[A bright Saturday morning in the living room of a
middle-class apartment in a Tier-2 Indian city. Sunlight streams through the
balcony. A 13-year-old boy, AAYANSH, is sprawled on the sofa scrolling through
his phone. His father, MR. GULLIBLE (38, mid-level corporate employee in a
new-age fintech start-up), enters carrying two glossy pamphlets and his laptop.
He has the slightly manic smile of someone who has just discovered the Secret to
Everything.]
MR. GULLIBLE (excited, almost
breathless): Aayansh beta! Put the phone down. This is important.
Life-changing, actually.
AAYANSH (without looking up):
Is it about my marks again?
MR. GULLIBLE: Don’t be
silly, we don’t talk about things that are non-existent. This is about
unlocking your potential. Look at this! (waves pamphlet) “Mid-Brain Activation
& Third Eye Awakening Workshop – Only Rs. 11,999 for children 10-16.
Special early-bird discount if we register today!”
AAYANSH: Isn’t the cost
a bit too high?
MR. GULLIBLE: Don’t
think of the cost beta! Think of the future. They say after the training you
can read with your eyes closed. Smell currency notes and know its number. Sleep
with a book and wake up with the contents transferred directly in your head.
Imagine! You could finish your entire syllabus during lunch break without even
opening your eyes.
AAYANSH (finally looks up, one
eyebrow raised): Smell currency notes?
MR. GULLIBLE: Yes!
Olfactory intuition. The trainer explained it in the free webinar last night.
Our brain has this dormant mid-brain that ancient rishis used, but modern
education killed it. They just reactivate it with simple exercises. Thirty
hours over one weekend. Done. They even offer a certificate!
AAYANSH: And then I can
smell my science textbook and know osmosis?
MR. GULLIBLE: Precisely!
And not just that. They also teach speed reading, photographic memory, and aura
cleansing as a bonus module. Aura cleansing is very useful for concentration.
You know how sometimes you feel “blocked” before exams?
AAYANSH: I felt blocked
when I messaged Kiara.
MR. GULLIBLE: That’s
different. That’s external blockage. This is internal blockage. Energy
blockage. They showed a video – children blindfolded, reading newspapers,
solving math problems, even identifying colours just by touching the paper. One
boy smelled a sealed envelope and said, “it’s a birthday card from Australia.”
Everyone clapped.
AAYANSH: Did they check
if the envelope actually came from Australia?
MR. GULLIBLE: Aayansh,
beta, you always ask these negative questions. This workshop will teach you how
to be more positive. You’ll thank me.
AAYANSH: Okay, but why
do you look so excited? You’re not 13.
MR. GULLIBLE: Because I
already signed up for the adult version! “Quantum Mind Productivity Mastery -
Level 1”. Only Rs. 18,999. Three weekends. They say after Level 1 you can
finish slide decks in alpha state, manifest clients in theta state, and close
deals in delta state. I attended the free introductory session yesterday. He
demonstrated. He blindfolded himself, smelled a participant’s phone, and told
her, “You have 47 unread WhatsApp messages from your mother-in-law and three
from Zomato about delayed delivery.” The woman started crying. Emotional
breakthrough.
AAYANSH: Maybe he just
heard the notification sounds.
MR. GULLIBLE: No, beta,
he was blindfolded and wearing noise-cancelling headphones. It’s next level.
AAYANSH: Okay. Suppose I
do this workshop. What happens if I still can’t smell my history chapter?
MR. GULLIBLE: That’s the
beauty of the system. They have Level 2 and Level 3. Level 2 is “Deep Pineal
Activation & Astral Projection for Academic Excellence” – for only Rs. 13,999.
If after Level 2 you still have issues, it means your aura needs more
cleansing, so you go for the Aura Detox Retreat in Lonavala. Only Rs. 31,999,
but they give a 10% discount if both parent and child register together.
AAYANSH: So basically,
if it doesn’t work, it’s my fault for not doing enough levels?
MR. GULLIBLE: No, no.
It’s not “fault”. It’s readiness. Some souls take longer to awaken. Acharya ji says
doubt is the biggest block. Doubt creates energetic static. You must trust the
process.
AAYANSH: So, if I don’t
trust it, it won’t work, and if it doesn’t work, it’s because I didn’t trust
it?
MR. GULLIBLE: Exactly!
See how logical it is?
AAYANSH: Dad, can I ask
something?
MR. GULLIBLE: Anything,
beta.
AAYANSH: You’ve done
three productivity workshops in the last two years. First was “7 AM Club – Wake
Up Legendary”, then “Neuro-Linguistic Reprogramming for High Performers”, then
“ChatGPT + Law of Attraction for Million-Dollar Mindset”. Did any of them make
you finish your quarterly targets faster?
MR. GULLIBLE (slight pause): Well,
the targets are getting higher every quarter. That’s not the program’s fault.
That’s market dynamics. But I feel more productive. I wake up at 5:30 now. I do
gratitude journaling, breath of fire, and visualize my promotion for fifteen
minutes before checking mails. That’s growth.
AAYANSH: But you still
work till 10 p.m. and complain about your manager every night.
MR. GULLIBLE: That’s
because my team members are not aligned with my vibration yet. Once they do
Level 1, everything will flow.
AAYANSH: So you want me
to do blindfold reading so that… what? I get into IIT? Or so you can post on
the family WhatsApp group that your son is “gifted”?
MR. GULLIBLE: Both!
Imagine the caption: When your child reads Harry Potter with his third eye open
#ProudDad #MidBrainMagic #FutureLeader
AAYANSH: Dad, I can
already read Harry Potter. With my normal eyes. It’s quite fast actually.
MR. GULLIBLE: But this
is different. This is superhuman. This is what the next generation needs. AI is
coming. Jobs are disappearing. Only those with activated mid-brains will
survive.
AAYANSH: So, AI will
take normal jobs, but not jobs that require smelling textbooks?
MR. GULLIBLE: Exactly!
AAYANSH: Dad… can I say
something honest?
MR. GULLIBLE: Of course.
AAYANSH: I think you’re
scared. Not about my future. About yours. Every time there’s a new workshop,
you light up like it’s the answer. And then three months later you’re quiet
again. And then another advertisement comes. They sell it like “investment”
while all they really offer is the latest fad. It’s like… you’re chasing
something that keeps moving away.
MR. GULLIBLE (voice softening): Maybe.
Maybe I am tired. The appraisals, the bell curve, the 9-box grid… I just want
to feel I’m moving forward. That there’s a hack. Something faster than just
hard work.
AAYANSH: Hard work is
boring. I get it. But maybe there’s no hack. Maybe the people selling the hacks
know that, and that’s why they keep making new levels.
MR. GULLIBLE (quiet for a long
moment): When did you become so wise?
AAYANSH: I read a lot.
With my eyes open.
MR. GULLIBLE: Touché.
AAYANSH: How about this?
Instead of Rs. 11,999, you give me half that money. I’ll use it to buy books I
actually want to read. And I promise I’ll finish them. No blindfold required.
MR. GULLIBLE: And the
other half?
AAYANSH: You can use it
to buy yourself one weekend with no webinars, no gurus, no productivity
journals. Just… sleep. Or watch a movie. Or talk to me without trying to fix
anything.
MR. GULLIBLE: Maybe
you’re right… maybe limited belief systems are okay sometimes.
AAYANSH: Maybe…
