The Ramayana - Lakshmila's POV

Mandavi's Outburst

The tension that prevailed around was thick enough to be sliced through with a sharp knife. Different paired of eyes looked around at each other and Bharat's eyes stayed still at Ram. Ram smiled at his brother and gave a nod in his direction. No one noticed the grief-stricken face of Mandavi. It was like as if no one cared about the soul that stood there with a look of disbelief on her face. Guru Vashisht had started to chalk out plans as to how the administration would run in the absence of both Ram and Bharat. A small voice questioned out "Is this Dharma that you preach ? Then what of mine ?" The audience turned towards the source of the voice to find a grief stricken Mandavi, all lost and furious. She couldn't control her emotions anymore. The past two days had taken a toll on her mental stability and she could do nothing but vent out her frustration "Is this the Dharma of the Raghuvansh clan to not take the consent of their wives before giving away words of fulfillment on a silver platter ?" There was sharp gasp from the onlookers. Sita softly spoke "Mandavi... This is not the way to speak." Mandavi turned to Sita "No Sita.. I can't take it anymore.. it is all too much to take in.. I am a human being with emotions.. And no matter how much do I portray myself to be strong, I am not. I am not strong like Urmila. Urmila might be strong enough to send her husband on an exile for fourteen years but the same can't be said for me. I am strong enough to send my husband on an exile for fourteen years." A voice resonated from behind "Perhaps I can be of some help." The source of the voice was traced back to Rajrishi Janak who stood at the entrance of the hut with a grum expression on his ever calm face.

FLASHBACK..

An hour after the party left for Chitrakoot, Urmila retired to her chambers to revise the vedas that she had studied. She had always been the most studious out of the four along with being an artist. While her older sister always showed more of an interest towards shaping up her culinary skills, Mandavi took refugee in reading history and Shrutikeerti was the youngest and more inclined towards dance. She was going through the pages when she was informed by a guard that Rajrishi Janak and Rani Sunanina had arrived at Ayodhya. Urmila dropped her vedic book on the table and ran towards the entrance of the palace. The sight of her mother after so long made her feel overwhelmed with emotions so strong that she rushed towards her mother's welcoming embrace. Sunaina took her younger daughter into her loving embrace and patted the top of her head "My daughter.. My brave Urmila... My mature child.." Urmila broke from her mother's embrace and looked at her mother with a serene smile on her face. Sunaina took a long look at her daughter and her saffron clad appearance. Her Urmila was not a fan of jewellery but she did not suffer the hardships that she was undergoing now while at Mithila. A deep voice came from the back of Sunaina "My Urmila.." Urmila looked towards her father and ran into his outstretched arms. Rajrishi Janak enveloped his lovely daughter into his protective embrace and closed his eyes. When they had heard the news of the exile and The King's deteriorating health, Sunaina had straightaway demanded to see her daughters and Rajrishi Janak too obliged. He himself was worried about his daughter. He knew Sita would follow her husband into exile. His oldest daughter was an independent woman and she knew her responsibilities and her thoughts were different.  But his younger daughter had a mind of her own. And he also knew Lakshman's devotion towards his older brother. He didn't know how his youngest was coping up with the happenings." Inside Urmila's chamber, she told her parents everything what had transpired since the topic of exile started. Sunaina was furious at her daughter's predicament but Urmila had put her foot down firmly and defended her husband by telling them what had transpired between then at Mithila. In the end Sunaina grudgingly accepted the genuinity of her son-in-law. Janak had suggested taking the three sisters to Mithila for the remainder of those fourteen years but Urmila had politely refused stating her promise to her husband. Janak smiled at his youngest daughter with tears in his eyes. He remembered the first time he held little Urmila in his arms and now she was all grown up and taking up bigger responsibilities. It was time he realized that she was not a little child anymore. They had left immediately for Chitrakoot to meet the others.