While it manifested in my childhood, I was stammering well into my early 20s. Interestingly, I never stammered when I sang. Now, I have learned that no one stammers while singing. I would often stutter at the beginning of a consonant or a vowel. This caused me trouble with introducing myself, and I would dread my first day of school. So, I was extremely quiet in my formative years, and that has become a part of my personality for which I am grateful. I grew up with a lot of love in my family. My parents got me to go to speech therapy. I remember doing breathing exercises for a couple of years. It was quite instrumental. In some ways,  I owe my singing to my stammering. With my professional training, I now know what I need to do when I am anxious. I can control it. Although, it is not easy, I practise twice as hard by breaking my lines down to each vowel and consonant, and working on breathing patterns in conjunction with the same. I think the world has changed for the better today. A lot of these issues that were problems earlier are now normalised, and that is how it should be.
Amar Mucchala, 44, opera tenor

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Stand-up was therapeutic

Although my parents were really patient and took me to speech therapy, nothing really worked out then. Growing up with a stammer, I was also bullied a lot. I suffered a massive lack of self-confidence I was also unsure if I should pursue stand up as a career. Watching Drew Lynch — a comedian with a stammer — on America’s Got Talent, gave me confidence. I began to write jokes only about stammering to address the situation. Thankfully, it went well. It was therapeutic in a sense. I would change the words to help myself speak fluently. For instance, if I have a problem with words starting with G; I would phrase it differently. Facing your fears is important. Doing stand-up regularly and interacting with strangers on stage has helped me. I realise that some people will make fun of me, but I can’t let that bring me down. Thankfully, I found supportive people to back me. Learn to accept it. People have to learn that everyone has some impediment. You learn to live with it, like you live with a scar that heals.
Rueben Kaduskar, 35,  stand-up comedian

Artistes are more understanding

We need to understand that stammering is not a problem. We have to be open to the fact that everyone has their own quirks. I was bullied in school, but you can’t blame the kids. They only know what they see in front of them. As I grew up, I slowly started to realise that I am more than this. You have to find your people. I got through it mostly because I have incredible support from home, from my parents and my friends. Once I started composing, I met musicians and artistes who do not consider this to be a big deal. They  wait for me to finish. Look at it this way, I get to sing and make music for a career, so I guess you can’t have everything! I don’t stammer when I sing. When I keep a beat while talking, I do not stammer. As long as you don’t say anything back to interrupt my flow. At some point, you need to stand up and take charge of your own life. I am fully aware that I have had a lot of privilege in being able to do what I want to do, but I will say that it wasn’t, and still isn’t easy on some days. It largely boils down to accepting yourself as human beings like anyone else. Only then can we take a step for ourselves to do something about our speech, if we need or want to.
Aditya N, 31, composer and musician

5%
of all children suffer from some speech impediment according to a 2022 research by The Stuttering Foundation

Stars with a stutter

Hugh Grant, Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe

>> Winston Churchill
>> Ozzy Osbourne