Chapter 34: chapter 34

The days leading up to my live comedy show in front of Riya's unit were filled with a mix of excitement and anxiety. I had written new jokes, refined my material, and practiced in front of a makeshift camera setup in my living room. Vedahi, Riya, and Alex were my enthusiastic, yet somewhat nervous, audience as I rehearsed.Vedahi, trying to ease my nerves, said, "Prakhar, you've got this! Your jokes are hilarious. I've seen you make us laugh countless times."Alex added, "Yeah, don't worry, mate. You'll have them rolling in the aisles, or, well, in this case, virtually."Riya, reassured me, "Prakhar, you've got the right spirit. Just be yourself and have fun. See you tomorrow!"The next day, it was a weekend when my comedy show was planned, and I was as jittery as a leaf in a windstorm. I had set up my laptop, camera, and microphone, ready to connect to Riya's unit through a video conference. My heart raced as the moment drew near.Vedahi's smiling face appeared on the screen. "Are you ready, Prakhar? They're waiting for you."I gulped nervously and nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be, Vedahi."As the virtual audience filled the screen, I could see the faces of the soldiers, many of whom had expressions of curiosity mixed with a touch of scepticism.Riya stood with her characteristic confidence, her eyes reflecting a hint of mischief."So unit, I have Mr. Prakhar with me to bring some colours to our boring lives, Please welcome Mr. Prakhar, our special guest for today!" Riya introduced me to her unit, and I felt a sweat forming on my temples. It was the heat and pressure to perform building up.I took a deep breath and began my set. I started with a joke about the quirks of French culture that had puzzled me since I moved to Paris. A few chuckles echoed from the screen, and I felt a rush of relief. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all.I moved on to another joke about the challenges of learning a new language. "It's like they expect me to speak French as if I were born with a baguette in my hand!" I quipped. After a few more laughs, I was gaining confidence.But just as I was settling into a rhythm, I noticed that some of the soldiers weren't as amused. They looked a bit puzzled. I could almost hear the crickets chirping in the virtual silence.Feeling a little disheartened, I decided to switch to a safer, more universally relatable topic – technology. I talked about the struggles of setting up a Wi-Fi connection and the never-ending software updates that seem to take over your life.A few more smiles and polite chuckles from the audience. Riya was still grinning, but I could sense she was trying to hide her concern. Vedahi and Alex kept giving me encouraging nods and thumbs up, but the enthusiasm in their eyes was slowly waning.As I continued, I threw in a joke about the perils of online dating, which usually got a good laugh from my friends. "Swipe right, swipe left, and sometimes, you end up in a conversation that makes you question your life choices," I quipped.But the soldiers didn't seem to share the sentiment. Their expressions ranged from indifference to polite smiles, but the raucous laughter I had hoped for was nowhere in sight.I could feel sweat forming on my brow, and my confidence was waning faster than you can say "stand-up comedy disaster." My jokes about cultural misunderstandings and everyday frustrations that had been gold in the past were now falling flat.In a desperate attempt to save my act, I told a self-deprecating joke. "You know, I once tripped over my own feet, and I thought, 'Well, that's the closest I'll ever get to a standing ovation.'"This time, not even a polite chuckle. Just a sea of stoic faces on the screen. And then Riya changed the gears."Looks like you couldn't get hold of Mr. Prakhar's intellectual joke strings very well, so let me introduce Mr. Animesh who will help you run to catch those strings now!" Riya intervened.I wasn't aware of who was Mr. Animesh and when was he invited, I realized Riya had a backup plan ready to cover my flop attempt.Mr. Animesh's face popped on the screen, he was wearing flashy goggles which immediately caught everyone's attention, and the silent unit, which was quiet while I had been performing, suddenly cheered for him."Hello everyone, thanks to Riya and her encouragement, I am going to bore you more and will start with the poorest joke, Where is the Colonel?" Mr. Animesh's expressions were hilarious, and not only did that introduction cause a burst of laughter among Riya's unit but even Vedahi, Alex, and Riya started laughing out loud. I couldn't understand the joke but understood his comment that I had bored the audience, I still smiled as by then I had realized Riya had played a masterstroke to humiliate me.Mr. Animesh told some more jokes which were very raw, and everyone enjoyed them except me.I don't know why, but I was feeling jealous as I had thought this was my show but now had been completely sabotaged by Mr. Animesh.I couldn't help but glance at Riya, who was enjoying Mr. Animesh's jokes, even Vedahi and Alex looked engrossed. Then I saw a message from Vedahi that she was unaware of this new person and said I had done well with a few words of encouragement. But for me, it was clear that my comedy show was a flop show now completely sabotaged by Mr. Animesh, who made it a hit show.When the show ended, whistles and loud applause congratulated Mr. Animesh and Riya for creating that memorable event.After closing the show, Alex saw my drooping face and said, "Prakhar, it's okay, not every audience is the same. Maybe your humour just didn't resonate with this group."Vedahi messaged, "You did good, it's just wasn't your day today!"I appreciated their support, but it was hard to shake off the disappointment. I had envisioned my comedy show as a roaring success, a chance to impress not just Riya's unit but even her. Instead, I had made a comedy of myself.Over the next few days, I couldn't help but dwell on the events of that comedy night. It seemed like a lost opportunity to connect with Riya and her unit, to show them a side of me that they hadn't seen before. Instead, all I had managed to show them was that I could fall flat on my face, both literally and figuratively.I decided to video call Vedahi about it. She had been my pillar of support throughout, and I knew she would give me an honest perspective."Vedahi," I began, "I can't stop thinking about that comedy show. It was a disaster, wasn't it?"Vedahi looked at me with a sympathetic smile. "Prakhar, it wasn't your best performance, but it wasn't a disaster either. Comedy is tricky, especially in front of a new audience. Maybe your style just didn't resonate with them. It doesn't mean your jokes weren't good.""But Riya," I said with a sigh, "she seemed to enjoy every bit of Mr. Animesh's jokes. It's like she had completely lost interest in my performance."Vedahi nodded thoughtfully. "Riya's always been drawn to a particular kind of humour, you know that. Maybe it's not about you, maybe it's just her taste."I mulled over Vedahi's words for a while. Perhaps it wasn't entirely my fault. Maybe it was just a mismatch between my style and Riya's preferences. But deep down, I couldn't shake off the feeling of disappointment, the nagging thought that I had somehow failed to impress Riya.~~~~~