My trials, tribulations, triumphs and more... - Arjuna.

Chapter 3: Childhood in the forests (continued) ...

Picnic time...

One day during the spring season, father had planned picnic for our family. The weather was very pleasant and father wanted us kids to have leisurely time for some days away from our rigorous schedule and also he wanted our matas to have a bit of relaxing time away from their daily chores. Along with us, few of the maids and cooks came along and we took with us some food supplies, warm clothes, and other essential items. The dhanush which my father gifted to me on my birthday, was of course with me as well. I could never dream to part with it. It already became a part of me.

The picnic destination was a beautiful hilly location that was a bit far from our hermitage. We had to walk through thick forests for some part of this journey and during this journey, we suddenly faced a dangerous encounter with some hungry lions which surrounded us. Our matas got panicked of seeing those dangerous looking hungry lions, and they immediately as a maternal instinct, pulled us kids (me, Nakul and Sahadev) towards them. But, I distinctly remember how unfazed Bhim bhai was at this situation and he already took an aggressive stance and was there in front our family as a protective shield. As we were still anxious in our thoughts of what the next moment would be, right then our father in lightening quick action, took his bow and uttered some mantras and immediately shot past the arrows towards the lions not to hurt them but to scare them. And those fire arrows whizzed past the lions and the next moment the frightened lions were running away hither and wither into the deep forests.

I was simply wonderstruck to see such amazing archery skills displayed by my father. That was my first practical initiation of the wonderful feats one could do with archery and I immediately ran and hugged my father and started crying. My father initially thought, that I got scared of the lions and started to console me saying that lions have run away and we are safe now, but when I still did not relent crying, he got confused and asked me why I was still crying. Then, I told him, I too want to learn such amazing archery skills and use those skills to protect our family. My father was overwhelmed by this, and he warmly hugged me with tears flowing through and he patted my back and said, 'Son, you will not only be protector of our family but of entire Aryavarth, and there will not be any archer who will equal you in all the worlds...You are a gifted child my kid.'. And, he said, one day he will teach me all those archery skills which could produce fire, water, thunder, winds and so on.

After this tense incident, we took a break for our lunch. After our lunch, we spent sometime playing games and enjoying ourselves, whereas our parents took a nap as they were tired of the journey. Bhim bhai seeing that our parents were asleep, pulled us brothers to go for swim in the nearby river and enjoy ourselves. All of us brothers were very good at swimming, as we started to learn swimming from our very early age itself.

The water in the river was warm and crystal clear and we were enjoying the swim heartily, then suddenly I felt something was pulling me deep into the water, even though I was trying to free myself up, but it was too strong for me and I was slowly feeling suffocated and collapsed. When I woke up, it felt like I was having a dream, I was lying on a bed and was in fact inside a magnificent looking place surrounded by people who were having marks of Nag (snake) on their bodies. Not sure why, but I did not get scared of this place and people, but felt that this place was home and these people who were surrounding me were nice and warm people. And then, the chief amongst those people came to me and narrated to me the whole story. That how I collapsed and was about to be devoured by a large mysterious creature and just then to save me, they recited some magical mantras and that caused the large mysterious creature to loosen its grip on me and after which it vanished into the deep water.

And, to revive me, they brought me to their underwater dwelling. Their place was a beautiful place with large lamps, well decorated walls, scenic paintings, aquariums and so on. I thanked the Naga chief profusely for saving me and he smiled at this and patted me. The Naga chief gave an affectionate smile and told me that I was not an ordinary child but an extraordinary kid who will go on and do many great deeds and bring fame to his lineage. I did not understand why he was saying all that though, since it was our only first meet.

Amidst all of this, I could see a beautiful girl peeping through the corner, with green eyes and with a tinge of blue in them, which I found very mesmerizing, and that was the first time I saw anyone having such lovely eyes. The girl looked shy, but gave me a naughty look, now when I think about it, I feel so innocent that I did not understand at that time what it meant. After exchanging eye contact, she smiled brightly and ran to the corridor. All these happenings though, did not escape the eyes of the Naga chief who was the father of that beautiful girl, and he again smiled at me and patted my back. All this looked amusing to me.

I rose from the bed where I was resting and asked the Naga chief to permit me to go back as my parents and brothers would be worried for me. The Naga chief said, he would personally escort me to the river bank but only after I had lunch with them. The lunch was a sumptuous meal with various kinds of dishes and sweets and it was quite a contrast to the modest meal we used to have. After the lunch, when I was sitting alone and preparing to go back, the girl again came running in and whispered in my ears that her name was Ulupi and clasped my hands and said that we will meet again in future. Soon after, she gave a peck on my cheek and ran away smilingly. I felt a bit awkward at this, as it was the first time something like that happened. Now, I can very well imagine that Naga people had mysterious powers even from their childhood, which included foreseeing future events, reciting magical mantras and so on.

Naga chief gave me some presents which included some valuable gems and bracelets. Even though I tried to refuse those presents, but the Naga chief insisted to take those and present those to my parents as a symbol of Naga community's love and respect for them. I again thanked him and all the Naga people for their help and finally gave a parting smile to the beautiful girl, but now I could see some tears forming in her eyes. And, even I felt some heart beats losing, in seeing her angelic but sad face.