Vir Das trolled for Mumbai ‘sob story’, internet cites his famous grandfather, privileged background

Comedian Vir Das is being trolled for claiming that he came to Mumbai “with very little” as the internet pointed to his illustrious family hory. When the Emmy-winning comedian and actor shared a post on social media this morning to commemorate the 20 years he has spent in Mumbai, he recalled coming to the city with “very little” and living in a 230-square-foot room.Vir Das faced some trolling for saying he came to Mumbai with “very little” (HT_PRINT)Social media users were quick to point out that Vir Das, 46, is the son of Brajbir Saran Das, a decorated diplomat and India’s first ambassador to Bhutan.They claimed that as such, Das had no right to share a “sob story” about how little he had.The divisive postOn April 19, Vir Das shared an excerpt from his book where he recalled staying in a 230-square-foot room in Bandra when he first came to Mumbai.“Just woke up and realised this i think is my 20th year in Mumbai. A city I came to with very little, that’s given me everything. A passage from my book about the day i moved here,” he wrote while sharing the excerpt.In his book ‘The Outsider: A Memoir for Misfits’, Das also said he had “no things” when he first moved to Mumbai.Vir Das’s family horyDas, his own admission, is the grandson of a decorated diplomat BS Das, who was awarded the Padma Shri in 1972. His father studied at the prestigious St Stephen’s College in Delhi. Das spent a large part of his childhood in Nigeria, where his father worked in a food processing company“My grandfather was a bureaucrat. My grandfather is an IPS, IAS, attached to the Prime Miner’s office. He then became an IFS, India’s first ambassador to Bhutan, then Chairman Airports Authority, then Chairman of Air India, then gets a Padmashree and retired. Brajbir Saran Das, a very decorated, honoured diplomat,” the comedian had told Mid-Day during a chat last year.“My dad is a St. Stephen’s rebel and wanted to not do the diplomat thing. He got a job with a food processing company in Nigeria. So, I left when I was 11 months old from Dehradun. I was born in Dehradun. I was raised there (Nigeria) till 8-9,” he had revealed.Vir Das faces trollingDas’s post about having “very little” therefore drew backlash on X, where critics pointed to his illustrious family background and cosmopolitan upbringing.“Btw he is a grandchild of an IPS officer who was – a Padma Shri awardee, India’s first ambassador to Bhutan and a former AAI chairman. These self crafted sob stories of people born with a silver spoon are tragically funny,” wrote one X user.“Man you just don’t get to claim the rags to riches arc if your starting point is a 230 sqft AC room in Bandra,” X user Sugandha wrote.(Also read: ‘This is why you need immigrants’: Vir Das recalls medical scare at Seattle show)“In 2006 in Bombay he had an aircon, a TV, a house in Bandra with an open balcony. That’s better living than 90% of Indians from then,” one person pointed out.“This guy had it so rough, man. I wish no one ever gets to struggle in a room with a TV and an AC and a balcony to smoke cigarettes. Life is so cruel to some!” another wrote sarcastically.Vir Das clarifiesVir Das apparently read some of the trolling comments directed his way, for he soon shared a clarification. The actor and comedian said that he had never claimed to have a “sob story” as was being portrayed a section of the internet.“Erm. I never said it was a sob story. I don’t have one. It’s just an average true story about moving to Mumbai. And I’m happy i moved here,” he said.“These comments are random as hell,” Das added.