Arjun, you idiot!" Gopi yelled up, exasperated. "Are you serious?! You haven't even put your clothes on yet?! And you told me yesterday that you would be ready half an hour ago. The assembly bell rings in 15 minutes! I'm not doing fifty ear pulling sit-ups at the gate because of you today!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm moving! Just wait a little, am gonna be ready in just two minutes" Arjun yelled back in a panic.
He bolted toward the bathroom like a man possessed. In a record-breaking five seconds, Arjun splashed water on his face, wiped it with a towel, and burst right back into the room, frantically kicking off his pajamas and grabbing his ironed school shirt.
While Arjun scrambled to button his shirt with trembling, panicked fingers, Coco hopped onto the windowsill. Grabbing Arjun's blue toothbrush in his left claw and the tube of toothpaste in his right, the macaw stood effortlessly on one leg. He casually began scrubbing his own beak, watching Arjun's chaotic struggle with pure, smug entertainment.
"Faster, Sleeping Beauty," Coco squawked around the toothbrush. He leaned over the ledge and intentionally spat a blob of white toothpaste right onto Gopi's bicycle handlebar below. "The moody prince down there is turning purple!"
"Hey! You bastard bird!" Gopi yelled up from the lane, wiping his bike. "Your eyes might look like ugly coat buttons, but that doesn't mean you're blind!"
"I told you to stop calling me that!" Arjun hissed, trying to straighten the crooked tie around his neck. "Coco, you are really pissing me off now."
"Am I pissing you off? Really!" Coco retorted with a wicked grin. "Well, as far as I know, if I hadn't woken you up from another one of your scary dreams by sensing your heartbeat, you would have surely pissed your bed for real!"
Coco burst into a series of loud, wheezing cackles, throwing absolute bombs of embarrassing insults right at him.
"He he he! Sleeping Beauty would've turned into Pissing Beauty! And instead of fixing your tie, you'd be running around trying to hide your smelly pants and wet sheets from your mom's gaze!"
Arjun finally lost his cool and grabbed the haircomb off his desk and threw it straight at the bird.
"Take that, you feather duster!"
Coco didn't even sweat it. With a quick tilt of his head, the macaw dodged the comb effortlessly.
The comb sailed right past him, flew out the open window, and landed with a quiet thwack right on Gopi's head. It got stuck upright in the middle of Gopi's thick, curly hair.
Gopi froze, pulled the comb out of his afro, and yelled up at the window in frustration. "Ow! What kind of punishment is this, Arjun?! What did I do to deserve being your friend?!"
Coco burst into a series of loud, obnoxious squawks, laughing hysterically at Arjun's terrible aim and teasing him on purpose.
"You stupid bird, I'll deal with you later!" Arjun warned, shaking his fist.
Realizing he was running out of time, Arjun left the bird alone and hurried out of his room to find his socks.
Inside the house was smita who was a blur of activity, preparing food in the kitchen while also helping managing and finding Arjun's personal items. At the dining table, Nand sat like an island of calm, his crisp police uniform already sharp, though his focus was buried in the morning headlines.
"Nand, listen," Smita said, her voice rising above the sound of Arjun's frantic zipping. "Drop him at the school gate on your way to the station? Am worried that he is again gonna end up late again."
Nand didn't look up from the paper, though a corner of his mouth quirked. "You don't have to worry about him getting late, let him get the appropriate punishment he would get in school, because this would be the third time he is getting late for school in this week."
He flips a page of the newspaper "He is not a child anymore he is a grown up boy, and he needs to behave like one too, he needs to take accountability of His reckless nature. Otherwise, he'll grow up lazy, always looking for someone to bail him out. Let him face this alone. He would learn to deal with his own problems someday, or instead would find shortcuts."
Arjun, finally after packing his bag, looked up with a determined, if slightly panicked, grin. "Don't worry, Papa. I promise we wouldn't be late today. We've got a plan to get there early—somehow. I'll manage it myself, just watch."
"Think atleast once before doing anything, and whatever you do Just don't get in any trouble understand," nand warns him calmly.
"Don't worry papa i promise i would wouldn't give you any reason to complain, i would reach school on time successfully with no trouble," Arjun assures his father about his decision.
Nand finally lowered the newspaper, a glint of pride in his eyes as he glanced at his wife. "Look what I just said before, leave them alone like water they would surely find their own way to flow"
Smita huffed, though she couldn't hide her smile as she was finding an oil bottle in the kitchen rack "Lately, he talks just as big as you do. But you tell your dear son that big talk doesn't fill the registers. He has to actually show up on time to prove, otherwise his big words would eventually leds him in trouble and he would drag poor gopi alongside with him."
Nand knew arjun very well he knew he would definitely gonna do something stupid but still he intentionally allows him to do whatever he wants giving him full liberty to check how he would deal with the consequences of his own and how he would overcome over it.
"He'll learn, Smita," Nand said gently, folding his newspaper with a quiet rustle. "We all had to stumble a few times before we found our stride. He's no different. At the very least, he has that passion in his eyes to do things on his own. For now, just let him do whatever he thinks is right."
"Ma! Where is my other socks?" Arjun suddenly barked, spinning around frantically in one socks.
Smita rolled her eyes, the brief illusion of a mature, 'grown-up' son vanishing instantly. "Check the almirah or under the bed! You probably tossed them there yesterday. Oh, this stupid boy... if only you spent half as much time organizing your room as you do making big promises, you'd be at the school gates by now!"
Turning her sharp gaze back to her husband, Smita mimicked his earlier tone with a pinch of sarcasm. "Let him do whatever he wants, haa!"
One minutes later—Arjun finally found the other shoe—the shoe was located. Not under the bed nor on top of the almirah. Instead, it was tucked neatly inside his pillow.
"Found it!" Arjun yelled, hopping on one foot as he jammed his heel in. "But it was neither on the top of almirah or under the bed."
"See? He finally did it without your help in the end," Nand chimed in, tossing a triumphant look back at Smita.
Smita didn't say a word. Instead, she began slicing a large carrot on the cutting board. Her movements slow, deliberate and menacing. The heavy, rhythmic thuds of her kitchen knife echoed through the room like a countdown. She locked her eyes onto Nand, her piercing glare delivers a silent warning about the volatile state of her temper, that made it terrifyingly clear that vegetables weren't the only thing her blade was capable of slicing.
Message received loud and clear, Nand slowly lowered his gaze back to his newspaper, A helpless, timid smile was plastered across his face, even as a genuine ripple of terror coursed through him.
"Well, I... I just meant that you shouldn't be that harsh on him, Smita," Nand added softly, his voice wavering with a clear fear of his wife's temper. "Because if you don't remember, let me gently remind you... today is his birthday."
Smita froze, her eyes widening as realization struck her. "Oh, no! I totally forgot about it... Oh, how could I? I am such a terrible mother. I should go to his room right now and apologize for being so harsh on him."
"No, I don't think you're a terrible mother at all," Nand replied softly, peeking out from over his paper. "A bit short-tempered and impatient, sure—but definitely not terrible. Otherwise, Arjun wouldn't love you as much as he does."
A warm spark of delight touched Smita's heart for a brief second before her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Wait... was that a compliment, or are you trying to be smart with me again?"
"No, no! I meant it you have been so busy since this morning, how could you have remembered!" Nand said quickly, raising his hands in defense before smoothly changing the subject. "Look, forget about that. why don't you make something extra delicious tonight for his birthday instead?"
Smita paused, her expression softening as she considered it. "Yeah... you're right. I'll do that.
Arjun after finding his every school item bolt straight for the door, but a hand like a velvet-covered vice gripped his collar. It was Smita, brandishing a bottle of hair oil.
"Mom, please! Not now! The principal will literally execute me!" Arjun begged, desperately trying to pull away from Smita's grip.
"I am not letting you step out of this house looking like a wild animal," she insisted, her face set in a mask of firm maternal determination. "Look at this messy hair! People will think you live in a forest. Sit. Down. Now. Today is your birthday, for heaven's sake."
"MOM, LET GO! I'm already late!" Arjun pleaded, squirming as she dragged him toward the chair.
"Stay still! Look presentable at least once in your life—especially today," Smita said sternly, completely ignoring his protests as she forced him down and began violently running a comb through his hair. "And if you get late, just tell your teachers it's your birthday. They'll obviously let it slip."
"WHO IS EVEN GOING TO CARE, MA?" Arjun groaned, wincing as the comb snagged on a knot. "I'm going to a physics class, not a birthday party! Besides, you know I don't like celebrating my birthday anyway."
Smita paused, her brow furrowing as she looked at him through the mirror. "And why on earth is that? Everyone else gets excited on their birthday, why not you?"
Arjun met her gaze in the mirror, his expression deadpan. "Because I'm not a fool like everyone else who celebrates losing a whole year of their life."
"Happy birthday, Arjun," Nand called out warmly from the dining table, lowering his newspaper just enough to smile at his son.
"Yeah, same to you," Arjun replied dryly, tossing the wish back to his father with utter disinterest as he tried to dodge his mother's comb.
Smita and Nand exchanged a quick, bewildered glance, both exasperated yet entirely unsurprised by his usual cynical charm.
...