Bharti Singh says ‘main kaam waali ki beti hoon'; would eat three-day-old leftovers, doesn't recognise dead father in pictures: ‘Ajnabee hain'

Indian Express

11 hours ago

Comedian Bharti Singh comes from humble beginnings. The first time that she took a flight was when she was called to Mumbai for a comedy show. Before that, she had experienced difficult times as a child. Her father died when she was just two years old, leaving her 22-year-old mother to fend for herself and her three children. Bharti said that her mother cleaned houses for a living, and was often made to feel lesser. This had a huge impact on Bharti's mind, and she was determined to do everything in her power to provide a better life for her mother. 'If I could erect a temple for her, I would,' she said in a recent appearance on Raj Shamani's show.
Bharti said that she treats all her staff with love and respect because she saw how her mother was treated when she worked at others' homes. 'I remember my mother would come home after some employer had scolded her. She would tell my sister about it. She would get upset if she broke a plate or something. Sometimes, she would get hurt also, and we'd see a bandage on her hand. On Diwali, we would wait for our mother eagerly, because we knew she'd get a box of sweets. We could never afford sweets. We couldn't afford firecrackers. We couldn't even imagine buying new clothes. I would get old clothes given to her by her employers,' she said.
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Bharti said that her mother got married when she was 15, and by 20, she'd had three children. By 22, she was alone. 'My mother was beautiful, she had long hair. She could've easily gotten married again. But she became a house help. Kaam waali ban gayi thi logon ke ghar. Main kaam waali ki beti hoon (She became a house help. I am the daughter of a house help). I remember, some days, I would go with her when she worked. And ladies would tell her to mop up properly. They've give her leftover food, and we'd be so happy that we'd get to eat kofta or daal makhani.'
Opening up about losing her father and how that made her feel as a child, Bharti said, 'I was two when my father died. He had cholera, and he coughed up blood after drinking. I have no memory of him. Even today, there's a picture of him at home, but I don't recognise him. He's a stranger. I tell them to pull the picture down. They wouldn't make fun of me, but they would feel pity for me. The teacher would segregate us on the basis of who had a father and who didn't, because the kids who didn't have dads would be given schoolbooks. I didn't know what a father was, I would hear my friends talk about their dads. I learned that fathers are strict and they bring gifts; I didn't know. I would feel like I was different.'
Bharti is now one of the highest-paid individuals on Indian television. She has long been associated with Kapil Sharma, and now runs a massively popular YouTube channel with over 7 million subscribers.