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EPISODE 4: "Romeo and Juliet"

We rewind a little to see that Dad finds the kids on the rooftop and hides out of sight, just in time to watch Shaurya try to stop Anokhi's day-long bout of hiccups, over having to lie that things went great with Mom and she's totally fine giving up on journalism altogether. Anokhi knows that Shaurya gave up college for her, and says she can't live off of his taxi-driving income forever. But Shaurya stops her from burning all her books by declaring that he needs them now, because he's going to become a reporter too. Just like that, her hiccups stop, and fireworks explode in the distance. As they head back down with her suitcase full of books, Anokhi offers to give Shaurya her precious notes that she spent three years compiling. She worries about Grandpa finding out that Shaurya isn't dumb, but he's not concerned at all, since he plans to keep his cabbie job and just study intermittently because he's positive he won't be hired.
Ah, okay, this helps me understand your whim a little better.
He says there's a zero-percent chance that a taxi driver will get hired as a reporter, and she corrects him that their chances are the same: fifty-fifty, pass or fail. For her sake, he agrees. At home, Grandpa helps them put her books back, and Anokhi's already on edge just dreading the inevitable blowup with Dad over her breaking their contract. Grandpa wisely tells them that there's no forcing someone to think your thoughts, parents and children alike. When Dad comes home Anokhi rushes out to greet him, but just as she draws in a big breath to blurt it out (while hiding behind Shaurya, heh), Dad cuts in to ask Shaurya for a chat. They leave Anokhi and Grandpa behind, wondering why she's being left out of a conversation about her career. Outside, Shaurya starts to try and sway Dad on Anokhi's behalf (and when they're alone, he's back to calling him elder brother). He says that Anokhi can't give up on her dream, and haltingly quotes Grandpa's advice about not being able to control your kids and all that. But Dad isn't here to talk about journalism-he confesses that he saw them up on the roof earlier, and Shaurya immediately tenses up. This is a conversation about that other thing. Dad's a straight-shooter as always, and asks Shaurya if he has feelings for Anokhi, or if he has the wrong idea yet again. This time Shaurya doesn't bother trying to deny it, and admits that he does. He says he doesn't know since when: "Just that it's been a long time." Dad doesn't raise his voice or show any signs of anger, and just explains honestly that Anokhi is his only daughter, so to him, she's the most beautiful and precious girl in the world, and no man will ever be good enough for her. Shaurya cuts in to say it himself-that he's severely lacking, and that he knows he overstepped.

Ugh, I love them both, so this conversation hurts no matter which way you look at it.

Shaurya assures Dad that he's never once been greedy about his feelings and won't be in the future either. Dad keeps trying to interject but Shaurya doesn't let him, and I'm dying to know what he would say if given a chance.

Shaurya: "The thing you're worried about won't happen-to me, this family comes first. I won't ever do anything to break that." He says he'll clean up his feelings, and Dad thanks him. When they get back home, Anokhi runs out of the bathroom mid-toothbrushing, and spits out her prepared speech at Dad while foaming at the mouth. Dad has this hilarious moment where he stands there looking at Anokhi while hearing his own words playing back in his head, about how she's the prettiest girl in the world and needs to be protected. He shoves her back into the bathroom and calls her embarrassing, and he's so focused on that that when she asks in between if she can stick with journalism, he tells her to do whatever she wants. I love that he can't even look Shaurya in the eye, he's so embarrassed of her.
Yash's supervisor at work takes pictures of his dented bumper and tells him to get some money out of the other guy to fix it. Yash just says that bumpers are meant to be bumped, and asks again for the supervisor to help him get a side job on the crew that's demolishing a nearby factory.

Oh, is this the factory Firefighter Dad died in?

The man asks if he isn't afraid, since the factory is rumored to have ghosts, and Yash just thinks to himself that even in ghost form, he'd like to see him. Anokhi shows Shaurya the open call auditions for one last network this season: Shubh Savera. Woot! She says they actually have a shot at this network, since they're only looking at skills and not education, and plans to keep her Pinocchio syndrome hidden this time, unless asked directly. She gives Shaurya a stack of books to start with, and figures it'll take him a month to study them. He scans the stack and says he'll be done in a week, and reminds her of his crazy speed-reading and memorization skills. Shaurya seems much more guarded around Anokhi now, gently extracting himself if she links arms, or catching himself staring at her and shaking the thoughts away. He sits down at his desk and begins to study, and wakes up at the crack of dawn to go around the apartment complex and read the neighbors' papers and take notes. He has to hide when Grandpa comes by, but doesn't notice when Grandpa comes back out to peek at him. As suspected, he seems to have known all this time that Shaurya isn't a dummy, and he smiles to himself to see Shaurya hard at work. Anokhi and Shaurya spend their days at the library (where he sits by the window just to keep the sun out of her eyes), and she coaches him on his enunciation, which is so frustrating that she resorts to stretching his mouth sideways just to get the right sounds, heh. Grandpa sneaks into Shaurya's room late at night while he's slumped over at his desk, and opens up all his comic books to find their guts replaced with journalism books.