacked him.
To be fair, she was less than two years old at the time and outraged that her baby brother’s birth had caused their mother to scream with labour pains. Still, this was hardly a good omen for the relationship between the siblings going forward.
Which is why, when you meet them together for an HT Brunch cover story, and listen to them talk to each other, you’re a bit surprised by the way they relate to each other.
There’s no sense of the girl-boy divide that is almost always visible in family gatherings where the siblings are of different genders.
There’s no push and pull of the older-younger age gap that in most families manifests in clear power dynamics.
In fact, there are no binaries at all. There’s just a very strong sense of camaraderie and love. Even though Meghna, as the siblings joke around during the photo shoot, one-ups her professional comedian brother every single time.
“Sorabh may crack the funniest jokes at his shows, but when it comes to pranks, I always have the upper hand,” laughs 41-year-old Meghna. “And in all these years, I have been the one to protect him, not vice versa! We’ve been best friends for most of our life. I did his school homework, beat up anyone who bullied him, and edited his novels, while he once went all the way to another city because I’d left my favourite pair of shoes there, to bring them back to me, and flew to Darjeeling in 2011 to surprise me for Rakhi. There have been only three or four occasions when we’ve fought, and that’s a seriously good track record for siblings!”
Compared to feisty Meghna, Sorabh, 14 months younger than her, was almost always quiet. Almost an introvert, in fact. The differences in their personalities are visible even now, with Meghna doing most of the talking, while Sorabh enjoys his sister’s performance, interjecting only when asked a direct question.
“I was a much naughtier kid than Sorabh, but he had a quiet way of getting into trouble too,” says Meghna. “For example, I would get into trouble for being talkative, staying out late with friends, and run-ins with teachers, while he would get into trouble for not studying and playing video games and cricket all the time.”
In shining armour
It was when she was nine or 10 years old that Meghna discovered the power that comes with being the older sibling. “I bullied him a lot,” she remembers.
This phase did not last very long. The second 11-year-old Meghna found strangers bullying her baby brother, every protective instinct she possessed flared up and she leapt to his defence. She has been his knight in shining armour ever since.
“We had spent the initial years of our childhood in Delhi and then our parents moved to Mumbai. One day, some boys in our building bullied Sorabh and that’s when the protective sister came out in me. They were a bunch of boys—tall, bigger than me. But I confronted them and told them that if they troubled my brother again, I’d beat them up,” recalls Meghna.
Given that there is only 14 months between them, the siblings grew up as almost-twins and eternal companions.
“Before we moved to Mumbai, our parents, who both worked as income tax commissioners, went to France for more than a year to pursue a course,” remembers Sorabh. “We spent that time with our cousins in Shimla, which meant that I was the only boy among seven sisters! That was when Meghna and I bonded really tightly, exploring our new surroundings and discovering things together.”
Since their parents had transferable jobs, Meghna and Sorabh moved to and from a number of cities and even countries. “This gave us the opportunity to be very happy with each other rather than rely on friends for companionship,” Sorabh explains. “Even today, we go on family vacations together as we want our children to create those bonds as well.”
They did make friends in the cities they lived in, of course. But compared to extrovert Meghna, Sorabh took longer to find a gang of his own.
“There was a time in college when I had no friends at all. So, I used to hang around with her set of friends hoping that some of them would become my friends too, which they did, thankfully,” he says. “And Meghna has been the most vocal supporter of my work—recommending me to her friends and contacts all the time. I owe her for getting me at least four corporate shows and something for a brand. In return, I think I may have got her just two brandies in all these years!”
As they grew up, Sorabh tried to learn from Meghna to be more friendly and confident around people.
“That’s one of the things people don’t actually realise about siblings—the mimicking of behaviour is so important and so pivotal to your development,” he says. “Meghna’s public persona is slightly different from her private one. In real life, she is a ridiculous person, very silly and very funny. The humour that was inculcated into us by our father, that was our bond from the start, I think. And that continues to be the core of our relationship.”
Mutual admiration
Success hasn’t come easy to Sorabh, whose decision to make a career as a stand-up comedian at a time when doing an MBA and opting for a corporate job was the norm, was perceived as foolish.
“Sorabh is a truly inspiring person, and this is a big statement to make about someone you’ve grown up with,” remarks Meghna. “In a society like ours, where security, regular paychecks and an MBA are highly coveted, especially for men, he bucked the trend to pursue something he loved. Even when he was struggling and facing setbacks, he didn’t give up. So, he deserves all the success that he’s getting now. His passion, his focus, his courage and his determination are rare qualities, and even though he’s my younger brother, there’s no one I look up to more.”
The first time Meghna saw Sorabh perform was at a small set in Dubai in 2012. The next time was a full show at the Comedy Club in 2013.
“My best friend went into labour during the show but she didn’t leave,” Meghna chuckles. “She laughed the loudest. Me? I got goosebumps, thinking of how quiet he used to be as a kid. He barely even spoke till he was 18!”
In 2017, while Meghna was about to deliver her first child, Amara, she was surrounded by the whole family. “They kept walking in and out of the labour room, like I was doing a performance!” she says. “Eventually, only Sorabh and Sahil (Meghna’s husband) stuck around because the others couldn’t bear to see me in pain. And Sorabh—he began cracking really bad jokes to try and cheer me up, and my pain got worse!”
As much as Meghna thinks of Sorabh as an inspiration, Sorabh thinks of Meghna as the person who paved the path to his career.
“I think the fact that Meghna was always so good at studies made my career choice much easier. Our parents were relieved that at least one child was doing well in academics. Perhaps that’s why they supported the child who scored only 39 per cent in his class 10 exams,” reveals Sorabh.
But Meghna refuses to let Sorabh give her the credit for his career. Instead, she believes her brother paved the path for her career.
“Sorabh always encouraged me to follow my real passion, which was writing, and has been mainly responsible and instrumental in making me a writer,” says Meghna who used to be a business journalist. “I had written some short stories years earlier, which had never been published. On my 25th birthday in 2005, Sorabh showed up with a book for me. My short stories, which he had self-published, complete with a proper cover, my name on it, comments from my friends, and even editorial feedback. Seeing that book, holding my words in my hand, felt truly empowering.”
Two of a kind
Meghna won the Muse India National Literary Awards Young Writer Award for her debut novel One-and-a-Half Wife in 2012. At the same time, Sorabh was also writing. In fact, his first book was published before hers. But there has never been any sense of competition between the two of them.
“Both of us were published for the first time at 14-15 years old,” says Sorabh. “Meghna wrote for a newspaper, and I said I would also do that. So I wrote and got paid ₹500 for my article. I was very keen to have that cheque framed, but our mother insisted on putting it in the bank! Later, I learned that our father had written some short stories which he had sent to a newspaper. But they were rejected 22 times. So, all of us have a creative streak.”
Sorabh has had four books published, the first three of which were fiction. All of them, however, have been meticulously edited by Meghna. “From the language to the grammar to every small detail of editing, Meghna took care of everything. But I never acknowledged her work since it is such a given thing between the two of us to turn to each other for help. Now, I have named her in the acknowledgements of my fourth book,” says Sorabh.
Meghna doesn’t care whether or not she’s acknowledged in Sorabh’s work. She’s just happy and proud to see him where he is today.
I watched him as he stepped out of college and into adulthood, the first day of his job with Channel V, featuring in music videos, a Frooti ad, Max Lube ads, a fantastic show on CNBC called News On The Loose, and the feather in his cap—Husn, where he made us laugh as we’ve never laughed before in his role as Chintu. I am always happy for him,” says Meghna.
She would rather acknowledge Sorabh’s support in her life than the other way around.
“In 2010, I was in Dubai and going through depression as I was in an abusive marriage. Sorabh kept taking shows in Dubai, so he could come and cheer me up. He gave me money when my ex-husband emptied my bank accounts and stole my remaining money from my suitcase. He supported me through my divorce and stood by me like a rock, giving me strength and courage during this traumatic period in my life. And when I was on a trip with my parents in Darjeeling, he specially flew from Mumbai to be with me for Rakhi. To have someone give you so much love is truly great,” says Meghna.
Aside from insisting on praising him for his emotional support, Meghna also acknowledges Sorabh’s stern eye on her social media. “He’s made me delete some rather controversial tweets I was about to put out, and saved me from a lot of trouble,” she shudders.
Given the fact that Sorabh is constantly travelling for shows, the siblings have made a conscious decision to meet at least once a week when they can.
“We take family vacations together too, especially now that our kids are around the same age. We’ve been conscious to be there for each other’s big moments, professionally and personally, like my book launches, or my delivery last year, or his important shows,” says Meghna.
“Meghna and I don’t talk on the phone every day or see each other as often as we’d like to, but we’re as close as can be. So, I don’t think it’s the time or distance that matters, but the quality of the relationship,” adds Sorabh.
From HT Brunch, August 13, 2022
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