//मटरू की बिजली का मंडोला

मटरू रे मटरू

मटरू की बिजली

बिजली का मंडोला //

A/n listen something funk song while reading !

15th april 2024

The living room rug was the designated battleground, and the weapon of choice was a single, neon-blue plastic remote control.

Kabir nineteen and possessing the sudden, lanky reach of a gibbon, held it high above his head. Anvi eighteen and fueled by pure, unadulterated spite, was practically climbing up his torso to reach it.

"Bhai chor de maar dungi vrna tujhe mein humara show agar khatam hogya na tere yeh bekar se video game ke piche toh soch lena* ANVI SAID SNATCHING THE REMOTE CONTROL OUT OF KARN'S HAND.

"Bhootni chor isse" karn gasped, twisting his torso to keep the remote out of her wingspan, "it's not a dead video game, it's a retrospective on *open-world design flaws*. Aur vaise bhi yaha phle me aaya tha toh tu chor "

" Naukrani tu kitchen me bartan saaf kar rahi thi tab ab hat yaha se " anvi lunged, her fingers brushing the plastic casing. "Papa bhai hume maar raha he aur naukrani keh raha he" she yelled toward the kitchen. "

Karn monopolizing the bandwidth again!"

"Papa yeh juth keh rahi he" karn countered, dropping to the couch and tucking the remote under his thigh like a mother hen guarding a plastic egg.

"You watched three episodes of that anime yesterday, anvi. I have rights. The Constitution protects my right to the big screen."

"Can you please stop spewing rubbish bhai " anvi snapped. She planted her feet and tried to wedge her hand under his leg.

"Suar uth yar yeh kiya battamizi he ?"

"Hata kar dikha." Karn grinned, though his face was turning slightly red from the exertion of pinning it down.

From the kitchen, the heavy thud of a cutting board hit the counter. Their mother appeared in the doorway, a wooden spoon held loosely in one hand like a scepter. She didn't look angry; she looked profoundly, deeply tired.

"Janwaron 18-19 saal ke ho dono " she said before continuing, her voice dangerously calm,

"I am going to take that remote, walk out to the driveway, and run it over with the Subaru."

Karn and avni froze. Avni's hand was still halfway under karn's thigh.

"Mumma isne start kiya " anvi whispered, not breaking eye contact with her brother.

"Achha jutthi," karn muttered back, barely moving his lips

"Chalo bhut lad liye ab kaam karo" their mother said, pointing the spoon at the television. "The TV stays off. Dono jao table set karo aur agar maine ek bhi chillane ki awaj suni toh dono se window or bartan saaf karungi smjhe."

She turned back to the kitchen.

A heavy silence fell over the living room. Karn slowly slid the remote out from under his leg and set it on the coffee table as if it were a live grenade. He looked at anvi. Anvi looked at karn .

"Tu plate lekar aa , me cup lekar ata hun ?" Karn offered, his tone suddenly cooperative.

"A

Aa rahe he" anvi sighed, rolling her eyes but already moving toward the kitchen. "Lekin iske baad hum tv dekhnge "

"Dekhte he" karn smirked, jogging past her to grab the napkins.

The dining room table was a chaotic landscape of mashed potato bowls, passing salad tongs, and the gentle, rhythmic scraping of silverware. The tension from the living room had evaporated, replaced by the comfortable, loud hum of a family that expressed affection through relentless teasing

Sitting across from karn and anvi was Riddhima, their seventeen-year-old sister, who had finally emerged from her bedroom looking like a sleepy owl

.

"So," Dad said, scooping a massive dollop of potatoes onto his plate. "I hear we almost lost the remote to the driveway stabilizer today."

"Anvi ko dohre aarahe the papa isliye " karn said smoothly, reaching for the rolls. "Yeh pagal ho gai thi toh karna pada papa aisa"

"Tu hoga pagal" anvi shot back, stabbing a broccoli floret with unnecessary force. "I was standing up for quality television. Papa bhai ko hi dohre aarahe the pagalkhane se uthaya tha kiya ise aapne mummy?"

The table went dead silent. Everyone looked at Mom.

Mom paused mid-chew, her eyes narrowing as she locked onto avni. "Tumhe utha kar bahar phek du ab mein anvi ?

Anvi swallowed hard, suddenly finding her dinner

fascinating.

"Arey mumma voh tongue of the slip hogaya "

" Riddhima piped up from across the table, not even looking up from her phone. She took a sip of water. "Anvi di woh slip of the tongue hota he"

"18 saal ki gawar " karn muttered, laughing at his sister"

"Hum iska muh tod dengy" anvi said pointing fork towards karn.

"Alright, alright," Dad intervened, though he was hiding a smirk behind his napkin.

"Karn anvi you both are grown up yeh koi tareeka he ladai krna ka ?" Their father said.

"Papa yeh toh humse bada he yeh kiyu nahi apna muh band rakhta he" anvi retorted still pointing fork towards karn... Karn sheepishly smiled and said

. "Tu choti hokar konsa aapna muh band rakh leti he?" Hitting her fork with now his outstretched fork.

Mom sighed, but there was a smile tugging at the corner of her lips as she passed the gravy boat. "Just pass the daal , please. Isse phle yeh dono janwar ladne lage "

Riddhima finally put her phone down, leaning forward on her elbows. "Accha suno karn bhaiya can I borrow your black hoodie tomorrow?"

"No."

"I wasn't asking," Ridhima said sweetly. "I was giving you a courtesy heads-up that it's already in my backpack."

"Mummy" karn groaned.

"MUJHE kiya dekh raha he??" Mom said, taking a peaceful sip of her drink. "I just cook the food. The sibling black market is outside my jurisdiction."

-------------

The bedroom was cozy, filled with the warm glow of fairy lights and the faint scent of vanilla. Unlike the usual battleground, an easy, comfortable rhythm filled the space.

On one side of the room, Riddhima was buried under a fortress of textbooks and colorful sticky notes, completely in the zone. On the other side, Anvi was curled up in a pile of oversized pillows, her feet propped up on the wall as she chatted away with her best friend.

"No way! Did he actually say that?" Anvi twirled a strand of hair around her finger, trying-and failing-to suppress a loud giggle. "Wait, hold on, let me lower my voice. Riddhima is doing some serious nerd work over there and I don't want her to fail her quiz because of my gossip."

Riddhima didn't even look up from her history notes, but a small smile tugged at her lips. "Mujhe abhi bhi awaj arahi he anvi di and yeh quiz nahi test ki tyaari kar rahi hun."

"Dekh ! Yeh jinda he !!," anvi whispered playfully into the phone. She slid off the bed, grabbing a fuzzy blanket, and padding across the room. Without breaking her conversation, she dropped a handful of gummy bears right onto Riddhima's open textbook.

Riddhima looked up, her eyes lighting up. "Ooh, the red ones. Thank you."

"Yeah, meera, so anyway..." Anvi murmured, leaning against the side of Riddhima's desk. She reached out and gently began braiding a small section of Riddhima's hair, an old habit from when they were kids whenever she was on a long phone call.

Riddhima just leaned into it, completely unfazed, her highlighter flying across the page as anvi's soft, rhythmic whispering filled the background. It was a chaotic mix of the War of 1812 and high school drama, but to them, it was just a regular Tuesday night.

--------------

The distant sound of the television downstairs. Inside, the atmosphere was thick with the distinct, heavy tension of a high-stakes study session gone wrong.

devrath, nineteen and home from his NDA training for the weekend, rubbed his temples. He was sitting at the head of the dining table, which had been completely overtaken by open textbooks, scratched-up scratch paper, and a geometry set. Opposite him sat his 18-year-old sister, maahi, looking small behind a massive binder, her lower lip trembling slightly.

"Maahi, look at the paper. Don't look at the ceiling, vaha answer nahi likha hua he" devrath said, his voice tight with frustrated patience.

"We have gone over this exact theorem three times. *Three times*, Diya."

"Arey kar toh rahe he bhaiya" Diya protested, her voice cracking as she blinked back tears. "The numbers are just jumbling together. It doesn't make sense!"

"Because you're not focusing!" Devrath brought his hand down on the table-not a slam, but firm enough to make the pencils rattle. "You spent twenty minutes drawing doodles in the margin, and now you're telling me you don't get it? Your final exams start on Monday. This isn't a game."

"I was just taking a break-"

"You don't get a twenty-minute break for five minutes of work," devrath cut her off, his tone sharp but grounded in genuine worry

. "If you don't grasp the basics of these triangles now, next year is going to be a nightmare for you. Do you want to be scrambling for passing marks? Is that the plan?"

Diya wiped a stray tear from her cheek with the back of her sleeve, staring down at the messy geometric shapes she'd drawn. "No."

Devrath let out a long, slow breath, his shoulders dropping as his anger softened into a sigh. He looked at her crumpled posture and realized he'd pushed a bit too hard. He reached across the table, gently pulling her notebook closer to him.

"Look," devrath said, his voice dropping to a quieter, calmer register. "I'm not scolding you because I want to be mean, maahi. I'm scolding you because I know how smart you are, and it drives me crazy to see you give up the second it gets difficult. You're better than a lazy mistake."

Maahi sniffled, looking up at him through her eyelashes. "It's just really hard."

"I know it is. Math is a pain," devrath admitted, a faint, rare smile breaking through his serious expression. He turned the page to a fresh sheet of paper and capped her highlighter.

"But you can do this. Now, wipe your face. We're going to take it from the top, step by step. No doodles, no distractions. Deal?"

Maahi swallowed down the rest of her frustration, nodding slowly as she picked up her pencil again. "Deal."

"Good," devrath said, tapping the paper. "Now, tell me what a right angle is, and don't guess."

The air in the bedroom was thick with the scent of late-night pizza and pure, unadulterated academic stubbornness.

Darsh, twenty and currently drowning in engineering mechanics at university, was staring at his younger brother's physics assignment like it had personally insulted his ancestors. Across the desk, seventeen-year-old rohan was leaning back in his gaming chair, arms crossed, wearing the smug, bulletproof grin of a teenager who was entirely convinced he had outsmarted the system.

"Rohan" darsh said, his voice dangerously low as he tapped a red pen against the desk. "Explain this to me. Explain kar mujhe yeh isse phle mera dimag ghum jaye konsa logic he yeh?."

"It's simple, *Bhai*," Rohan said, rocking the chair back on two legs. "The question asks for the net velocity. I calculated the components, I added them up, and boom. 15\text{ m/s}."

"You didn't add them up, you absolute donkey," darsh snapped, throwing his hands in the air." Gadhe tune sirf raw numbers add kiye he! You added 9 and 6 like you're in the third grade! This is a vector problem. They are moving in different directions!"

"Velocity is velocity, darsh bhaiya! Speeding is speeding!"

"Velocity has a direction, you genius! You can't just ignore the angle!" Darsh grabbed a scrap sheet of paper and practically stabbed it with the pen, drawing a massive, aggressive right-angled triangle. "Look at the diagram! One car is going North, one is going East. You have to use the Pythagorean theorem! It's a^2 + b^2 = c^2!"

"Darsh bhaiya aap triangles kiyu la rahe ho car bale question me ? Ajib insan ho" Rohan argued, leaning forward and slamming his hands on the desk. "The textbook says 'find the total'. Total means plus! Plus means addition! I am obeying the laws of the English language!"

"But you are breaking the laws of *physics*!" Darsh yelled, rubbing his face in exasperation. "Agar tujhe car takkar maregi toh tu magically kisi bhi car ke samne thodi ja girega . You fly off at an angle! 9^2 is 81. 6^2 is 36. 81 plus 36 is 117. The square root of 117 is roughly 10.8\text{ m/s}! Not fifteen!"

Darah stared at the math on the paper, his smug grin faltering for a microsecond before his stubbornness roared back to life. "Well... maybe the cars in this specific question didn't care about angles. Maybe they were very straightforward cars."

"Me tujhe is khidki se bahar phek dunga, and we can calculate your net velocity when you hit the bushes,"

Darsh muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Arey bhaiya mujhe pata he me apse jada smart hu isliye mera answer 2 second me agaya aur apko calculator ki jarurat padi i get it bhaiya i get it ," Rohan scoffed, though he slowly reached out and pulled the paper back toward himself.

" Aye husiyar ke nana aise hi padta rahega toh fail hojyega phir mummy mujhse kahengi tujh jaise gadhe ko padane ko," darsh countered, leaning over his brother's shoulder and aggressively handing him the calculator. "Now, erase that garbage fifteen, write down 10.8, and show your work before I call Mom up here."

Rohan grumbled, flipping the eraser end of his pencil down. "Fine. Lekin agar kal answer book me yeh answer 15 aya toh aap mujhe 1500 rupey dengy."

"Agar answer 15 aya toh beta me yeh book kha jaunga" darsh retorted, crossing his arms and watching like a hawk as rohan finally started typing the correct numbers into the calculator.

_____________________

The front porch of the Singh house was quiet, lit only by a single amber yellow bulb that cast long shadows across the driveway. It was 9:30 PM, the perfect crisp temperature for the neighborhood crew's weekly night walk.

Darsh, devrath, rohan, and maahi stood by the steps, adjusting their hoodies and checking their phones.

"Kahan reh gaya yeh ?" Rohan grumbled, leaning against the wooden railing.

"Us haramkhor ne bola toh tha ki voh ready he" devrath said looking at his mobile phone.

"Relax, joote dundh rahe hongy nahi toh kha rahe hongy" darsh said, though she stepped up to the front door and pressed the doorbell anyway.

Instead of the usual chime, the sound that greeted them from inside the house was a muffled, chaotic crash, followed by a high-pitched yelp.

The four of them froze, exchanging worried glances. Devrath slowly reached out and turned the doorknob. To their surprise, it was unlocked. He pushed the door open a crack. "Uh, karn bhai tu theek he?"

The scene in the living room was nothing short of a WWE main event.

Karn was flat on his stomach on the rug, his face pressed uncomfortably against a couch cushion. Pinning his shoulders down with her knees was his younger sister, anvi She had his right arm twisted behind his back in a textbook submission hold, looking less like a middle-schooler and more like a seasoned bounty hunter.

"Bol karega!" Anvi demanded, applying a fraction more pressure. "Bol bhai ! Say the words!"

"Never!" Karn choked out, his voice muffled by the upholstery. "Tu bhootni he ! Me kabhi nahi-*ow, ow, ow!* Okay, wait, stop!"

"Yeh ghar ko yudh ka maidaan kiyu banaya hua he?" Devrath asked, stepping fully into the foyer, his jaw slightly slack. Darsh and rohan filtered in behind him, while maahi just folded her arms, thoroughly amused.

Karn managed to twist his head toward the door, his eyes wide with a mix of desperation and deep embarrassment. "Guys! Thank God. Call the police! Vrna yeh chudail aaaj mujhe maar dalegi!"

"Oh, hey guys," anvi said, her terrifying, dominant expression instantly melting into a sweet, polite smile for the neighbors. She didn't, however, release karn's arm. "Arey bas thodi der me hi khatam ho jayega yeh .. is suar ko thoda sabak sikhanna tha"

"Ab kiya kara karn bhaiya ne?" Riddhima asked, leaning against the doorframe.

"He stole my wireless earbuds, hid them in his smelly gym shoes so I wouldn't look there, and then had the audacity to use my Netflix profile and mess up my entire algorithm!" Anvi snapped, giving his arm another sharp tug.

"Galti se rakha gaya hoga chor mujhe" Karn yelled into the carpet. "And your Netflix profile has better recommendations than mine! Arey kamino khade kiyu ho apne sakha ki madadt toh karo!"

Devrath took a slow sip from the water bottle he was holding. "I don't know, karn Messing with a girl's Netflix algorithm is a pretty serious crime. I think justice is being served."

"Haramkhor dhokebaaz!" Karn gasped. "Darsh bhaiya, help!"

Darsh raised his hands in defense. "Dekh bhai laal kapda bail ke agey nahi dikhana chahiye aur jada hosiyari bhen ke agey nahi dikhani chaiye and moreover She took karate for two semesters, 2 mujhe bhi laga degi abhi voh."

"Tap out, karn," devrath advised, checking his watch. "Ice creams khatam ho jayegi sorry bol de ."

Karn groaned, his forehead hitting the cushion. The sheer humiliation of being pinned by his little sister in front of the entire neighborhood crew was taking its toll.

"Fine!" Karn yelled. "Fine! I'm sorry! I'll buy you a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream tomorrow! Ab uth mere upar se"

Avni evaluated the offer for a long, agonizing three seconds. Finally, she nodded, satisfied, and hopped off his back with the agility of a gymnast. "Pleasure doing business with you," she said cheerfully, smoothing down her shirt. She looked over at the group by the door. "Have a nice walk, guys!"

Karn lay on the rug for a moment, letting out a defeated sigh before slowly rolling over and pushing himself up. His hair was a bird's nest, his shirt was stretched out at the collar, and his pride was completely shattered. He grabbed his sneakers from the floor and shoved his feet into them, glaring at his friends who were all trying-and failing-to hide their laughter.

"Dhokebaazo madat toh krna nahi he daant niklwa lo sbse " karn muttered, brushing off his jeans as he stomped past them onto the porch.

"Wouldn't dream of it, champ," darsh grinned, clapping him on the back as they finally headed down the driveway. "Chal ab tune late karaya toh tu ice cream khilayeaga."

"Seriously, bhaiya" maahi chuckled, falling into step beside him as the five of them walked down the quiet, moonlit sidewalk. "A submission hold? She's like five-foot-7. Aap ek lawn chair ki tarah fold ho gaye the."

"Usne mujhe dhoke se pakda!" Karn defended himself, his hands shoved deep into his hoodie pockets.

"Main to apni shoe lace baandhne ke liye jhuka tha, aur sudden vo upar se udti chudail ki tarah kood gayi. It was a stealth attack. Yeh toh cheating hai."

"Apne aap ko dilaasa dene ke liye bolta reh," darsh smirked, kicking a stray pebble down the asphalt.

"But agar ek bachhi jo abhi bhi Applebee's mein kids' meal khati hai tujhe chokehold mein daal sakti hai, toh zombie apocalypse mein mera plan badal gaya hai. Tu toh sabse pehle pitega." All laughed

"Main is group ka hero hoon!" Karn protested.

"The hero ?" Maahi scoffed, leaning around devrath to look at him. Then devrath chimmed in"Karn, tu cheekh raha tha ki *'she has the density of a dying star'*. Muscle aisi baatein nahi karta. Yeh kisi physics problem ke victim ki aawaaz thi." Everyone again laughed so hard

Devrath let out a loud snort, tapping his phone screen. "To be fair, avni sach mein terrifying hai. Last week maine dekha tha usne ek stray cat ko itna ganda ghoora ki billi khud ped se neeche utar gayi."

"Dekha? Thank you, deva bhai!" Karn pointed a dramatic finger at him.

"Vo normal nahi hai. Aur record ke liye bata doon, gym shoe vaala hiding spot flawless tha. Delicate electronic equipment ko size-ten high-top ke andar kaun dhoondta hai?"

"Har vo banda jo tujhe jaanta hai, karn," darsh said. "Kyuki tera criminal mastermind ek golden retriever jaisa hai. 'Oh, let me put the shiny things in the stinky things, use kabhi pata nahi chalega!'"

"Hey, teen din tak kaam kiya us plan ne," karn muttered, kicking the air. "Jab tak use yeh realize nahi hua ki uske left earbud se halki si middle-school

Maahi laughed, shaking her head. "But uske Netflix ke saath panga? Vahan aap line cross kar gaye. Kisi ladki ke algorithm ke saath panga nahi lete. Agar main apna account kholoon aur 'Top Picks for You' mein cement ki history par teen ghante ki documentary dikhe, toh kisi ka bhi khoon khoolna pakka hai."

"Vo cement nahi tha, structural engineering thi!" Karn corrected, deeply offended. "And it's fascinating!"

"It's a sleep aid," rohan corrected smoothly. "Anyway, achhi baat yeh hai, karn bhaiya , ki aap zinda hai" a deep rumble of laugh echoed.

Devrath said *Tera shoulder abhi bhi apni jagah par hai, aur tujhe bas ek pint premium ice cream deni padegi."

"Jo ki yeh un paison se dega jo iske paas hain hi nahi," darsh pointed out as the bright neon sign of the gas station finally cropped up ahead,

illuminating the empty street. "Which reminds me-kyuki teri wajah se hum fifteen minutes late hain, aur hamein ek domestic tragedy dekhni padi, ice cream ke paise tu dega."

Karn groaned, looking up at the night sky. "Kya koi mujhe phir se submission hold mein daal sakta hai? Bas tab tak jab tak checkout counter clear na ho jaaye?"

"Nice try," devrath grinned, pulling open the heavy glass door of the gas station as the familiar *ding* echoed inside. "Red ya blue, karn. Pick your poison, kyuki tere wallet ki ek aur baar pitai hone vaali hai."

Inside the gas station, the cool blast of the AC hit their faces. Rohan headed straight for the slushie machine while Leo stood by, checking his deflated wallet.

"Chal bhai karn, jaldi nikal apna wallet," Jax said, grabbing two large cups. "Blue raspberry ya cherry? Jaldi bol, teri wajah se waise hi late ho gaye hain."

"Mujhe cherry de do," maahi said, leaning against the counter.

"Aur karn bhaiya ke liye ek bada wala cup 'regret' flavor ka dalna." Rohan said making everyone double over

"Bohot bade comedians ho tum sab," karn muttered, pulling out his wallet with a glare

" Tu khud pura circus he toh hume conedians banne me kaisi sharm " devrath comment made everyone laugh again

. "Ek toh main hara hoon,bechara hoon upar se tum log meri gareebi ka mazaak uda rahe ho. Yeh dosti nahi, scam hai."

Darsh picked up a chocolate bar and tossed it onto the counter too. "Mazaak nahi yaar, hum toh celebrate kar rahe hain. At least teri chhoti behen ne tera haath poora nahi toda. Happy recovery!"

"Tum sab ko agli baar jab anvi pitegi na, main bas corner mein baith kar popcorn khaunga," karn

grumbled, handing the cash over to the cashier.

Devrath and darsh raised their cup in a mock toast. "Cheers to that, karn! Agli baar ke liye... best of luck."

The walk was over, and the group finally made it back to the street, their laughter echoing in the quiet night. But as they neared the houses, Devrath suddenly slowed down, his eyes locking onto the balcony above.

Avni was standing there, the soft amber light from inside casting a glow around her. She was leaning against the railing, twirling a strand of her hair, completely engrossed in a phone conversation.

"Pata nahi kisse baat kar rahi hai itni raat ko..." Devrath muttered under his breath, his steps coming to a complete halt as he stared up at her.

"Oi, Romeo!" Darsh nudged his shoulder, breaking his trance. "Ghar chal ab, kal subah baat kar lena usse."

Devrath cleared his throat quickly, looking away. "Haan, chalo yar bhaiya... bas aise hi dekh raha tha "

_________________

Hello LOVIES 🎀

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