Mumbai, Madhu's flat – 8:00 p.m., Day Two
The television glowed blue in the darkened living room.
Madhu's parents sat on the edge of the sofa as if it were a cliff.
On screen, the title card exploded in dramatic green-and-gold:
SUNDERBANS KA RAKSHAK
Episode 1 – "The Fourth Judge"
Clips rolled:
Medini hugging grandmothers and handing out emergency cards
Sindhu laughing with honey-collectors while a crocodile surfaced behind them
AJ's drone footage of a tiger crossing the river at sunset
Manu & Vishwa assembling a shelter in ninety seconds flat
Madhu knee-deep in muddy water, explaining bacteria to children in broken Bengali
Then came the evaluation segment.
Mr Ray's gravelly voice:
"Your box blocks sunlight. Crocodiles will remember."
Madhu's mother gasped and clutched her pallu.
Dr Anahita's ice-cold smile on national television:
"Affordability: 3. Aesthetics: 2.
But the boy shows… potential. An internship at my institute would fix the rest."
Madhu's father's teacup stopped halfway to his mouth.
The episode ended with a flashy poll graphic:
VOTE NOW!
Whose idea will save the Sunderbans?
❤️ Medini – People's Guardian
📸 AJ – Eye in the Sky
🌊 Madhu – River Healer
🛠️ Manu–Vishwa – Survival Architects
🌊 Sindhu – Guardian of the Waters
(Results revealed live next week!)
Within thirty minutes #SunderbansKaRakshak was trending nationwide.
Twitter exploded:
"Medini is literally Mother Teresa with Wi-Fi 😭 #TeamMedini"
"AJ's tiger footage deserves an Oscar, Bollywood directors wake up"
"That Anahita lady was SAVAGE to Madhu, who does she think she is?"
"Ray uncle spoke for three minutes and said nothing nice, but why do I trust him the most?"
By 10 p.m.:
A famous Bollywood action director publicly offered AJ "any chase sequence you want, name your price"
Medini's follower count jumped another 800 k; hate comments on Anahita's old TED Talk resurfaced ("privileged elite judging grassroots work")
Madhu's college WhatsApp groups were flooded with "Bhai internship mat lena, wo lady suspicious hai"
Mr Ray became an instant meme: photos of tigers with his dialogue as captions
Back in the flat
Madhu's mother paced in circles.
"That Anahita—internship bolke practically poaching my son! I didn't like her smile, one bit."
His father frowned at the frozen frame of Mr Ray's storm-cloud eyes.
"I'm more worried about Ray. That man didn't give a single good word. "
He trailed off.
On the TV, the poll counter kept climbing:
Medini – 58 %
AJ – 21 %
Madhu – 11 %
Manu–Vishwa – 7 %
Sindhu – 3 %
Madhu's mother stopped pacing.
"Arre, only 11 %? Call Shabonti, tell her to make all her classmates vote!"
His father was already texting Madhu:
"Beta, keep an eye on that Ray fellow. Something not right."
Meanwhile, 400 km away in Satjelia
Madhu lay on his charpoy staring at the mosquito net, phone blowing up with notifications he didn't dare open.
Shabonti burst into the room waving her own phone.
"Bhaiya! You're trending as #CuteNerdWithFilter! Also half the internet wants to adopt you and the other half wants to fight Dr Saha!"
Madhu pulled the sheet over his head.
"I just want to fix water," he mumbled into the pillow.
Satjelia village → Deep forest camp
Day 5, dawn
The final village vote had been a landslide.
Medini: 94 % of raised hands
Everyone else combined: 6 %
The judges didn't even pretend to be surprised.
Mr Ray spoke for all three when he said, almost gently, told the others:
"She listened. You explained. Listening wins hearts. Explaining wins arguments. Hearts matter more here."
That night the entire village threw an impromptu feast for Medini.
Children tied flower garlands around her wrists.
Old women cried and called her "Bonbibi'r meye".
Even Dr Anahita Saha had clapped (slow, perfect, unreadable).
The next morning they left the village behind.
Six country boats waited at the jetty, loaded with camping gear, solar chargers, and five very different prototypes.
The contestants, their companions, the judges, Daksh's family, and eight armed forest guards, and one suspiciously calm woman in a simple cotton saree boarded in silence.
The tide carried them deeper than any tourist route, past the last village, past the last phone signal, into the breathing heart of the mangroves.
Thick green tunnels closed overhead.
Roots like dragon claws reached into brown water.
Bird calls echoed strangely, as if the forest itself was speaking in code.
After three hours the boats grounded on a narrow mudbank.
A temporary camp had already been set up: canvas tents, a cookfire, and a single bamboo watchtower swaying in the wind.
Dakshraj stood on a fallen mahogany log, mist curling around his ankles.
"Welcome to Stage Two.
You proved you can help humans.
Now prove you can help the forest without harming it.
Your new task:
Use whatever you have built (or re-built) to survey wildlife.
Count tigers. Map deer trails. Record bird nesting. Measure salinity that mangroves actually like.
Whatever data you collect must be accurate, non-invasive, and useful to the Forest Department for the next ten years.
You have seven days.
The judges will not just watch; they will teach, test, and, if necessary, fail you.
One more thing."
He smiled like a man who already knew the ending.
"Detailed evaluation reports from the village challenge have been emailed to each of you. Read them tonight. Some of you… will not sleep well."
He stepped down.
The forest swallowed the sound of his footsteps.
Immediately the judges split the group:
Mr Ray took Sindhu and AJ into the waterways ("You want to count tigers? First learn to read their footprints in mud").
Professor Jagadish disappeared with Manu–Vishwa into the undergrowth, muttering about load-bearing vines and fractal antennae.
Dr Anahita Saha crooked a finger at Madhu.
"Mr Madhusūdana. Walk with me."
Madhu followed her along a narrow root bridge, heart hammering for reasons he still couldn't name.
She stopped where sunlight barely reached the water, opened her tablet, and turned it toward him.
His village scores glowed red.
Overall rank: 4th out of 5.
Comments section:
Mr Ray: "Machine scares fish. Fish feed otters. Otters feed tigers. Chain breaks = forest starves."
Prof. Jagadish: "Brilliant biochemistry. Terrible ecology."
Dr Saha: "Raw talent. Zero systems thinking. Needs complete redesign… or a new mentor."
She closed the tablet with a soft click.
"I wasn't exaggerating about the internship," she said quietly.
"One phone call and you'll have a lab nothing like your college cupboard.
But only if you survive this week without breaking the forest."
Madhu swallowed.
"I'll fix it."
Anahita's smile was small and sharp.
"Seven days.
Show me you can listen to a river the way Medini listened to grandmothers."
She walked away, cotton saree brushing over roots like a ghost.
Madhu stood alone.
Somewhere behind him, Shabonti was already chasing a kingfisher with her phone, shouting "Medini di, look, absolute unit!"
Somewhere deeper, a tiger coughed once (warning, or greeting, impossible to tell).
Madhu opened his toolkit, looked at the clunky purifier he had defended with his life, and for the first time felt it was not enough.
Then he rolled up his sleeves.
Seven days to turn a river-killer into a forest-friend.
Seven nights to read the judges' reports that would probably destroy him.