Over the past year, a young crop of Dalit comedians has been challenging upper-caste hegemony in Indian standup comedy circles, using humour to subvert stereotypes and spread the message of anti-caste resistance. Among them is Mumbai comedian Mayur Kamble, who is all set to mark the birthday of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar by performing four solo shows across four cities, all in one day. Kamble will be performing his solo show Annihilation—its title a reference to Dr. Ambedkar’s Annihilation Of Caste, a key text of the anti-caste movement—in Pune (at 10am), Kharghar, Navi Mumbai (3pm), Thane (6.30pm) and Mumbai (10pm).

“I just wanted to push myself,” says Kamble, speaking to DeadAnt over the phone from his home in Virar. “Earlier we’d done three shows of [Dalit comedy collective/show] Blue Material in one day, so I wanted to level up.”

Kamble chose 14 April as the date for his mini-marathon tour to honour Dr. Ambedkar, but also because he knew it would give him the motivation he needed to actually bring his plans into fruition. “Ambedkar Jayanti is the most important day of the year for me, even more than my birthday,” he says. “If there was no Ambedkar, we would have no life. We didn’t have basic rights like education or water access before Babasaheb Ambedkar fought for it.”

As its title suggests, Annihilation deals with Kamble’s experience of casteism and prejudice, especially during his annual visits to his ancestral village as well as his time spent in rural areas during his diploma. It aims to be a mix of the personal, social and political, and Kamble won’t shy away from talking about the darker, uglier aspects of contemporary life—like murder and suicide. Ahead of his epic 400km road trip, Kamble is both excited and nervous, especially with predictions of a heat wave. But he also can’t wait to hit the stage.