April 1991. The Office of Manohar Shyam Joshi.
The room smelled of old paper, pipe tobacco, and the faint, sweet scent of elaichi tea. Manohar Shyam Joshi, the literary giant who had penned Hum Log and Buniyaad, sat behind a desk that looked more like a fortress of manuscripts.
Aarav sat across from him. He kept his posture respectful, spine straight, hands on his lap. He knew he was sitting across from the man who essentially invented the Indian soap opera.
Joshi adjusted his thick spectacles and looked at Aarav. He didn't look at him like a producer inspecting a commodity; he looked at him like a writer inspecting a character.
"Do you know why I called you, Aarav?" Joshi asked, his voice soft but carrying an immense weight of intellect.
"Because you need an actor for Gharaunda," Aarav replied simply.
"No," Joshi smiled, shaking his head. "I have plenty of actors. Mandi House is full of them. I called you because you have 'silence' in your eyes. Most young men today... they are in a hurry. They want to be Amit-ji overnight. But the character I have written, Vijay, is not a hero. He is a victim of his own decency."
Joshi pushed a thick script across the table. It was bound in a blue file.
"The story is set in a small town in Uttar Pradesh. A crumbling haveli. A family holding onto feudal pride while their pockets are empty. Vijay is the eldest son. He wants to fly, but his feet are chained to the rotting roots of his family tree."
Joshi leaned forward.
"It is a tragedy, Aarav. Can you play a man who loses slowly, episode by episode, and still keeps smiling for his mother?"
Aarav touched the file. The System hummed in his mind.
[Quest Generated: The Nation's Son][Role:] Vijay in Gharaunda[Genre:] Social Realism / Family Drama [Duration:] 52 Episodes (1 Year) [Target:] Become the most loved face on Indian Television.
"I don't just want to play him, Sir," Aarav said, meeting Joshi's gaze. "I want to live him."
August 1991. On Location - Kakori, Uttar Pradesh.
Television in the early 90s was not shot in glossy studios with air-conditioning. Gharaunda was being shot on location to capture the gritty realism of the fading aristocracy.
The heat was oppressive. Flies buzzed around the lights. The camera—a heavy U-matic beast—was mounted on a rusted trolley.
Aarav stood in the courtyard of an actual dilapidated haveli. He was wearing a frayed white kurta and pyjama, with a cheap plastic watch on his wrist. He looked thinner. He had deliberately lost 4 kgs for the role, shedding his gym muscle for a wiry, malnourished look of a man who skipped meals so his siblings could eat.
"Scene 42. Take 1."
The director, a veteran named Ravi Baswani (who also acted), called out.
The scene was pivotal. Vijay (Aarav) had just found out that his father had mortgaged the house to pay for his sister's dowry, destroying Vijay's dream of using that money to start a small business.
Aarav stood by the tulsi plant in the courtyard. The actress playing his mother was grinding spices on a stone slab.
"Vijay?" she asked, not looking up. "Did you deposit the money?"
Aarav had to lie. He had to swallow his shattered dreams and lie to protect her peace.
System: Acting Skill Level 62 engaged.Micro-expression focus: The quiver of the jaw.
Aarav looked at the woman. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. He swallowed. His Adam's apple bobbed visibly. He forced a smile—a smile that didn't reach his eyes, a smile so brittle it looked like it would crack if the wind blew.
"Ji, Ma," he whispered. "Sab ho gaya." (Yes, Mother. It's all done.)
He turned away from the camera, just enough so the lens caught the single tear that betrayed him, sliding down his nose rather than his cheek. He wiped it furiously, sniffed, and straightened his back.
"Cut!"
The silence on the set was heavy. The actress playing the mother looked up from the spice grinder. She looked at Aarav, her eyes wide.
"Beta," she said, breaking character. "You broke my heart just now."
November 1991. The Phenomenon.
Gharaunda aired on Doordarshan every Friday at 9:00 PM.
By the 10th episode, something strange started happening across North India.
On Friday nights, the streets would empty. Shopkeepers in Karol Bagh would pull down their shutters early. Dinner times were adjusted.
Aarav wasn't just an actor anymore. He was Vijay.
Mothers wanted a son like him. Wives wanted a husband like him. He represented the quintessential Indian middle-class struggle—the noble sufferer. The man who stood tall against the winds of change (the 1991 Liberalization) that were confusing the older generation.
Letters started arriving at the Doordarshan office. Not hundreds. Sacks of them.
Some contained money—₹10 or ₹20 notes—sent by old grandmothers who thought Vijay was real and needed financial help. Some contained marriage proposals written in blood (which the System promptly flagged as "Obsessive Fan Behavior").
Aarav sat in his Lajpat Nagar home, reading the fan mail.
[Status Update]Fame: National TV Star (Level 40) Title Acquired: "India's Beta" (India's Son) Charisma: 85 → 88 System Currency: ₹25,000 generated from fame conversion.
He had conquered the living room. But the System wasn't satisfied.
[Alert: Acting Skill Stagnation][To reach Level 70, you need a challenge that requires range, not just restraint.]
July 1992. The Finale of Gharaunda.
The show ended with Vijay finally succeeding, buying back the house, but losing his childhood love in the process. It was a bittersweet ending that left half the nation weeping.
Aarav was now a household name. He couldn't take the bus anymore. He had bought a second-hand Premier Padmini (Fiat), and even then, people would bang on the windows at traffic lights.
He was 22 years old.
He received a call from the Prime Minister's Office to attend a cultural event. He was invited to cut ribbons at store openings in Lucknow, Kanpur, and Jaipur.
But Aarav declined the store openings. He declined the easy money.
He was waiting for the big one.
And then, it happened.
August 1992. The "Buniyaad" Reboot Project.
The press conference was held at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Delhi. It was a massive event.
Ramesh Sippy, the man who directed Sholay, was present. So was the entire brass of Doordarshan.
They announced Nayi Buniyaad (New Foundation).
It wasn't a cheap cash grab. It was a prestige project, a 50-episode limited series intended to bridge the gap between the partition generation and the new, modern India.
And the lead role—the character of Aryan, a young, angry journalist fighting against corruption in the 1970s Emergency era—was given to Aarav Pathak.
This was a shift. Vijay in Gharaunda was soft, passive, and noble. Aryan in Nayi Buniyaad was fire, rebellion, and intellect.
October 1992. Filming Nayi Buniyaad.
The role demanded a different Aarav.
He grew his hair out slightly, styling it like the angry young Amitabh of the 70s, but with a modern, softer edge. He wore oversized glasses and bell-bottoms.
The System gave him a specific task for this show.
[Quest: The Angry Young Man Reborn][Objective: Master the 'Monologue'. Deliver a 3-minute speech on democracy without cutting.][Reward: Voice Modulation Skill Maxed.]
Episode 25. The Courtroom Scene.
Aryan (Aarav) was on trial for sedition against the State.
The set was packed. Journalists from real newspapers were invited to watch the filming.
Aarav stood in the witness box. He looked at the judge.
He began to speak. He didn't shout. He used a simmering, boiling tone—like lava moving under rock.
"You ask me if I love my country, My Lord? I love it enough to tell it that it is ugly. I love it enough to bleed for it, not just wave a flag for it. A patriot is not a man who stays silent; a patriot is the first man to scream when his mother is being robbed!"
He escalated the pitch, his voice cracking with righteous indignation, his eyes burning with a zeal that transcended the script. He channeled the memories of the future—the protests he had seen in 2011, in 2020. He brought the future rage into the past.
When he finished, he slammed his hand on the railing. The sound echoed like a gunshot.
"Cut!"
Ramesh Sippy walked onto the set. He didn't say anything. He just patted Aarav's cheek and walked away.
The next day, the grapevine in Mumbai (which monitored Delhi talent) started buzzing.
"There is a boy in Delhi. Pathak. He is dangerous."
May 1993. The Call of the Sea.
Nayi Buniyaad concluded its run. It was a critical smash, though it didn't have the mass hysteria of Gharaunda because it was too intellectual. But it achieved something more important: it proved Aarav was an Actor, not just a star.
His Acting Skill hit Level 65.
Aarav stood on the balcony of his Lajpat Nagar house. He was 23 now.
He had ₹45 Lakhs in the bank (earnings from the two shows + endorsements for a chyawanprash brand).
The System panel appeared.
[CHAPTER 1: THE DELHI BEGINNINGS - COMPLETE][Summary:]- Plays: 1 (Andha Yug) - TV Serials: 3 (Rishte, Gharaunda, Nayi Buniyaad) - Reputation: King of Television. - Acting Level: 65/100.
[NEXT PHASE UNLOCKED: THE CITY OF DREAMS][Mission:] Move to Mumbai. [Warning:] TV fame does not equal Movie Stardom. In Mumbai, you are nobody again. The 'TV Actor' stigma will be your biggest enemy.
Aarav packed his bags. Not a suitcase, but trunks. He was moving for good.
He visited his parents' grave (symbolically, as they were cremated, he visited the spot by the Yamuna).
"I conquered the small box, Papa," he whispered. "Now I'm going for the big screen."
He handed the keys of the Lajpat Nagar house to a property manager to rent it out. He would never sell it. It was his anchor.
He boarded the Rajdhani Express to Mumbai Central. First Class AC.
As the train pulled out of New Delhi Railway Station, picking up speed past the slums and the tracks, Aarav looked at his reflection in the darkened window.
He saw the face that had made millions cry. But he also saw the hunger.
He wasn't going to Mumbai to struggle. He was going to Mumbai to rule. But he knew the history. He knew that in 1993, Shah Rukh Khan had just released Deewana and Baazigar was filming. The Khans were establishing their territory.
Aarav smiled.
"Let them get comfortable," he thought. "The usurper is coming."
[End of Chapter 4]