October 1–October 15, 2017
"Threads of Home, Currents of the World"
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1. A Quiet Return
Back in Delhi, MC slipped into his parents' house late at night. The bungalow was quiet, save for the rhythmic sound of his mother's sewing machine. She was mending one of his father's old shirts, humming a forgotten tune.
She looked up as he entered, eyes soft with warmth and surprise.
> Mother: "You finally remembered you have a home outside your machines and offices?"
MC (smiling tiredly): "I never forget. I just… get lost in building too many homes at once."
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2. The Mother-Son Talk
Tea steamed between them as they sat at the small kitchen table.
> Mother: "I heard you went to Lucknow. To meet her family."
MC (hesitating): "Yes. They're kind people. Cautious, but kind."
Mother (leaning in): "Then what are you waiting for? You've built roads through mountains and machines that dig under rivers, but you hesitate at building a family?"
Her words struck deeper than she knew. For all his power, MC realized this was a frontier he had no blueprint for.
> MC: "Mother… my world is heavy. I carry governments, corporations, entire economies on my shoulders. I fear dragging her into storms she doesn't deserve."
Mother: "Storms pass. What stays is who stands with you in the rain."
Her hand clasped his — calloused, warm, steady.
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3. The Storm Brews Abroad
Even as this conversation unfolded, the wider world was shifting.
In Washington, a classified White House briefing cited Saraswati's rapid global expansion:
50 million downloads of Saraswati Search in a single day.
Rising usage of Bharat Mail as an alternative to Gmail in Asia.
Rumors that Saraswati Servers in Noida now rivaled Silicon Valley capacity.
In Beijing, state officials debated how to contain this "quiet Indian giant" whose tools were penetrating their firewalls.
In Europe, regulators whispered of "unfair monopoly" concerns.
The storm was gathering. And though MC had chosen to stand alone, rejecting investment and control, the world was not going to ignore him.
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4. Interruption at the Kitchen Table
As if to prove the point, his wristband buzzed with an urgent encrypted alert.
Maya Iyer's voice came through, calm yet weighted:
> Maya: "Sir, we have multiple requests for immediate talks. The EU Commission wants clarifications on Saraswati's data policy. The Americans want a closed-door meeting. And… Beijing has increased surveillance on our platforms."
His mother frowned as she watched him wrestle with the device.
> Mother: "Even here, they won't leave you?"
MC (lowering the band, sighing): "No, Maa. Not even here."
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5. A Promise
But instead of leaving, he looked back at her.
> MC: "Still… I promise you this. No matter the storms outside, I will find time to build something real inside. A family. A life with roots."
Her eyes glistened, and for once, she saw not the architect of nations, but her son — tired, brilliant, and still searching for a home.
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6. Closing Scene
That night, as he left the kitchen, the hum of servers in his ear reminded him that the empire never slept. But his mother's words lingered louder than any alert.
> MC (thinking): "I can command machines, bend markets, outmaneuver governments. But perhaps the truest test will not be how I build the world — but how I build a family within it."