A Sew Through Time [Bandbudh And Budbak]

25: The new interns play Mega Robot

A hand wiped humidity off the bathroom mirror, revealing the twenty year old Badrinath's face. The Holi colours still did not come off.

Chewing on his toothbrush, he flushed the toilet and continued brushing his teeth lazily. Spitting into the basin, he grabbed the razor from the cupboard, applied a generous portion of shaving foam on his face, leaned towards his reflection to shave when-

"BADRI! You're being late to college again!" His mother knocked the door.

"Araha hu mummy!" Sighing, he washed the foam away and stepped out of the bathroom which he had kept locked for more than an hour. He checked the clock on his bedside table, wore his cyan t-shirt and cargoes, rubbed his messy hair and appeared in the living room to fetch his college bag.

His mother arrived next to him, rolling open a crumbled page like a suspicious bill.

"What's that?" He grabbed it and read it's contents, his eyes growing impossibly large, "My internship form! I was searching the whole night!"

"The housemaid discovered this from under your bed!" She returned to the dinner table to cool the steaming rice, "When will you learn to take care of such importantl things? This is your future!"

"Ah mummy, I don't think about the future," Badri giggled, rolling the paper and tapping it on his palm, "That's still far away"

"You leave your future flying anywhere!"

Drying his still wet hair with a towel, Badri walked into the living room. His father was watching news on T.V where showed rivalries and wars in distant lands, images of people, police and ministers; debates, stock markets, celebrities.

As he continued watching, his view got blocked by his mother, who set two plates of cheese parathas over the table.

His sister lazed on the couch while scrolling through his phone.

"Oye!" Badri seized it. Leaving the towel in the veranda, he fished out his charger and plugged his phone in.

"Some more Budh?"

Badri turned.

"Nwo, thanks aunty" Budh tore the parathas dripping with cheese and schezwan chutney, "I already had lunch at home"

"Huh, feasting here also?" He chuckled. Wearing his famous orange and yellow tshirt, light blue cargo pants revealing his coloured legs, skin coloured sleeves on his arms for sun protection. His bare skin laid exposed with the humiliating bright pink and blue that Badri had smeared him with the previous day.

"He came early to ask you about the forms" his mother replied, "I told him to eat first before leaving- he didn't the last time remember?"

When people would ask Badri in college how it was possible that he and Budh remained best ftiends since school, Badri would usually laugh it off and say he was destined to be glued next to this idiot. Sometimes, even he could not believe in so.

"Getting placements must be more tougher than destroying Mega Robot, right Budh bhaiya?"

"Right chuha!" Budh said, grabbing the chutney bottle and smacking it into his plate, "And you know what else? They'll force to work even if you don't like it"

"Meanwhile, me and gang try to survive Dubey sir's classes and Rathi sir's speeches"

"Heehee, do they ask about us?"

"Yup"

"Don't vomit out everything to them" Badri said as he sat at the table and began eating. Sipping his coffee, his unibrows wrinkled, "Why does it taste so watery?"