Echoes of MaAn: Love beyond Separation

||36|| A day of Chaos [Pt.1]

The day began like any other, except for the one little thing: the combination of a cranky six-month-old baby, a sassy thirteen-year-old, and two exhausted parents who had long since run out of patience. Anupama, as usual, was the first to start her morning routine. She had already prepared breakfast, fed Aadhymaan, and organized the house to a semblance of order. She'd just started brewing her coffee when she realized the inevitable was coming—the baby was about to go into full meltdown mode.

Anuj, buried under a mountain of work and with his glasses precariously perched on his nose, tried to get some things done on his laptop. Aadhymaan, on the other hand, had other plans. In his newfound mission of exploring the world around him, his tiny hands reached for his father's glasses.

"Not again," Anuj muttered under his breath as Aadhymaan grabbed the glasses and pulled them off his face for the hundredth time that morning. His little hands were quick, and before Anuj could react, the glasses were on the floor, covered in baby drool.

Anupama, trying to keep it together while feeding the baby his bottle, sighed heavily. "Aadhymaan, stop pulling your father's glasses off," she said, her voice tinged with the weariness of the day's events. "You're going to break them at this rate."

Aadhymaan, still blissfully unaware of his actions, giggled and tugged again at Anuj's glasses, sending them flying off his face onto the couch.

"Ughhh," Anuj groaned, his patience beginning to crack. "I swear, it's like he knows how to drive me crazy."

"Don't worry," Anupama said, smiling despite the frustration. "He's just curious. And he loves you."

Aadhya, lounging on the couch, was scrolling through her phone, oblivious to the chaos unfolding in the room. As a typical 13-year-old, she was lost in her world of Netflix, her current obsession being Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, the quirky comedy she watched for hours. But today was not her day for peace and quiet.

Without warning, Aadhymaan, in his attempt to grasp whatever was nearby, reached for the remote control lying on the table. Aadhya, engrossed in her show, didn't notice her baby brother inching closer. As Aadhymaan grabbed the remote and hit the button, the TV screen blinked, and suddenly, Sarabhai vs Sarabhai was replaced by the Hindi news channel, ABP News.

The show Saas Bahu Aur Betiyaan popped up on screen. It was a sensationalist drama that discussed upcoming twists in popular soap operas like Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, Nazar, and others that Anuj and Anupama didn't even recognize. The host dramatically talked about the scheming mother-in-law, the conniving daughter-in-law, and the never-ending drama of "daily soap" twists.

Anupama turned towards the screen and blinked, trying to comprehend what had just happened. "Aadhyamaan... What did you do?" she asked with a sigh.

"Uhh... what's this?" Anuj said, looking at the screen, unable to stop the laugh that bubbled up. "Is this... real?"

The screen flashed a promo about Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, featuring a melodramatic scene where characters were about to reveal secrets about their past. "And in the next episode, will Naira discover the truth about her father's death?" the narrator bellowed in his deep voice. "Is Kartik hiding the truth from her?"

Anuj burst out laughing, wiping a tear from his eye. "Oh my god, this is a show about nothing, and yet it feels like the most dramatic thing I've ever seen!"

Anupama, unable to keep her composure, joined in, laughing too. "He's probably just trying to keep up with Aadhya's taste in TV shows," she said, her voice filled with amusement.

But Aadhyamaan, delighted with the attention he was getting, pressed another button. The channel switched again, this time to a movie channel. The screen now displayed an intimate romantic scene from a movie, complete with kissing and other slightly more suggestive visuals.