Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

Little Supriya came out of the theatre and into the lobby with a pout. She didn't look like someone who had enjoyed a soulful art performance at all; instead, she looked like someone who was asked to stay for the after-school studies.

Supriya really hates coming to the theatre, especially since every time she comes it is only for those shows where the junior artists perform, and every time, without a miss, her mother would complain about how talented those artists were and how dumb she was, which added to the insecurity she had developed from always getting scolded by her teachers for her poor grades. In the end, she had come to hate the theatre even more.

But what can she do? There was no way she could resist the will of her mother; even if she acted stubbornly and cried bitterly, she would still be pulled into the carriage and forced to attend the stupid event.

She looked around, seeing if there was anyone she could talk to, but unfortunately, there was none. Her big brother went to talk with the other boys, as her mother had gone to socialise with other aunts.

Suddenly, something in the lobby caught her attention, it was a tall and slender half pillar that was covered in silk cloth, which looked so beautiful. Was it some sort of new food? She guessed, even though she was not particularly a big foodie, curiosity still drove her forward.

She immediately noticed a man sitting right behind the weird pillar; she figured that this uncle was the one who was responsible for the interesting-looking stall.

" Hey, what sort of food is this? Is it delicious? "

For some reason, as soon as she asked the question, the middle-aged uncle almost stumbled to the ground.

" ah...no...you...young lady, this is not food, this is a new kind of entertainment device called the moving picture machine. Looking into this machine, you can see an interesting and fun story "

Supriya's curiosity piqued even more. What sort of an entertainment device was this?

" I would like to try it. Please get started. "

"..."

Her face wrinkled up. Why isn't this uncle saying anything and simply standing there like a stupid wooden board?

Just when she was getting impatient and was about to walk away, the guy finally spoke.

" Ah, young lady, you will have to buy a ticket to watch the show "

" You can buy the tickets at the snacks counter "

Supriya showed an expression of sudden realisation as if she understood everything, " In that case, wait, I will come back "

Looking at the back of the disappearing girl, Rajeev heaved a huge sigh of relief. At first when the door of the lobby opened up, he felt like his heart had stopped for a moment, but when no one actually paid attention to him and everyone started to talk and laugh with each other as if he was an invisible person, he grew panicked.

However, just when he was despairing, a little girl, only 8 or 9 years old, about the age of his daughter, came forward.

Due to finally getting the attention, he was so excited that he unconsciously tripped on the newly installed floor mat. Thankfully, he recovered at the last moment and saved himself from suffering a social death.

Though he was still quite embarrassed as he could sense the weird expression the little girl gave him, which made him stumble a few words, fortunately, he finally regained his composure and ended up scoring a potential customer.

Although he felt the girl was quite rude as she talked to him as if he were a servant, being the first one to actually show any kind of interest, he was quite grateful.

Supriya didn't go to her mother for money since she was still angry with her and would not talk to her for at least a year; instead, she went directly to her brother to buy her the tickets.

Niranjan was not surprised when his little sister came to him asking for money instead of her mother, since he was already used to it.

However, he did not readily agree to her request; instead, he asked what she was going to do with the money.

" I'm going to watch the moving picture machine "

" moving....pict...ure? " He scratched his head. He had never heard of such a machine. What does it do? It moves pictures, but that does not make sense.

" Yes, it's that thing over there, that man told me that looking into the machine, I can see an interesting and fun story "

The brother's brows immediately furrowed.

The first thought that came to his mind was that this is a scam, but knowing the reputation of the theatre, he put the possibility aside.

" Quick, brother, the man said tickets are being sold at the snack counter, come buy one ticket for me ",

Under the insistence of his sister, Niranjan bid farewell to his friends and bought the 50 varaha ticket.

Holding the ticket, his little sister excitedly ran to the middle-aged man, but he followed her from behind to see what was going on.

Taking a look at the man, he felt nothing special about him. He looked like any other ordinary person in this society. The only thing that stood out was the Sherwani he was wearing; it looked old but exquisite, very similar to the one his grandfather wore. But those kinds of Sherwanis were out of fashion for nearly a decade, not to mention he had heard his grandfather say that those kinds of Sherwanis were only produced in the mainland.

His interest only grew, so he said nothing and stood on the sidelines watching what would happen.

Holding the ticket in his hand, Rajeev was overwhelmed. This was the first actual sale he had ever made, not to mention he would be getting 40 varaha from this one sale alone, which was equivalent to well over 30 kids watching the story in a day.

He quickly stuffed the ticket into his pocket. He decided in his heart that he would frame it and hang it on the wall as he motioned the little girl to step on the small steps.

As little Supriya got up on the steps, she heard the man instruct once again.

" Young lady, you see this opening? It is called the eyepiece. You can look through this gap, and once you are ready, I will start the show "

Supriya nodded in understanding and bent her head. She immediately felt a warm current hitting her face, but it was not too harsh; it was similar to the heat from the bonfire in the hallway.

Soon, she was attracted to the frame.

' So someone called Rajiv Singhhaniya built this machine, is it that uncle?' she thought.

" You can start "

Rajiv no longer hesitated and started to rotate the handle at a steady pace.

As soon as the pictures started to move, Supriya let out a small, inaudible gasp, but she was soon mesmerised.

After showing the title of the story *Adventures of Pandu*, she saw an image of a dog walking on two legs, that's right, walking, and this dog was walking alone, he looked around at all the wonders of the big city and soon made his way into a construction site out of curiosity.

But as the dog went into the construction site, she didn't continue to see him, but an older dog appeared in the picture, he looked haggard and panting, but still wiping away the sweat on his face with a hat, he followed the younger dog sneakily.

Soon, she couldn't help but have her first chuckle, because the younger dog actually poured out the concrete in the mixer in order to see what was going on inside.

As if he were a great boss, Pandu quickly left after inspecting, but the older dog, who saw the scene, was distraught and came forward to take responsibility for the mischief the younger dog caused, but unfortunately, the workers who had just gone for a tea break were so angry after seeing all the concrete being poured on the ground that they simply beat up the older dog.

The older dog looked even more haggard as he moved forward with a distorted expression. For the rest of the story, she couldn't hold back her laughter, as Pandu kept messing something up at the construction site but always managed to escape, leaving the older dog to pick up the slack every time.

" hahaha "

At last, when the older dog looked like there was no love in the world, she could not hold it anymore and burst into loud laughter.

Soon, the story came to an end.

" I want to see it one more time, please play it one more time "

Looking at the girl who had completely changed her disposition, Rajeev did not know how to react. Although he was happy that the girl really liked his story, he just could not understand why she was so jumpy. Still, he patiently replied that she needed to get one more ticket.

" Brother, please, please get me another ticket. I don't need any snacks today, just give me this one "

Niranjan was surprised. Was this still his sister who would always be so gloomy when she came to the theatre? Looking at her pleading expression, he finally relented and bought the ticket, but this time he bought two, feeling the genuine happiness of his sister, he grew extremely curious as well.

Anyway, 50 varaha is not too much, it's simply his lunch money for the day.

Once again, his sister could not control her laughter, but what was different was that she kept saying the old dog was so stupid and Pandu was so awesome, Pandu was so this, Pandu so that.

Unable to resist any longer, he went forward and watched the so-called moving picture, and in the end, he was left clenching his stomach and laughing heartily.

Soon, the actions of the siblings caught the attention of the other kids. When they knew what was happening, they began to buy the tickets as well.

Rajeev showed the picture to one kid after another, and in the end, before the interval ended and the main show within the theatre began, he even showed the moving picture to a few adults who seemed to have enjoyed it extremely well.

He wasn't allowed to run the picture during the theatre's main event, but that didn't bother him. There was still an interval before the day's big show ended.

Maybe people were talking about his picture inside, because as soon as the audience came out for the second time, a surprising number of them bought tickets and queued up.

Rajeev was so happy he couldn't stop grinning, the only discomfort being the ache in his hand from constantly turning the handle at a steady speed. But in that moment of joy, even the pain felt strangely satisfying.

He already had 32 tickets in his pocket. A quick calculation told him that meant 1,280 varaha earned. If this traffic continued for two weeks, he could easily break even and clear his bank debts. Maybe he could even hire someone, or ask Purushotam to quit his job, to run the machine. That would free him up to work on creating an identical reel for when this one eventually wore out, or, if profits stayed strong, to draw a second chapter altogether.

The possibilities felt endless, and for the first time in a long while, Rajeev could clearly see a bright future ahead.