Chapter 4: The Blackout & The Prophecy of the Diploma

Chapter 4: The Blackout & The Prophecy of the Diploma

"In the quiet corners of a crowded house, I learned that 'goodness' doesn't fill a stomach. This is the chapter of the ghost on an Atlas cycle—where the mind goes blank, the body hits the pavement, and a desperate lie becomes a blueprint for a future I hadn't yet earned."

The Extra Mouth to Feed

I was in Hyderabad, living with my uncle and aunt.

They were good people. They took me in when I had nowhere to go.

But goodness doesn't fill stomachs.

My uncle had a small salary. He already had four children of his own. And now, he had me—an extra mouth to feed, an extra burden on a breaking back.

I felt it. Every time I sat down to eat, I felt the weight of my existence. I wasn't just a nephew; I was an expense.

The Atlas Cycle & The 7 Kilometers

I was studying, but my mind was elsewhere.

We had no money for extra classes. But Sympathy—that hated friend—followed me here too.

My Physics and Maths teachers knew my story. They pitied the orphan boy.

"Come," they said. "We will teach you for free."

So, every evening, I climbed onto that old Atlas Bicycle.

7 Kilometers.

I pedaled through the chaotic traffic of Hyderabad. 7 kms to go, 7 kms to come back.

My legs moved, but my soul was still sitting at the gate of my father's farmhouse.

The Sleepwalker (Hitting the Tree)

Grief is a strange drug. It doesn't just make you sad; it makes you disappear.

I started having Blackouts.

I would be riding the cycle, eyes open, hands on the handle. But my mind? Gone. Blank.

I wasn't thinking. I wasn't feeling. I was just... empty.

One day, I woke up from this trance only when BANG.

I hit a tree.

I was lying on the ground, the cycle on top of me, people staring.

I didn't even know how I got there. I had been riding blind, lost in a dream where my parents were still alive.

I dusted myself off and kept riding. I was a ghost on a bicycle.

The Crash (The Failure)

The boy who got a First Class in 10th standard, the boy who was "Rich by Blood," finally crashed.

I failed the exams.

I went blank in the exam hall just like I did on the road.

While my friends moved ahead, I was left behind.

I had to take the Supplementary Exam.

I felt ashamed, yet numb. I passed the second time, but the damage was done. The "Good Student" tag was gone. I was now the "Struggler."

The Second Prophecy (Ashok Sir)

I returned to my hometown, defeated.

No college admission. No plan. Just a failed year and a heavy heart.

One day, I went to collect my marks card. There, I met the son of my Physics lecturer, Ashok Sir. He was a good friend.

We went to his house.

Ashok Sir saw me. He knew my potential. He asked the question that changed everything.

"So, what are you doing now?"

I stood there. I had nothing. I was sitting at home, wasting time.

But then, IT happened again.

Just like the lie about Hyderabad, my tongue moved on its own. A voice that wasn't mine spoke up.

"Sir, I am doing a Diploma in Electrical."

And I didn't stop there. I added a detail that was impossible.

"I got an aggregate of 75%."

I froze. Why did I say that?

I wasn't doing a Diploma. I didn't have 75%. I was a failure who had just passed a supplementary exam.

I lied to a teacher I respected. I walked out of his house feeling like a fraud.

The Return to Zero

I came back home.

My grandfather looked at me. He didn't know about the lie. He didn't know about the prophecy.

"It's okay," he said. "We will try something else. Let's apply for a Degree here."

He was making plans for a Degree.

But the Universe had heard my lie.

I had spoken the words "Diploma" and "Electrical."

And once again, the script was already written.

"I walked out of that house feeling like a fraud, leaving a trail of impossible numbers behind me. I didn't know then that the tongue sometimes speaks the truth before the life catches up to it. The script was written. The 'Electrical' journey had begun."

(To be continued...)