"Brother… researcher… you look so happy today."
Mian Bhalkar saw his older brother enter the room and felt a pang of jealousy.
"What can I do…? My work is always so unusual. You know well that my tasks are always very odd."
Mian the researcher smiled and said,
"It seems you've achieved a great success."
Mian Bhalkar replied sarcastically,
"Well… you haven't had a success like the one you got when you were a child."
Mian the researcher placed a chair in front of his younger brother and answered,
"Yes… yes… now you'll compete with your little brother… aren't you ashamed? When I passed an exam by copying, I was still a child. After that success, I never tried to pass an exam by cheating again."
Mian Bhalkar tossed his book onto the bed and said,
"And if not… competition is only with those close to you. It's not as fun to bother strangers. Remember the day you put a rotten egg under a hen for twenty days hoping a chick would hatch… what happened then?"
When Mian the researcher recalled the incident from two years ago, Mian Bhalkar fell silent.
"Answer, Mian Bhalkar."
Mian the researcher tried to encourage his younger brother.
Mian Bhalkar lowered his head and sat quietly, because he had no argument to prove his foolishness wrong.
"Answer, Mian Bhalkar. Silence is a crime."
Mian the researcher urged his little brother once more. After a few moments of thought, Mian Bhalkar admitted his clumsiness and said,
"The truth is, I didn't know a hen sits on proper eggs. Otherwise why would I make such a mistake? After all, I'm the brother of a researcher."
Mian the researcher smiled at the reply but stayed silent.
Seeing Mian Bhalkar's continued silence, Mian the researcher said,
"Look… I had started bringing eggs home before I even ate the chicken's egg."
Mian the researcher couldn't finish his sentence because Mian Bhalkar interrupted,
"Brother… you never studied at school and you used to run around at home, so you always found an egg in every paper."
Mian Bhalkar looked at his brother, finished his thought, and let out a loud laugh,
"Bad thing… little brother. Listen to me fully… then we'll joke later. I've done research… the most important kind."
Mian the researcher brushed his shirt collar and said,
"Oh… really… did you invent something like a Markoni?"
Mian Bhalkar was in a mischievous mood, so he kept joking,
"Oh… no… man… I tried something else."
Mian the researcher grew serious and said,
"It looks like you've pulled off another strange feat… like the time you went to catch a hen and fell into the gutter."
Mian Bhalkar reminded him of the sad incident from a year ago,
"Enough… do it again… once someone falls… a person keeps falling a little more each time."
Mian the researcher blushed and said,
"Some people… keep falling over and over."
Mian Bhalkar burst into laughter, lay on the bed, and lifted both feet toward the sky, giggling together.
"What’s the matter, brother? Whenever I went to throw the trash because Father told me to, I would slip right by the garbage drum. Then Mother took over that job. Anyway, the point is, I discovered from experience that if you add sugar and khoya to milk and leave it in the fridge for seven hours, it turns into delicious kulfi."
Mian the researcher finished his sentence seriously, but Mian Bhalkar’s face was still smiling.
"Tell me, why are you laughing? Is there something black in the lentils?"
Mian the researcher asked.
"There’s nothing black in the lentils; they’re all green."
Mian Bhalkar said seriously.
"How could that be?"
Mian the researcher asked.
"You’ll have to understand that, brother."
Mian Bhalkar replied seriously.
"It means something has happened."
Mian the researcher asked, looking puzzled.
"Yes. After seven hours, if you open the fridge and find the kulfi ready, people treat it as free food and eat it."
Mian Bhalkar finished speaking and ran out of the room.
Mian the researcher understood what was going on, so he thought it best to chase after Mian Bhalkar quickly.
All the hours Mian the researcher had spent on his task bore no fruit, because someone else had taken the reward of his hard work.
Two weeks of Mian the researcher’s investigation slipped away, leaving him unsure whether Mian Bhalkar had really finished the job.
Mian the researcher ran into the courtyard, trying to catch Mian Bhalkar, but he could not get hold of him.
At last, exhausted, Mian the researcher began to mutter,
"Mian Bhalkar… kulfi thief… you’ll get what’s coming to you."
The end.