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

Chapter 16: Back to Gurukul

Finally, it was time for us to return to Gurukul, past few weeks of vacation time at home had passed in a jiffy. We had memorable time meeting our cousins Satyaki and Gada, who truly became my absolute best friends. Also, we had great time at home with our loved ones and close friends at Hastinapur.

I could see how talented the young, dynamic and dashing boy Satyaki was, he learned all the basic techniques from me pretty quickly and I could envisage a future of a mighty and fearless warrior in him. Apart from his skills, he was such a good-hearted boy, who loved all of us so dearly and without expecting anything in return. I would cherish my friendship with him all my life. If I can say, apart from my dear friend and soulmate Madhav, if anyone else had come that close to me, then it would be none other than Satyaki. A true friend, who was with us when the chips were down and when we badly needed him. A glorious character, and a fearless warrior with magnanimous heart and I hope future generations will take the name of 'Satyaki' with affection and reverence.

About the character of Gada, a jolly soul, who loved to have fun and entertainment, loved to have long chitchats, and was interested in doing other things too apart from learning about weaponry. Later on in life, I learnt from Subhadra that Gada apart from Madhav, in a way was responsible in building my image in the eyes of Subhadra. Gada would usually exaggerate my feats and valour in front of Subhadra and make her eyes twinkle with pride and affection. I would think that Gada increased my chances mightily in the eyes of Subhadra. I would cherish my friendship with Gada which was again one of lifelong.

About Subhadra, what more I can tell, she was a bubbly character, extremely beautiful, with childlike innocence and with amazing talent in music and singing. I can say, few sparks did fly from both sides during that brief stay. The parting eye lock she gave, the miserable condition she was in being close to tears and with puffed up eyes, all this caused ache in my heart and this was the first time I was experiencing such condition. I was really surprised about what was happening to me. I was also concerned about it, because I had good self-control in such matters even from young age. I usually never cared much about girls and their attention, not that I did not like it, but I was engrossed in my craft and focused on it with single-minded determination. I was accustomed to having some uncomfortable and not so gentle stares from Dushshala's friends and other relatives, but I never felt anything of sort which I felt in the company of Subhadra. I'm just saying everything frankly here, as I'm a human and sometimes I too crave for love and affection, though in my case, due to God's gift and my parent's blessings, I was able to control it in good measure most of the times and showed good judgement and protected my honour and my family's honour.

Also, I would like to make one thing clear, we Pandavas might have had numerous disagreements with our cousins, felt cheated and sabotaged by our cousins at various times, all this was courtesy Duryodhan in the company of Dushsasan, Shakuni and later on Karna, under the safe umbrella of our Bade Pitashree. But, we never felt hostility or ill feelings from our Badi Mata Gandhari, sister Dushshala, brothers Vikarna, Yuyutsu and also in general from rest of our cousins. Our Badi Mata Gandhari was a great Shiv Bhaktini and used to worship Mahadev daily very devotedly. She used to pray to the unique Shiv Ling which she brought from her home place of Gandhar. The Shiv Ling was supposed to be 'Swayambhu' and was thought to be worshipped in earlier times by various great sages. One of the sages visited the Gandhar kingdom during the month of 'Maha Shivaratri' and was highly impressed with the devotion shown by our Mata Gandhari in preparing the prayer hall with various flowers all by herself and in decorating the Shiv Ling in the temple. Seeing such great devotion shown by Mata towards Lord Shiv, the sage gifted that unique and radiant Shiv Ling to her. Thus that radiant Shiv Ling became part of our Mata Gandhari's life. She used worship it daily and decorate that Shiv Ling with immense devotion. Whenever I was in Hastinapur, I used to accompany her to the prayer hall and used to sit with her and do 'alankaar' and 'abhishek' of that Shiv Ling along with her. She used to affectionately call me as Krishna, and apart from my father Maharaj Pandu, she was the only one who used to call me by that name frequently.

Our Mata Gandhari tried her best to rein in Duryodhan and other members of the evil company and be friendly with us and forget enmity. Our Badi Mata gave us great love and affection and she never had any ill feelings towards us in her heart. One thing I fondly remember of her was, she had great expertise in making Kheer (rice pudding) and we used to love it immensely. She used to sprinkle various kinds of dry fruits, some syrups along with some mild spices (to get a distinct smell and flavour), all this combination made for a super delicious Kheer, the likes of which I never had anywhere else, though Bhim bhai would be a close second in making such. Bhim bhai learnt that awesome recipe from her and used to make Kheer for us on special occasions later on in life, which came pretty close to how our Badi Mata Gandhari used to make. She learnt that special recipe of making Kheer at her native place of Gandhar. She made that special Kheer for us in the afternoon of our return back to the Gurukul. It was delicious as ever and we all had tears seeing the affection and love she showered on us. The same was the case with Dushshala, she never agreed to what Duryodhan and company did to us and always showed great sisterly affection. We never forgot that affection and repaid it, when we pardoned that wretch Jayadrath with life, who was the husband of Dushshala, even though he committed an unpardonable sin.

It was time again to bid farewell to our loved ones back at home, and with time we all understood at our young age what it takes to lead the life of a 'Kshatriya'. We have to be mentally and emotionally strong in order to complete our trainings and do the assigned duties. The life of a 'Kshatriya', is not an easy one, it involves learning new techniques all the time and improving oneself, warfare, living away from family, facing tremendous emotional and mental disturbance to cause and to see loss of life in wars. But, that is what a 'Kshatriya' is expected to do in his life and we all were prepared for it. So, it was time to show resolve and not to succumb, and this time all us brothers and cousins were far more stable and controlled and bid farewell as is expected of formidable Kshatriya boys. We took blessings from our elders and Pitamah Bhishm embraced me and reminded me in my ears that I should return back from the Gurukul only after earning the name 'Savyasachi'.

We started our journey back to Gurukul later on in the afternoon and by the time we reached it well past into the night. So, we just had a very light meal consisting of few salads, fruits and buttermilk and immediately retired to our dormitory as we all were super tired. Next day, our classes resumed as usual and our Guruji was so happy to see us all back. He developed great affection for us, and we were able to gauge a sense of pride in him, when he saw his pupils do brilliantly in various skills.