Page 5 of 12 Years

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Without waiting for a reply, Mudit whisked Nimit away, leaving Payal and me alone at the table. In the silence that followed, Payal took a sip of her white wine. I smiled.

‘What? Some joke about Jains not drinking or something?’ Payal said.

I shook my head. ‘Wine is veg. No onion, no garlic either, so it should be okay,’ I said.

‘True that,’ she said. We lifted our glasses and did a ‘cheers’.

‘I used to work in private equity too,’ I said.

‘Which firm?’

‘Yellowstone Capital.’

‘Oh, they have an office in Mumbai?’

‘In San Francisco. I moved to Mumbai only recently.’

‘How come?’

‘Personal issues,’ I said after a pause. ‘My marriage ended. I wanted a fresh start. Live my own life, finally.’

‘Hence stand-up?’

‘Yes, stand-up is my passion. I’m not that great though.’

‘Why do you say that? The audience laughed quite a few times. Just build on that. You’ll only get better.’

‘That’s supportive of you. Thank you.’

‘Even though I was the scapegoat of the show today.’

‘Sorry about the daddy’s-princess comment. Unnecessary.’

‘It’s okay. It’s comedy. One can’t get offended over little things.’

‘Thank you.’

We took a few sips of our drinks in silence.

‘How long did you work in private equity?’ she said after a while.

‘Too long. Around ten years. How about you?’

‘Ten months.’

‘Ah. You’re a baby.’

‘Here we go again.’

‘What?’

‘I get that a lot. I finished undergrad and they hired me right off. What can I do if I’m young? Everyone at work calls me the office baby. But I’m not a baby.’

‘How old are you?’

‘I’m twenty-one. Nearly twenty-two.’

‘Well, I’m thirty-three. Compared to that, you’re a little kid.’

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