Page 205 of 12 Years
‘Yes, I know some of you will judge me. Cradle snatcher, too much age difference, whatever. At some level, even I did. I had just come off a divorce. People around me advised me this was not going to work long-term. That I was just living out some younger-girl fantasy. That this was just a rebound. It was lust, not love.’
I saw Payal’s parents shift in their seats. They wanted to leave. Payal gestured to them to stay seated.
‘Our communities didn’t match either. And I met her parents in the most awkward way possible. Yeah, I was naked. I had to use a teddy bear to cover my most important bits.’
The audience gasped. Some laughed.
‘I told you, my life itself is a comedy. Then again, in retrospect, everything is, isn’t it?’ I said.
Payal’s father stood up.
‘Sit down, Uncle, I’ll only be two more minutes. I promise,’ I said.
The audience laughed, unaware of who the man was. Payal’s father hesitated, but then he sat down.
‘Anyway, things didn’t work out between her and me,’ I said. ‘I tried to fight for it. But it still didn’t work out. She married someone else.’
The audience sighed collectively.
‘And I thought, okay, it’s just a break-up. I’ll get over it. That’s what they say on Instagram, isn’t it? All those reels that say yes, you will heal. You’ll move on. You need to focus on yourself. Get busy. I did all that. I moved. Countries, not cities. I got busy. And that’s how SecurityNet was born.’
A few in the audience nodded.
‘But no matter how busy I kept myself, I couldn’t forget her. It was like she’d made some permanent grooves in my head. Whatever I did, wherever I went, forget a day, not even a few hours passed without me thinking of her.’
Pindrop silence in the audience.
‘In all this, I thought, at least she’s happy. As it turned out, she wasn’t. It didn’t work out for her either. Which is when I finally realized that maybe we were meant to be. Twelve years’ age difference or whatever. Sometimes, people are just meant to be.’
The audience remained quiet. Payal looked emotional.
‘One question has always puzzled me. When do you know it’s love? How do you know it’s not just an intense attraction,an infatuation? How does one figure out that this person is “The One”? The problem is, there is no easy way, no test to take to find out. You can’t summarize it in an Instagram reel. Sometimes, only time will tell you. When you cannot live without them. Or even if you do, it’s not the same life. When nobody else comes even close to making you feel the way you do when you’re around them. For a year, then another year and, in my case, twelve years …’
A few audience members nodded.
‘But I’ll tell you how I finally figured this out. Three days ago, you guys sent me the biggest bank transfer I’d ever seen in my life. That single amount had more zeros than a phone number. Yes, the moment that money-has-been-credited message popped up on my phone was quite something. It made me feel happy, sure. For about half an hour. After that, it was just back to normal life. Then at night, I thought about the other moments of my life that have made me happy. When was I the happiest? Most of those moments didn’t involve major sums of money.
‘Those moments were about taking a walk at night in Bandstand, sitting on the window ledge of my tiny Bandra apartment. It was having tea and Maggi at four in the morning on the beach. It was clearing up the dining table after dinner, visiting the temple. All normal, regular things, right? But they were the most special moments of my life. Because they all had one thing in common—she was with me, in every single one of them.
‘And that’s when I realized that she is The One. She’s the one without whom I’m incomplete. The person without whom there is a life, but it’s a life without joy. She’s the onewho can make even grocery shopping fun. I’d rather have cheap Maggi on the beach with her than dine without her in a fancy Michelin-star restaurant. Her mere presence gives me joy like no amount of money could. Yes, she’s the one. Because, ultimately, her happiness automatically creates my happiness.’
I stopped for a second because I was choking up.
‘I should’ve fought for her more,’ I continued. ‘I should’ve believed in myself and trusted my feelings. I shouldn’t have given up. I gave up because I felt that maybe all the others around us were right. I gave up because I was afraid. Of marriage, commitment, society, everything.’
I cleared my throat. The audience waited before I spoke again.
‘But I’ll tell you the real comedy. It just so happened that life reconnected us. She came back into my life. After twelve years. She wasn’t married anymore. Neither am I. Talk about God giving you a second chance. But you know what I did? I blew it this time too. I said mean things. I didn’t understand her feelings. I was stupid. I didn’t know what I wanted. I messed it up, again! I don’t know why, when it comes to me and my love story, it always gets messed up.’
The crowd was hanging on to my every word. I paused and smirked before I spoke again.
‘So, yes, that’s it, guys. The biggest joke in my stand-up act is me.’
The audience sat in their seats in silence, stunned and confused by what I had said.
Payal stood up. Our eyes met.
It took a few seconds for the audience to make the connection. They figured out Payal was the girl I was talkingabout. Everyone shifted in their seats, turning at various angles to get a good look at her. Payal’s father tugged at her elbow to make her sit back down. She shrugged his hand off.
