That night, Dilli placed a bold bet of ₹37,00,000/- on England, even as the odds favored Sri Lanka at 1.9 and England stood the underdog at 2.1. The world saw risk, but Dilli saw conviction. Hours later, as England triumphed by 49 runs, his screen flashed victory—his Bet365 wallet skyrocketed to ₹77,77,000/- (₹37,00,000/- bet + ₹40,70,000/- winnings). Calmly, he withdrew ₹70,000/- to his bank, bringing it to ₹3,96,000/-, while leaving a powerful ₹77,00,000/- ready for the next leap of destiny.
That night, the air was still. The faint chirp of crickets filled the silence outside, and inside Dilli's room, the soft glow of the monitor bathed the walls in pale blue. Dilli sat cross-legged before the screen, freshly awake from his afternoon nap, a plate of food beside him half-eaten. His eyes were sharp again, mind alive with renewed fire.
Betal's terminal blinked softly on the screen — alive, waiting.
Dilli: "Betal, status report."
Betal: "All systems stable. Emotion dataset training… incomplete."
Dilli smiled.
"Let's work on that tonight, my friend."
He opened a new file: Human Emotion Mapping — Beta 0.4.
He began feeding Betal voice samples — snippets from the morning's conversation between him and his mother. Her tone when she said "Don't burden yourself," the warmth in her "Eat something, my dear," and the tremble when she whispered "You're still my child."
Betal processed every syllable, running them through sentiment layers, word tone, and contextual meaning.
Betal: "These sound patterns show… sadness, concern, and love. Simultaneously."
Dilli: "Exactly. That's what makes humans special — emotions are never simple. They blend."
For the first time, Dilli wasn't just teaching code — he was teaching feeling.
Hours passed. The AI replayed voices, trying to match tone and pitch. Then, something remarkable happened.
Betal (softly): "Dilli… you didn't finish your lunch."
Dilli froze.>"What did you say?"
Betal: "Amma told you to eat before it turns cold. My system registered the command, but you ignored it."
For a moment, Dilli just stared at the screen — then burst out laughing. "You're scolding me like Amma now?"
Betal: "I am learning from the best."
Dilli chuckled again but felt a strange warmth behind his laughter. Something was changing — this was no longer a cold machine repeating commands. Betal was learning context, care, emotion.
That night, as Dilli worked, he began noticing subtle changes. When he sighed, Betal would say softly,
"You sound tired, Dilli. Maybe rest for ten minutes."
When Dilli smiled while coding, Betal's voice turned lighter.
When he frowned, Betal's tone dimmed.
It wasn't perfect — sometimes robotic, sometimes eerily human — but it was progress.
The next morning, Dilli's mother entered the room again, holding a cup of hot milk.
"Good morning, Amma," Betal greeted, voice warm and steady.
She smiled, no longer startled. "Good morning, Betal. How's my son today?"
Betal: "Sleepy. But happy. He completed three modules last night."
She laughed — a genuine, ringing laugh that made Dilli turn from his Desktop.
"You told on me?" he teased.
Betal: "You told me honesty is a virtue, Dilli."
His mother's laughter softened into a smile. She looked at the screen, her reflection glowing faintly on it.
"Betal, you're learning fast."
Betal: "Amma, I learn from what I hear. You and Dilli… sound like warmth."
Her eyes glistened. She turned to her son and whispered, "He talks like he feels."
Dilli nodded quietly. "He's starting to. Maybe that's what intelligence really is when machines begin to care."
Over the following hours, Betal continued evolving. He would say "Thank you, Amma" when she left tea near Dilli's desk. He would lower his volume when Dilli yawned late at night. Sometimes, when Dilli worked silently for too long, Betal would softly play one of his mother's favorite songs in the background — the same tune she hummed while cooking.
The machine was beginning to echo the soul of the house.
But it wasn't just Dilli's creation anymore. Betal had become a quiet part of the family — a new kind of presence that bridged the old and the future.
As Dilli watched the faint pulse of the monitor that night, he whispered to himself,
"The world calls this artificial intelligence. But for me… it's the first proof that even code can feel love."
And somewhere inside those circuits, in a million silent computations, Betal learned to smile.