In Conversation with Seema Golchha

“If you feel like there’s something out there that you’re supposed to be doing if you have a passion for it, then stop wishing and just do it.” Wanda Sykes.

Unlike skill, knowledge, or other factors, passion is innate: it can’t be learned or acquired. When you are passionate about your work, you enjoy doing it.

Today, we share with you the story of a woman who discovered her passion, leveraged it to start a career in a  very unconventional space, and today, she has made a name for herself.

Her workplace is a room full of puppets that include a toucan, a chimpanzee, an old woman (she calls her granny), and whatnot. 

Seema Golchha is a woman of varied talents- A standup comedian, ventriloquist, and TEDx speaker, to name a few. 

“Making people laugh or even smile gives me infinite happiness,” she says.

The Incredible journey from a homemaker to a comedian

Since she was a ten-year-old, Seema always had a knack for words, and she used to collect simple one-liners, quotes, and puns.

She grew up in a conventional household in Mumbai, where the sole purpose of her education was to find a good match and get married. In 1993, after completing her graduation, she got married in Kathmandu, Nepal. For a long time after her marriage, she was trying to fit in, adjust, accommodate, and compromise in the roles of a wife, mother, daughter-in-law, and homemaker in a new country and a joint family.

Every evening, she used to do an after-dinner show for the kids in her household where she would tell jokes with puppets. The kids loved her acts. And this was how ventriloquism happened to her.

She joined the Toastmasters Club (a public speaking platform) when a close friend forced her into it. 

“I felt like a complete misfit till that first act of comedy happened in which I also tried ventriloquism,” she says.

That was in 2011, and she got a standing ovation at the end of it.

That was the turning point in Golchha’s life.

“As Mark Twain says, the two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why- I knew that day that I was born to make people laugh,” she adds philosophically.

Once she was confident about this, she went about it slowly, step by step. It took her six years to take it up professionally, and today she is doing all kinds of shows- for adults and children. 

” Every show and every laughter has motivated me,” she says with pride in her voice. 

Passion with dedication 

Seema’s skill of punning and wordplay is her forte. She has also joined a punnery group on Facebook.

“Humour is not something that you are born with-you can identify your style and develop it,” she says.

Before every show, she writes her script according to the audience. 

“My humour is very general and universal. I avoid political or offensive jokes,” Golchha adds.

When doing a show for children, her motive is to entertain, not preach, and make sure her jokes are appropriate for them.

Golchha’s shows are a treat to watch. She modifies her voice to suit her puppets and has done shows with two or more puppets in a  single show- each of them having a different voice and character. This mesmerizing skill of ventriloquism creates an illusion of more than one performer on the stage.

Seema has done shows all over Nepal, India, U.A.E., and the U.S. She is a part of various comedy clubs, the famous Canvas Laugh Club being one of them. She has rubbed shoulders with the best people in the comedy business in the world.

Her memorable shows are the ones she did for children with cancer and her late father’s friends.

Her highest professional moment was when she got a spot in the Gotham Comedy Club in New York, where she met her idols Jerry Seinfield and Jay Leno. 

” I take pride in myself that I have learned my art on my own,” she says.

The bumps in her journey

Getting over her glossophobia was one of Seema’s arduous feats.

 Also, even though there was no one to stop her, she felt that going out on stage and performing would not be acceptable. 

“My hurdles were myself and my conditioning, and once I overcame them, there was no looking back,” she says.

Message for women

Seema feels that women need to prioritize themselves and get over their guilt when they think about themselves.

 ” It’s okay to get “me” time, do what you love, and have fun. Do not wait for validation and support,” is her message for them.

Seema, the person

Fun, funny, and lively is how she describes herself. In her words,” I get out of bed in the morning like a toast coming out of a toaster.” 

Her biggest strengths are her family, who support her passion, and are proud of her.

She loves to vacation with friends and go out for morning walks.

A quote that has become a mantra of her life,” Work so hard until your idol becomes your rival.”