The red BMTC bus (Route 365) groaned as it navigated the potholed roads leading from Bannerghatta to the city center. Surya sat by the window, clutching his leather bag. The conductor, a man with a khaki uniform and a permanent scowl, snapped his ticket puncher rhythmically.
"Jayanagar 4th Block," the conductor yelled.
Surya stepped off the bus into the chaos and charm of 2001 Jayanagar. The air smelled of filter coffee and vehicle exhaust.
The massive shopping complex stood as the heart of the area, bustling with students, shoppers, and vendors selling pirated cassettes and fresh jasmine.
This was the educational hub of Bangalore. If you threw a stone here, you'd likely hit a tuition teacher or an engineering aspirant.
Surya had spent ₹2,000 of his precious capital at a printing press earlier that morning. In his bag were 500 bright yellow pamphlets.
[GURUDEVA ACADEMY]
CET CRASH COURSE – 30 Days to Glory.
Mathematics & Physics Specialist.
Result Guaranteed or Full Refund.
Location: Bannerghatta Road.
"Bold claims for a guy with no chairs," Surya muttered to himself.
He walked towards the "Brilliant Coaching Centre," a massive three-story building that dominated the street. It was the premier institute of the time. Dozens of students were milling outside, some looking confident, others looking like they were marching to the gallows.
Surya leaned against a lamp post, observing them. He activated the Eye of Vidya.
The world shifted. The students were no longer just faces; they were walking stat sheets.
* [Target: Boy with Glasses] - Talent: Accounting (B). Assessment: Wasting time in Science stream.
* [Target: Girl in Salwar] - Talent: Biology (C). Assessment: Mediocre.
* [Target: Boy with Walkman] - Talent: Music (A). Assessment: Highly creative, will fail Engineering.
It was depressing. The education system was a factory trying to turn artists and accountants into engineers. He saw plenty of C-ranks and B-ranks, but no one who stood out.
"Get out! We don't run a charity here!"
A shout drew Surya's attention to the gates of the coaching center.
A middle-aged man in a faded shirt was pleading with a security guard and a stern-looking administrator. Next to the man stood a boy, skinny and shrinking into himself, clutching a thick textbook as if it were a shield.
"Sir, please," the father begged, his hands clasped. "He missed the cutoff by two marks in the selection test. He is smart! Just give him a seat in the back row. I will pay the full fees in installments."
"Rules are rules," the administrator sneered, adjusting his tie. "This is a top-tier institute. We only take students who will bring us rank. Your son got 35% in the mock test. He is dull. Try a tutorial in the slums."
The boy flinched. He looked at his shoes, his knuckles white around the book.
Surya focused on the boy.
[Target: Karthik R.]
[Age: 17]
[Current Status: Depression / Low Self-Esteem]
[Academic Performance: Failing]
Surya was about to look away, but then the gold text flickered and expanded.
[Hidden Talent Detected!]
* Innate Ability: The Weaver of Logic.
* Talent: Physics (Theoretical) - Rank S.
* Talent: Mathematics - Rank A+.
* Defect: Dyslexia (Undiagnosed).
* Analysis: The subject struggles with reading textual questions but understands complex spatial and numerical concepts intuitively. Current teaching methods are incompatible with his brain structure.
Surya's heart skipped a beat. Rank S?
An S-Rank talent was a one-in-a-million find. This kid was a future Einstein, currently being treated like a dullard because he couldn't read fast enough.
The father grabbed the boy's hand, defeated. "Come, Karthik. Let's go."
"Wait."
Surya stepped forward, blocking their path. The father looked up, startled. "Who are you?"
"My name is Surya," he said, his voice projecting calm authority. He looked at the boy. "Give me that book."
Karthik blinked behind his thick glasses. "What?"
"The physics book. H.C. Verma. Give it to me."
Confused, the boy handed over the heavy book. Surya flipped it open to a random page—Rotational Mechanics. It was marked with red ink, full of crosses from a teacher.
"You got this question wrong?" Surya asked, pointing to a complex pulley problem.
"I... I read the question wrong," Karthik whispered, his voice cracking. "I thought the friction coefficient was on the block, not the surface."
"But you got the equation right," Surya noted, pointing to the scribbled working in the margin. "You set up the free-body diagram perfectly in your head. You just plugged in the wrong variable because the text confused you."
Karthik's eyes widened. "How did you know?"
Surya looked at the father. "Sir, your son isn't dull. He's a genius. But these factories," he jerked a thumb at the coaching center, "don't know how to teach him."
The administrator, who was watching this scene, scoffed. "Genius? That boy can barely read a sentence without stuttering. Who are you? Another tout from a street tuition?"
Surya ignored the man. He knelt slightly to look Karthik in the eye.
"Karthik, look at the pulley system again. Don't read the text. Look at the diagram. Visualize the forces. If the mass M drops by distance h, what is the work done by torque?"
[Skill Activated: Teaching Aura]
Effect: Clarity +30%. Anxiety -50%.
A subtle ripple of air seemed to surround them.
The noise of the traffic faded. Karthik looked at the diagram. For the first time in months, the letters stopped dancing. The lines became clear vectors. The logic clicked into place like a key in a lock.
"Mgh equals half I-omega-squared plus half m-v-squared," Karthik murmured. "It's conservation of energy. The friction... doesn't matter if the rolling is pure."
"Correct," Surya smiled. "And if the rolling isn't pure?"
"Then energy is lost to heat. Work done by friction is... mu-N times displacement." Karthik looked up, his eyes shining. "It's simple."
The father stared at his son in shock. "He... he answered?"
Surya stood up and handed the book back. He pulled out a yellow pamphlet.
"I am starting a special batch for the CET," Surya said to the father. "I don't care about his mock test scores. I care about his potential. I will guarantee him a rank under 500."
The administrator laughed loudly. "Under 500? With that donkey? Sir, this man is a scam artist. Don't listen to him."
Surya turned to the administrator. His expression was cold. "A scam is taking money from parents to teach 100 students in a hall where only the front row can hear you.
I teach concepts, not rote learning."
He turned back to the father. "The first week is free. If you don't see a change in him, you can leave. My institute is in Bannerghatta."
The father looked at the prestigious building that had just rejected them, and then at the young man who had made his son smile for the first time in a year.
"Bannerghatta is far," the father hesitated.
"Distance is nothing for destiny," Surya said. "Bring him tomorrow at 8 AM."
He pressed the pamphlet into the father's hand and walked away without looking back, his heart racing.
[System Notification]
[Potential Disciple Identified: Karthik R.]
[Quest Update: Recruit the First Student.]
[Progress: 50% (Subject Interested)]
Surya grinned as he boarded the bus back home.
He had his bait. Now he just had to make sure the hook held. And he had to clean up the old house before they arrived, or the "Gurudeva Academy" would look more like a haunted house than a school.