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

Chapter 19: Proposal for 'Skills Exhibition'

It seemed that time literally flew by at the Gurukul, and we almost reached to the concluding stages of our training under Acharya Dron. By this time, everyone of us brothers and cousins were brilliant in wielding various kinds of weapons. Acharya Dron thought it was time to showcase our skills to our loved ones back at home, specially to the mighty bowman our Pitamah Bhishm, Bade Pitashree, Vidur Kaka and to the people of Hastinapur. One day very early in the morning, Acharya Dron started his journey to Hastinapur to meet our elders and put a proposal before them. After receiving Acharya at the court with due honour, Pitamah Bhishm asked him the purpose of his visit. Acharya announced "Your majesty, the Kuru princes are ready to display their skills to yourselves and the people". The elders at the court were elated at this and with tremendous enthusiasm gave their approval to have an exhibition showcasing the skills of Kuru princes.

Acharya Dron returned back to Gurukul in the afternoon and seemed immensely happy and when I was training with him in the evening, asked him humbly the reason for the delight that was seen, since he returned from Hastinapur. Acharya smiled and patted me gently and said, 'My boy, it is the time now to showcase to your Pitamah, the mighty bowman Bhishm, how I moulded my students, the Kuru princes into outstanding wielders of weapons. My dear Arjuna, I'm sure you will make me proud with your skills during the exhibition. Even, your Pitamah should be stunned to see such skills and be proud of you'.

I was very excited at the prospect of skills exhibition and humbly prostrated and said to Acharya, not only at the coming exhibition but till my last breath, I will try my best to make you proud Gurudev. At this, Acharya's face shone brightly with pride and he patted me gently on my head and kissed my forehead and gave his blessings. I always treated my Acharya like a father and loved him dearly and always held a special place for him in my heart. On my Acharya's part, apart from imparting high-class training, he gave me much more valuable things in life, such as love and affection. Even, our Guru bhai Ashwathama used to treat me as his own younger brother and so was Guru maa Kripi as her own son. I don't know what good deeds I did to get such unconditional love and affection not only from my Acharya but also from his family.

The preparations for conducting the exhibition to display our skills started with much pomp and splendour, our Acharya wanted to make this event a memorable experience of lifetime for everyone. Acharya gave specific instructions for building a large and magnificent stadium which would host the exhibition. Baade Pitashree entrusted the responsibility of building that stadium to Vidur kaka. It was well known to all, that Vidur kaka being a thorough professional would have the stadium built exactly as instructed by our Acharya. Vidur kaka hired the finest artisans in the kingdom to build the stadium as per the instructions given by Acharya. The stadium was prepared not only as per the exacting standards given by Acharya but also abiding to the rules of Vaasthu Shastra. It took around a month's time for the stadium to get completed and when our Acharya took us all to the stadium to have a glimpse, we all were awestruck to see that large and magnificent stadium, the likes of which we never saw before in our lives. It was an imposing structure, which had a large ground to showcase for exhibition of skills, huge pavilion built for the common people to view the exhibition, separate stands for nobility, separate stands for women and finally we saw specially designed awesome enclosures with all comforts to enable the royal family watch the exhibition.

Acharya Dron after consulting with Kul Guru Kripacharya, announced at the royal court that a date had been fixed for the exhibition. The atmosphere was thrilling and all of us were keen to display the skills before our loved ones, specially I wanted to showcase to my beloved Pitamah. Since, it was still a week to go for the exhibition, we practised vigorously and everyone was immersed in fine tuning their craft. All of us wanted to do well and be worthy of a lineage that boasted legendary warriors such as Bharata, Shantanu, Pitamah Bhishm, father Maharaj Pandu.

People of Hastinapur were thoroughly excited to see such a spectacle of lifetime and used to flock to the training grounds, where we were practising for the exhibition. People used to cheer for their favourites. Usually young women used to cheer the loudest for Nakul, which was of course natural, because of his striking features. Many young people were mesmerised to see the skills of Yudhi bhai with spear and used to shout his name in excitement. Also, older people used to respect Yudhi bhai for his calm demeanour, immense knowledge of scriptures and fair play. Young boys and men were excited to see Bhim bhai and Duryodhan practice with mace. Both of them were absolutely brilliant, when it came to the skills with mace and were evenly matched. But, Bhim bhai was more of an all-rounder though as compared to Duryodhan. Bhim bhai apart from amazing skills with mace, was outstanding in wrestling, and also very good at archery. And, when it was my time to practise, I used to feel a bit embarrassed with the amount of attention I was getting from people, specially from women of various age groups. When it was my turn for practise, they used to shout my name loudly and call me with different names like Arjuna, Phalguna, Savyasachi and make remarks like 'this is the third Pandava destined to conquer the world, this is the curly haired handsome youth whose colour is like that of a dark cloud'.

The week had passed by in a jiffy and we undergone rigorous practice sessions to prepare for the big day of our lives, 'the day of Exhibition!'. On the day of exhibition, during the morning hours, we all gathered at the royal temple to perform puja for Mahadev and take his blessings. On the day of exhibition, it was a brilliant morning, without a cloud in the sky and sun shone, as if he too was interested to see this spectacle. Well before the start of the display of skills, people began to throng the gates of the stadium. Some had spent the night outside the enclosures, so they could get the best seats for watching the show.

Soon after, the gates were thrown open and a sea of people thronged into the stadium to secure best places to watch on the wooden and stone steps, and these stands were canopied with thick cotton cloth to protect them from the blazing heat of the sun. And, the stands were provided with various kinds of refreshments like juices, milkshakes, and also with fruits, snacks and so on. Every section of the crowd had their own favourites, like some were cheering for Yudhi bhai, some for Sahadev, Duryodhan, Bhim bhai and so on. Some women cheered wildly for Nakul, and said they came only to admire his looks and not his skills, and I felt that was a bit disrespectful as Nakul was a peerless swordsman. There were those who said, "There is no archer on earth like Arjuna. We have come to watch only Arjuna perform with his bow". Of course, there were some people in the crowd who mentioned like "Everyone knows that Acharya cares just for one disciple. This exhibition is only to show off Arjuna's skills. He will be the main hero of this event and the others will serve as supporting cast". I thought to myself, is it a crime to be a favourite student of my Acharya? I worked very hard for days and nights to become one, and it was not handed down to me on a platter. Anyhow, I thought let's not get distracted of all this, and one quality which Acharya loved in me above all my other qualities was my immense focus, so I reminded myself I should not lose that focus and concentrate on the task at hand. It was a partisan crowd and was super excited at the impending show of skills.