Prologue –
Hospital room, late afternoon
Madhu lay propped up on pillows like a broken action figure, one arm in a cast, ribs taped, face still swollen in interesting shades of purple.
A straw stuck out of a carton of Real mixed-fruit juice.
Shabonti sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed, arms folded, glaring at him with the righteous fury only a twelve-year-old can achieve.
"Bhaiya, I saw you turn into a giant golden pig and kill those lizard men. Explain."
Madhu changed the channel.
"Stress hallucination," he said flatly.
Shabonti turned to Mitra, who was occupying an entire plastic chair like a golden retriever pretending to be human.
"Giant bhaiya?"
Mitra scratched his cheek. "Uh… special effects? Very realistic ones?"
Their parents (standing in the doorway) nodded proudly.
"Yes, yes, too much exam pressure. Our children need tuition in biology, not fantasy."
Shabonti opened her mouth again.
Madhu frantically surfed channels.
"—meteorite impact in an uninhabited area outside Mumbai—"
"—evolve your DNA with the Institute of Eternal—"
"—billionaire philanthropist Dakshraj Mehra announces—"
Tom and Jerry finally appeared.
Madhu exhaled like a man finding water in a desert.
For the rest of his recovery period, he decided, the only news he would consume would be cartoons and the occasional cricket score.
Real life could wait outside the door.
The door opened anyway.
His faculty advisor walked in, beaming, followed by the department head and two nervous-looking PhD students holding a giant fruit basket.
"Madhu beta! Hero of the hour!" the advisor announced loudly enough for the entire floor to hear.
"Single-handedly saving your sister from kidnappers while outnumbered ten to one! Such bravery!"
Madhu's soul left his body.
The department head patted his shoulder with life-threatening gentleness.
"We are all so proud. Which is why…"
He placed a glossy invitation card on the blanket like a royal decree.
"Mr Dakshraj Mehra personally requested your participation in the Sunderbans Eco-Restoration Challenge. Five winners get a month-long funded research trip. Your water-purifier prototype from last semester impressed his team."
Madhu stared at the card.
Golden lettering. Mangrove leaves embossed on real handmade paper.
Smelled faintly of money and existential dread.
The advisor's smile became the smile of a man who had already submitted the grades.
"Participation is mandatory. Refuse and it's an automatic fail for the entire year."
Shabonti's eyes went starry. "We're going to see tigers?!"
Madhu's juice carton crumpled in his fist.
On the TV, Tom slipped on a banana peel and crashed through fifteen floors.
Madhu felt that on a spiritual level.
The prologue ends with him staring at the ceiling, whispering to no one in particular:
"I just wanted one quiet month…"
Chapter 1 –
Morning after the hospital, Madhu's flat
Madhu had dreamed of one quiet day.
One single day of silence, mango juice, and cartoons.
The universe laughed.
By 7:03 a.m. the corridor outside was packed with journalists, ring lights, and at least three local news vans.
His mother had already changed into her best silk saree and was serving tea biscuits like it was Diwali.
A microphone was shoved into his face before he finished brushing his teeth.
"Mr Madhusūdana! How does it feel to be selected for Mr Dakshraj Mehra's exclusive Sunderbans research trip?"
Madhu, still in pyjamas with cartoon turtles, blinked at the camera.
"My ribs are broken and my face looks like a rotten brinjal. I feel amazing, thank you."
The reporter barrelled on.
"Every winner gets to bring one family member or friend. Who are you taking?"
"My little sister. She wants to see tigers."
Crowd awwwww.
Another reporter, clearly from a gossip channel, leaned in with a shark smile.
"So… single?"
Madhu stared directly into the camera, deadpan.
"Yes. Very single. My current relationship status is 'scared of my own reflection'. Hard to impress girls when you look like you lost a fight with a truck."
The reporters actually applauded the quote.
His mother beamed from behind, whispering to a neighbour, "See? My son is famous and honest!"
The interview lasted two hours and contained exactly zero questions about his water-purifier prototype.
By the time they left, Madhu's voice was hoarse and his dignity was in the ICU.
Shabonti burst into the room like a tiny hurricane, phone in hand.
"Bhaiya! The second winner is announced! It's Medini!"
Madhu, face down on the sofa, muffled, "Who?"
Shabonti gasped like he'd insulted her entire bloodline.
"Medini? The environmental YouTuber? Three million subscribers? The one who planted a forest with school kids and cried on camera when the seedlings survived? Really she is huge on the Internet. "
Madhu lifted his head, genuinely confused.
"So… she's fat, so?"
Shabonti's eye twitched.
"That is NOT what 'huge on the internet' means, you prehistoric idiot!"
She stormed out, slamming the door hard enough to make the turtle pyjamas tremble.
Madhu flopped back onto the sofa and pulled a pillow over his face.
Next morning, 8:00 a.m. sharp
Shabonti kicked open Madhu's bedroom door wearing the expression of a general about to launch a coup.
"Emergency modern-world education starts NOW."
Madhu, still half-dead under the blanket, made a sound like a dying walrus.
Thirty minutes later he was propped up in front of her laptop, IV-drip of glucose in one arm, phone in the other, forced to binge "Love of the Nature" at 1.5× speed.
Medini's voice filled the room: calm, cheerful, terrifyingly sincere.
"Every seedling we plant today is a promise to the planet tomorrow…"
Madhu lasted four videos before his soul tried to escape through his ears.
Then an unskippable ad appeared.
A golden logo. Dramatic music.
"Breaking! The third slot for Mr Dakshraj Mehra's Sunderbans Challenge has been awarded to the brilliant duo—"
Madhu sat bolt upright, eyes wide.
"—Mr Manu, polymath and theoretical designer, and Mr Vishwakarma, master craftsman and sculptor, for their revolutionary Jungle Survival & Restoration Kit!"
Madhu actually yelped and fell off the bed.
Shabonti jumped in fright.
"Bhaiya?!"
"How am I supposed to work with MANU and VISHWAKARMA?!"
He clutched his hair with the one hand that wasn't in a cast.
"Manu once built a working fusion reactor in his garage for a school project! Vishwakarma's metal sculptures cry actual tears when it rains! I made a water filter out of plastic bottles and hope!"
Shabonti blinked.
"Who?"
Madhu stared at her like she'd grown a second head.
Before he could launch into a rant, the ad continued.
"And we are proud to announce that one of the expert judges for this challenge will be none other than Dr Anahita Saha—CEO, lead researcher, and visionary behind the Institute of Eternal Progress!"
The screen showed Anahita in a pristine white saree, smiling gently at a group of schoolchildren.
Shabonti tilted her head.
"Who?"
Madhu opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
Then, in the tone of a man who has accepted his fate, he whispered:
"I'm going to die in the mangroves."
Shabonti patted his cast sympathetically.
"You should stop being such a nerd and cartoon enthusiast," she said brightly, "and learn about people who actually matter—like Medini!"
She turned the volume back up.
Medini's voice returned, serene and unforgiving:
"Remember, little leaves: every plastic bottle you recycle is a hug for Mother Earth…"
Madhu pulled the blanket over his head and prayed for sudden, painless unconsciousness.
The remaining two names trickled out over the next week, announced with the same golden graphics and dramatic voice-over.
Winner #4: Ms Sindhu Varma, marine biologist, famous for tagging a 4.5-metre saltwater crocodile and naming it "Mister Fluffykins" on live television.
Winner #5: Mr Arjun "AJ" Roy, wildlife cinematographer and YouTuber whose channel consists entirely of him whispering "absolute unit" at tigers.
Neither name rang any bells for Madhu or Shabonti.
For once, the universe showed mercy.
But the damage was already done.
Madhu spent the entire month in a caffeine-fuelled panic spiral.
His original project (a simple household filter made from charcoal, sand, and prayers) was quietly murdered in the night.
In its place rose a monstrous new prototype: a floating bio-reactor the size of a suitcase, designed to purify entire river segments using modified mangrove bacteria and solar-powered UV.
Total cost: every rupee of his savings + three months of future pocket money + one very suspicious cash advance from "Uncle Satya".
Shabonti watched her brother solder circuits at 3 a.m. with the intensity of a man defusing a bomb.
"Bhaiya, it's just a school trip."
"It's Dr Anahita Saha," he hissed, eyes bloodshot. "She once called a Harvard PhD project 'cute' in a peer-review footnote. I will not be 'cute'."
Shabonti tried dragging him to watch Medini's new video "Why Mangroves Are Cooler Than Your Ex".
He lasted thirty seconds before running back to his lab of despair.
Days blurred into nights.
Soldering. Testing. Crying. More soldering.
Finally, the morning arrived.
Two fancy air-conditioned buses waited outside the university gate, painted forest-green with the Dakshraj Foundation logo.
Reporters, drones, and one very excited twelve-year-old in a tiger onesie.
Madhu stood on the pavement clutching his Frankenstein filter like a shield, bags under his eyes deep enough to drown in.
Shabonti bounced beside him, backpack covered in tiger patches.
"Ready for tigers, Bhaiya?"
Madhu looked at the bus, then at his monster prototype, then at the clear blue sky.
"I just want to survive the month without becoming a meme," he muttered.
Somewhere in the distance, a boat horn sounded, low and hungry.
The Sunderbans were waiting.