The fierce pride in India is real, although it’s worth noting Akaash’s middle school principal thought he was Mexican for all three years. Such was life growing up in suburban north Dallas. Home.

Akaash left home to help people. He wanted to be a doctor like his uncle and graduated pre-med from Austin College. Naturally, the next step was to move to Los Angeles and become a comedian.

There is no easy explanation for this leap of faith. It was an idea that always flickered in his mind. Even when he was young, Akaash saw comedy differently. He appreciated the nuances and broke it down to a science, fascinated by what worked and what didn’t.

The first time he performed in front of his friends in high school, he bombed. Of course, it’s a little more disheartening when the laughs don’t come while you happen to be on the mic at The Comedy Store in L.A.

You know, The Comedy Store, stomping grounds of Pryor, Seinfeld, Leno and… Singh? Akaash bombed there so badly that it was, well, almost funny. Before that night, he hopped on stage once every few months and called himself a comedian. After that night, he developed a singular focus on scrapping for as much stage time as possible while writing incessantly.

He went on a national tour in 2010- from D.C. back to Cali, making certain to stop in his home state along the way with a performance at “The Festival of India” at The University of Texas. The show was big enough that it earned Akaash his first write up, and that write up was as effusive as anything he could have written himself.* He could now see the hard work was yielding results.

He earned his first television appearance in 2011. He was one of a small handful of comedians selected to be a panelist on MTV’s “New Year’s Bash 2011”, making light of the celebrity news we all take too seriously.Then he piloted for a series with MTV Desi has been approved for a full season, and is set to begin in 2012. In 2013, He was chosen as a cast member on MTV2’s “Wild N Out”. In 2014, it was HBO’s “The Leftovers”, as well as MTV2’s Guy Code. And more recently, he has just finished filming for the second season of MTV2’s “Joking Off”.

There is plenty going on right now, a whirlwind of change. This comedy thing has a way of eating people alive, but it’s the opposite for Akaash. He feeds on it, mind and soul, always hungry to show you something serious with the next laugh.