Jerry is under a lot of pressure… you know…Sometimes they just don’t laugh.

First of all, for those who do not know who Jerry Seinfeld is – He is, or rather was, a stand-up-comedian. Who stands in front of a big crowd and keeps on telling jokes for a couple of hours. His ultimate goal, and the success of his career depends on whether people laugh at his jokes.
I definitely am not a stand-up-comedian. But I guess I know what it feels like, on his shoes. And I presume, almost all boys would know. We have all tried to make HER laugh [with or without much success] .Still, I am not sure how and when we started believing -‘women like funny men’.
Just like Jerry, we are all under a lot of pressure while pursuing this goal. Sometimes they just don’t laugh. Sometimes they give a tough look, “try harder you stupid”.
Worse, and I hate this the most, sometimes they give you a sympathy smile. Like we are all born incapable of making any jokes of her standard. And almost always, the sympathy smile follows with a topic change. And that’s how you know that it was a sympathy smile.
One good news there, is that women are not originally funny. Of course they do try sometimes, but most of the time they are busy playing target. And there is another type, who would defend your well-intended joke with logic. Before you even realize it, you are in an extremely intellectual argument with her.
Someone once said, superman is the funniest person on this planet. He has super power, super intelligence, super speed. He must be having super sense of humour. Imagine a day, when the world no longer needs superman. All the bad guys are behind bars and people don’t really care about technology or advancements where intelligence is required. The only thing that superman can now sell is his humour. Superman is not that a cool guy anymore. He is standing on the platform, sweating all over, trying to make us laugh. Well, sometimes, we just don’t laugh.

Dreams ….. Sir……I sell …dreams

Entrepreneurial-ship is hard. I had found out that in two weeks.[or was that too late ?]. My huge ego was completely shattered. I had always found it difficult to motivate people to work on something that I believed was right. But when I had a job, I guess, I had some credibility. Now, unemployed, it is near impossible to make anyone understand that I am right. [may be I should start calling myself an entrepreneur- it might boost my confidence a littleJ] It is very character building, though.

While I was in the process of deciding to quit my job and start ‘selling dreams’, my brother was kind of ‘getting engaged to get engaged’. And in the same call when I told him I would be leaving my job soon, he explained to me how he approached his would-be father-in-law, asking for her[She is from Indore by the way]. That is uncharted water. Much much riskier, I would say. In that very phone conversation, he was recruiting me to talk to our parents [I realized his strategy very lateJ]. I was so excited and privileged to present the unthinkable to my dad. How I did that, probably is worth another story. [Come back to this Blog in a few days J ]

Well, anyway, back to the track. He told me, that it is very much possible that I end up like him. I always had fantasies of having a girlfriend, or rather winning a girlfriend, from extreme adversities. And I have no idea why. I have imagined myself proposing to a girl a thousand times, and she rejecting me all the thousand times. But she would finally say yes. [That’s the whole point right?]. Then the next set of challenges. Family opposition, opposition from society etc. etc. Finally I will emerge as the winner [somehow], convincing everyone that I am right. And then a boring married life.

My brother asked me to imagine how would it be like if something like that happened. And that, now it is time for me to go to her father. By then I would have resigned my job. The company is completely in bad shape. No income. About to get bankrupt. And I am going to her father. Wow. This got to be it. Now I am in my father-in-laws’[Would-be] drawing room, possibly commenting on the furniture. I am a stupid liar too. I would even make up stories like, “you know, that sculpture on the right-top has great significance in Japanese Zen Culture”. Whatever. And then after the coffee is served, my business pitch will start.”Sir, I am here today to talk about something very important. To both of us.” I will take a pause and zip the coffee again, measuring his patience. I wouldn’t say a word until he asks what it is. Now I would lean forward and say “I am here to ask your daughters’ hand in marriage” “BAAANG!!!!”.

Hoping for the best, I am assuming that, he is extremely professional and sophisticated, and very much impressed by my candid nature and courage. But it is his daughter. He cannot show that he is impressed. Now its time for him to ask questions.

“So you are here with a marriage proposal”

“Yes Sir” [My courage quota for that day is over – Only yes or no answers]

“Hmm….. What do you do for a living, by the way?”

“I am a business man sir “

“Really.. I thought you were a high school student”

[I really would want to say “I take that as a compliment. But I am older than I look”. But I am sure that, I would not be able to utter a single word]

“hmmm….so what is your business Mister… what do you sell”

“I sell dreams …Sir” [I am dead]

“You sell ..what…. ?”

“Dreams ….. Sir……I sell …dreams”

Disclaimer: Readers are NOT allowed to use their imagination any further.