"SUBHADRA!", Medhasvini squealed, jumping up and down with a letter in her hand.
"Who died?!", Subhadra ran from in front of the vanity to near the windowsill where Medha was enacting the work of a spring.
"No one died, silly.", Kridha's laugh reverberated through the room as she put her hands on Subhadra's cheek.
"Remember how Kanha and Rama to the swayamvar of King Kakudmi's daughter, Rajkumari Revati?", she recalled.
Subhadra went into a thoughtful look, slowly nodding her head.
"Well...Rama won her swayamvar! He is going to get married!"
The two sister's held hands and started screaming in joy together, jumping again until.......
"Ahmm..", they heard someone clear their throat.
They turned towards the sound, a little embarrassed.
"Balram is getting married?", Kunti asked with a twinkle in her eyes.
They both nodded their heads with enthusiasm, the adrenaline still coursing through their veins.
"That is wonderful news", she hugged the siblings.
"But how will you attend his wedding? There is no one in Hastinapur currently whom I can send you with...", Pritha sounded apologetic.
"Don't worry, Ma, if Narayan wishes that we shall attend the wedding, then we will surely find a way out.", Medha wisely replied.
"Oh that reminds me, I came here to tell that Jiji and I want you both to accompany us to the temple.", Kunti looked at them expectantly.
"But I haven't taken a bath yet, Buashree, I was just getting ready for it."
"Oh.....it's fine. You go get ready for the day, Subhadra.", Kunti now looked at Medhasvini.
"It would be my honour.", with that she locked hands with Kunti and together they made their way to the Shiv temple adjoined to the room of Maharani Gandhari.
"Did she come with you, Kunti?", Gandhari sensed someone enter her prayer room (A/N- it is a lose translation of something we bengalis call thakurghor. Does it have any other specific name in english? Let me know)
"Ji Jiji"
"Pranipat, Maharani.", Medhasvini touched her feet.
"May you be blessed with a beautiful son", she placed her hand over her head.
Kridha looked at her with a frown.
"Why only a son? Why not a daughter? Why not, just a child? How does gender affect anything?", she questioned. A tense silence ensued.
Gandhari skillfully ignored the question and went back to preparing things for the puja. Soon the puja began, Medha's eyes following everything the queen did.
"Your devotion towards Mahakal mesmerizes me.", she confessed at the end of the aarti, taking a bit of the prasad offered.
"I have been his devotee from a very young age. He was the one who blessed me with the boon of having a hundred sons.", Gandhari got up and made her way to her room. Kunti and Medhasvini followed her.
"Come, sit beside me.", Gandhari patted on the place beside. Mrida did as told.
"You asked me a few moments back, why I didn't wish a daughter for you. You are still young, but as you spend more time in this patriarchal society will you realise how you don't want this world to have another woman facing all that you had to. No matter how much we try, people will never accept a strongly opinionated woman but no one points a finger if it's a man. Some will become like me, blind to everything I can see, or like Kunti, widow being her only identity. A woman is either her father or her husband, just not her. And there is nothing we have been able to do about it when even the most outspoken girl is shut down by the norms of the society."
Medha felt this to be a direct jab at her personality but it didn't hurt her for every word spoken had truth to it. She went down to her knees and took Gandhari's hands in hers.
"Kunti Ma and you are so much more than you think, because from where I am standing I see strength. We, women, are so much stronger than we believe. We can do everything, we can create, we can destroy, we can be the breadwinner and make the bread. So, instead of blaming the situation if we fight to change it, it can go a long way.", Kridha's eyes shone with passion, her words holding faith in what she believe in.
Slowly she stood up and made her way beside Kunti. Giving her a small smile, she again looked at Gandhari.
"And frankly Maharani, I would rather have a daughter who can get stand up for herself than a son who doesn't know how to treat their own family right. Pranipat"
Making sure she had left, Gandhari let out a bitter laugh.
"What happened, Jiji?", Kunti was perplexed at the absurd reaction.
"Nothing, nothing happened to me. But her........I like that girl. The kuruvansh needs a daughter-in-law like her. They will never be able to bind a force of nature like her, maybe she can bring the change much needed."
On her way to her room, Medhasvini stumbled upon Angraj and Rajkumar Avyukt, a rather unconventional pair, having a conversation. They had not seen her yet and she was sure to keep it that way.
"I thought you will be staying here till your friend comes back?", she heard Karn ask.
"That was the plan before, but today I got a letter from my sister, Devika, demanding my immediate presence. A very close friend of her is getting married. And this friend of her has become like another little sister to me, so I must go.", Avyukt replied.
Aadya knew it was not right to eavesdrop but what could the odds be....
"I see...who is the princess getting married?"
Her ears perked up, waiting for the potential reply with bated breath.
"Rajkumari Revati."
Aadya did a small victory dance the moment she heard the name. Avyukt was her ticket to her brother's wedding and she knew just how to convince him. A small shriek escaped her lips.
"Is someone there?", Karn asked, his hand on his sword.
Medhasvini, terrified at the prospect of being found out, slapped a hand over her mouth, making her way out the back, praying her bangles won't make much of a noise.
Avyukt was reading a book when his attention was caught by a delicious smell. He lowered his book to see a bowl of kheer. His eyes lit up like a child after seeing his favourite candy.
But once he looked at holder of the delicacy and all his dreams broke.
"Are you trying to poison me?", he pushed her hand away a little.
Controlling a sharp retort, she just gave him a sugary sweet smile. Grinding her teeth together, she said,
"I am trying to be nice for once, think of it as a truce."
"There is no way you are doing this without any ulterior motive.", he now had all his focus on the mystery in front of him.
She sat beside him and brought the bowl nearer to his nose.
"Look at this innocent bowl of sweetness, does it look like motive to you? And just so you know....us Yadavs are famous for our kheer."
Exchanging glances between her face and the bowl, Avyukt gulped hard. Finally he gave in and took it from her hands.
Before putting a spoonful of it in his mouth he thought,
I am committing a grave mistake, aren't I?
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A big thank you for the support you have shown to this story and I hope we can continue on this journey together and make this fifty a hundred.
For now,
Good day, alligators (that is your name now, dear readers)
YOU ARE READING
Wisdom of the Wounds
Historical FictionShe is strength She is gentleness She is truth She is justice She is a mother She is a child She is the epitome of beauty with brains, she is calm as the sea but fierce like the waves. Love her, she will not let you go. Disrespect her, you will not...
