Chapter 13 - Signing The Contract

As soon as Om entered the All India Comedy Company, he was stopped by a guard. After telling that he had been called by the boss of the company, the guards was a little skeptical. So, one of them took him to the reception where the lady receptionist made the call to Ayush who immediately told her to escort Om to his office. Hearing the impatience in her boss's voice, the receptionist was surprised. She told the guard to return to his post and she personally escorted Om to Ayush's office.

Ayush's office was located on the 12th floor of the company. So, they took an elevator and soon they reached outside the office's door. When the receptionist knocked on the door, a voice came from inside.

"Come in."

Hearing this, the receptionist told Om to enter and she herself went back. So, Om entered the room and was quite surprised to see quite of few bookshelves in the huge office. Those bookshelves were so many in number that they were the first thing that caught Om's eyes as he entered the office. When he lifted his gaze from the bookshelves, he saw a middle-aged man sitting on a large sofa and watching a very large T.V. Now, Om was starting to doubt whether Arjun and Ayush bought their T.Vs from the same place. Both of them were of exact same size and manufactured by the same company.

When Om looked over to inspect Ayush, Ayush was also doing the same. Ayush was quite a handsome man. Although he was sitting on the sofa, but that didn't hinder Om from seeing that he was quite a tall guy. If Om had to guess it, he would say that Ayush was around 6 feet tall. Ayush had neat and tidily combed hairs. He had sword like eyebrows and bright, domineering eyes. He had a big nose and handsomely shaved beard which made Ayush look like a very handsome and neat person. Overall, Ayush was quite handsome as I had said earlier.

Seeing Om looking at him, standing at the door, Ayush stood up from the sofa and said, "What are you doing there standing in daze? Come here. We have a lot to talk about."

"Hmm..? Ahh! Yes, sir. My name is Om Rawat and I am very grateful to sir for offering me this excellent job."

Om said gratefully as he walked towards Ayush.

"You don't have to talk so formally. After all, from now onward we are going to work together for a while. And I didn't knew that you are also from Uttarakhand. I come from Kotdwar, what about you?"

[A.N- Uttarakhand, a state in northern India crossed by the Himalayas, is known for its Hindu pilgrimage sites. Rishikesh, a major centre for yoga study, was made famous by the Beatles' 1968 visit. The city hosts the evening Ganga Aarti, a spiritual gathering on the sacred Ganges River. The state's forested Jim Corbett National Park shelters Bengal tigers and other native wildlife.(Life is so easy with Copy and Paste). And Kotdwar is one of the many districts in Uttarakhand. There are mainly villages there and not big city like places in Uttarakhand as it is a mountainous region.]

"My village is also near Kotdwar, sir."

"Oh! That's good. That's good. So, let's talk about the job, shall we?""

"Alright, sir"

"And also, stop calling me sir. That sounds a little weird. Call me Ayush boss, or big brother Ayush."

When Om heard this, he was very hesitant. Big brother Ayush was quite awkward to call someone who you have just met. So, he went with the Ayush boss.

"I understand, Ayush boss."

"Now, that's better. As I said, we have to talk about the job, but before that, do you know what do we do?"

"Yes, boss. Ex-boss Arjun have already explained me everything about your company."

When Ayush heard Om calling Arjun his Ex-boss, he felt quite amused. So he smiled and said, "So, your ex-boss told you everything, huh? Well, that save me the breath then. So, as you know that my company is mainly based upon Comedy, specifically Stand-Up Comedy, you should also know what I am expecting from you, right?"

"Yes, boss. I know." Om nodded.

"So tell me, can you do it again? Can you make so many people laugh like you did in the auditorium?"

As Om heard this, he immediately smiled and said, "Don't worry, boss. I have full confidence that I can make people laugh by my stand-up comedy. Even if I can't make all of them laugh, I can say that they won't feel bored either."

Om wasn't saying this to please Ayush or anything, instead, he really had full confidence in Abhishek Upmanyu, Kenny Sebastian, Vir Das, and other excellent stand-up comedians who had made millions of people laugh not only in India, but other countries too. This was the reason for Om's confidence.

Hearing Om's voice filled with utter confidence, even Ayush, who had been in the industry for quite a few years, was shocked. If he had not seen Om perform on the stage, he wouldn't believe Om. But after seeing, he somewhat believed him. So after contemplating for a while, he asked, "Yesterday, the stand-up comedy you performed on the stage, was that your own original work?"

"….Yes." Om hesitated before nodding. He couldn't just tell him that 'No, it was not me but Abhishek Upmanyu who wrote that. What? Who is Abhishek Upmanyu? He is a famous Stand-Up Comedian in another world.'

Even though he knew the answer, but after confirming it with his own ears made Ayush believe Om even more. So, he happily patted Om's shoulder and laughed, "That's good. That's good. So, let's talk about the salary. I will give you more than Rs 15,000 for a month. And it could be more if your single show gets a house full. There will be a minimum of 3 shows you have to perform each month. How are these conditions to you?"

Honestly, they were pretty good for a person who has yet to debut in the field of entertainment. And Om also didn't find any problem with the requirements. So he nodded and said, "I don't have any problem with these requirements."

"Hahaha…Let's sign the contract then." Ayush laughed happily.

Soon, the contract was brought and it was the same as what Ayush had said. As for the duration of the contract, it was 2 years. If Om broke this contract in anyways, he had to pay 1 lakh rupees which was Rs 1,00,000. This was a very huge amount of money for a normal middle class people. So, Om read through the contract twice and very thoroughly as if imprinting those words in his mind so that he may never forget them.

After signing the contract, Om and Ayush shook hands happily. After signing, Om took a taxi for his home. It was 8'o clock when Om reached home. When he reached home, he took a bath and then, he sat down on a chair with a pen and paper. What was he doing you ask? He was told by Ayush that his debut show would be day after tomorrow in a large auditorium in near Connaught Place. The name of the auditorium was FICCI KK Birla Auditorium. There would be other comedians performing too. So, Om won't be the only one there. Hearing this, Om felt kinda relieved. He was a little nervous thinking of standing alone in front of a large crowd, even larger than the one he had performed for the day before yesterday and making them laugh. So, now that he knew that he wasn't the only one, Om sighed with relief.

And after hearing this, Om knew that he had to give his best and make the people who see his performance to remember who he is.So, he thought of writing down all of the Stand-Up comedy performance that he could remember from his past life. After he wrote down 3, he suddenly remembered one that could be used for the performance day after tomorrow. So, he started writing it down quickly.