Junak Baruah wants to win the prestigious short film competition in his university. But with hundreds of participants and a stellar jury on board, winning means making a film that's never been made before.
And that means breaking the rules and taki...
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The next day, Dikhou showed up for breakfast.
Junak found him sitting with Grandpa, Niribili and Banhi at the dinner table, with Grandma standing by the side as usual. They were sipping tea and laughing at something Banhi was saying.
"Aiyo, look who's early today," Grandma cheered when Junak stepped into the room. Niribili smiled at him, Banhi raised a hand in greeting, while Dikhou gave him an impassive look before turning to the others.
It made Junak a little uncomfortable.
"Good morning koka, aita." He wasn't sure what got over him but he went and hugged his grandmother. It was only when he was holding her, warm and frail against him, that he realised how he'd never hugged a family member before. At least, not as far back as he could remember.
The woman smiled and touched a gentle hand to his cheek, which resulted in a frown. "Aiyo, why are you so cold?" Having taken a hurried bath in freezing water, Junak's teeth were still clattering and his skin was cold. Before he could tell his grandmother so, she added, "Don't tell me Jatin didn't heat the water for you."
"What?"
Grandma turned towards the door. "Jatin," she called.
Knowing what was coming, Junak cried, "No, no, aita, I was the one who didn't ask him."
"No! I told him to - Jatin, didn't you heat the water for Junak?"
Jatin, the young boy in his mid-teens, stood at the door, his head downcast.
From the corner of his eyes, Junak caught Dikhou looking at him. The accusation was clear in his gaze. "Aita, how was he supposed to know I was going to take a bath?" Junak insisted, on the verge of panicking. "I didn't tell him."
"I told you, Junak, tell us if you need anything."
"I - I know. But it was actually refreshing to bathe in the cold water." He smiled, hoping to pass it off as genuine.
"You'll fall sick," Grandma reprimanded, then turned to Jatin. "Make sure you heat the water from tomorrow."
"Okay, aita," he said, then walked out. It made Junak sick with guilt and he made a mental note to go apologise to Jatin later.
"Go now, sit." Grandma smiled at her grandson, signalling the end of that discussion.
With his heart in his throat, Junak took a seat at the end of the table, opposite his grandfather. It put Banhi to his left and one empty seat on his right after which Dikhou was sitting. He kept his gaze away from him.
"You were telling us about the dam, koka," Niribili said.
"Ah, yes," the old man replied, then began talking about some dam along a distributary of the Brahmaputra; clearly picking up from an ongoing conversation.
