Ek kahani Veer Kanak ki

2. Into the folk lore of Paurashpur

It has been a day since I entered the land of Paurashpur and it took only one hour in this kingdom for me to think about running back to Mewaarpur and kiss the king and the Queen for how they have always thought of prosperity of their people irrespective of their caste and gender. Paurashpur seemed to be a piece of "Male" dominated land ruled by a dictator. Can't even call it patriarchal society. Only men you can see roaming around. Ladies are meant to be displayed almost naked and sold in exchange of money. Atleast they have spared the underage girls and old ladies, that's what I have observed till now.

Well!!! when I had decided to come to Paurashpur to look for my brother, Ketki has arranged for my whole move to the kingdom of hell. I will have to dress up as a teenage guy in further future....not so difficult for me as I have small built but somehow strapping a cloth around my breast everyday to flatten them...its something I don't think I'll ever get comfortable with. Ketki's relative had arranged for me to reach Paurashpur and arranged a job for me as an assistant in his liquor shop. Ketki's Uncle is very sweet and nice man. He asked me to call him mamasa, his name is Kaushal Nath.He is a middle aged sweetheart. He lives with his lovely wife who is as good as him.

Just like me, they also hide their pain behind their happy faces. Last night, mamasa asked me to take rest since I travelled long. Today mami sa told me all about Paurashpur. She told me "yeh uss samay ki baat hai rajkumari, jab Paurashpur sabse dhanwaan aur samridh rajyo mein se ek tha. Meri maasa bataya karti thi tab log khush rehte the. Auraton ko maryada di jaati thi. Unhe Mardo jitni barabari toh nahi parantu sammaan avashya diya jata tha. Uss samay ke Maharaj Tej Pratap aur Maharani Kauravi ko apne rajya aur prajaa dono ke prathi adhiktar lagaav tha. Unke bade putr Raja Amarendra apne Mata pita ki tarah the. Suna tha ki Maharaj aur Maharani ko ek putri ki ichha thi aur unhi ke ek mantri ne unhe ek taantrik se milwaya aur yeh ichha jataai. Taantrik ne unhe kuchh tantr pooja karne ke liye kaha jiske liye unhe ek panchhi ke rakt ki aahuti denied thi. Is baat ka pata Rajguru ji ko laga jo Paurashpur ke pandit bhi the aur unhe panchhiyo se kaafi lagaav bhi tha, woh atyadhik krodhit hue aur uss krodh mein hi unhone Maharaj aur Maharani ko Shraap diya ki jis putree ki ichha ke liye unhone tantr vidya ka abhiyaan kiya, unhe us putree ka sukh kabhi nahi milega aur is santaan ke kaaran iss rajya ka sarvanaash hoga. Yeh sunke Maharaj aur Maharani ne unse kshama yaachana ki aur unke krodh ko shaanth kiya. Rajguru ji ne kaha ki jo shraap mere jibhya se nikal chuka hai usey toh koi taal nahi sakta kintu Main tumhe aashirwaad deta hu ki ek stree hi tumhaare rajya ko iss sarvanaash se bachaaegi. Issi tarah thoda samay beet gaya aur Maharani ko doosra putr hua, Rajkumar Bhanu Pratap Singh, jo bachpan se hi vichithr prakriya rakhne walo mein se the. Chhote hone ke kaaran Mata pita ke laadle bhi the. Isiliye unki har zidd, har ichha unke kehne se pehle hi poori ki jaati thi. Fir ek din Rajkumar Amarendra Pratap ki Shaadi tay hui aur jab vivaah karke wo apni patni ko Paurashpur lekar aaye toh Unki patni ki sundarta dekh Bhanu Pratap Singh ko unse pyaar ho gaya. Unhe dekh uski hawas jaag uthi. Woh unhe akela paane ki koshish karta, unhe chhoone ki koshish karta. Ek din paani sar se upar guzra aur Rani-sa ne ye baat Raja ji ko bata di. Maharaj aur Maharani uss samay doosre rajya ki yaatra kar rahe the. Raja Amarendra Pratap athyadhik krodhit hue aur Bhanu Pratap singh ko apne kaksh mein bulaake unhe bohot dhutkaar lagai aur unse rajya chhodkar jaane ko kaha. Bhanu Pratap ne wahi apne bhai ke peeth pe talwar se waar kar unhe maar diya aur uske baad uss hawasi ne Rani-sa ke saath zabardasti karke, unka balaatkaar karke unhe nashe ka aadi bana diya. Jab unke Mata pita yaha pahoche toh dekha ki poore rajya mein adhiktar purush nashe mein ghoom rahe the, auraton ko nanga kar unhe beech sadak ghumaya ja raha tha, becha ja raha tha. Ye sab dekh Maharaj aur Maharani ko rajguru ka shraap yaad aaya. Unhone fir bhi ab Raja ban chuke Bhanu Pratap Singh ko samjhaane ka prayaas kiya, apni kulvadhu ko bachana chaha, badle mein Raja Bhanu Pratap Singh ne apne mata pita ko mrityudand ki saza di poori praja ke saamne. Aur tabse Raja Bhanu Pratap aur uske mantri kisi bhi khubsoorat ladki ko dekhte hi unhe utha lete hai aur unhe bandhi banake, unse nasha karate hai jisse ki wo unhe adhmari awastha mein rakh sake aur apni hawas ki aag bujha sake aur unpe bohot Zulm karte hai. Isiliye shaadishuda auraton ko bahar nahi jaane diya jata aur yadi wo nikli bhi toh sar se paav tak dhak kar, mangalsutra gale mein baandhkar nikalti hai taaki koi unhe dekh kar pasand na karle apni hawas ke liye. Sirf ek pati ya fir uss aurat ka bhai hi uski raksha kar sakta hai." Hearing this, I could feel the chill within my bones thinking if my Akshara jiji suffered the same fate. The women in kingdom are afraid to venture out. Any man can abduct them and do anything with them and nobody would punish the man other then her husband or brother. That literally broke my heart.

Married woman do have the safety of only their husband and brother. I don't remember when the tears started flowing from my eyes but I was literally sobbing and mamisa was trying to console me. I thought to myself "ab mujhe sirf kunal ko hi nahi dhoondhna, iss rajya ko bhi aise haiwaano se aazaad karana hoga." Overcoming my anguish, I was filled with Hate!!! Anger!! And I promised mamisa "Saam daam dand bhed, kisi bhi tarah Raja Bhanu Pratap Singh ko marna hi hoga. Ye Mewaarpur ki Rajkumari Kanak ka vaada hai. Paurashpur ki auraton ko unka sammaan aur adhikar main dilaaungi aur iske liye mujhe kuch bhi karna pade main karungi." Mamisa informed me "Rajkumari Kanak, Raja ke peechhe iske mantriyo aur iski rani ka saath hai. Wo bohot hi shaatir hai. Then with a smirk I said "Ab waqt aa gaya hai apni kalaa ka sahi upyog aur pradarshan karne ka. Parantu ussey pehle mujhe aur bhi saathiyo ki zaroorat hogi. Aur unhe dhoondne ke liye aapke Madhushala mein mera kaam karna aavashyak hai."

Later in evening when I was digesting all about Paurashpur history, it flashed through my memory and I asked mamisa if she has heard about somebody by name of Veer. Maamisa looked at me giving me a strange expression and asked me " kyu??? Tum usey dhoond rahi ho???" And I was like "Nahi par Kunal ne unka naam bataya tha. Shaayad unhi se mujhe kunal ka pata miley. Isliye aapse poochh rahi hu." To this, maamisa replied "Dekhiye Rajkumari Kanak, Veer bohot hi khatarnak kism ka insaan hai, ussey door hi rahiye, woh kab aata hai, kab jata hai, kaha se aata hai, kaha jata hai kisiko kuch nahi pata. Par ha jab aata hai tab tabahi machaake jata hai. Woh ek nakaabkosh hai aur usne Raja Bhanu Pratap se Khul-e-aam dushmani ka elaan kiya hai. Rajmahal ke dhwaj ko hata ke apne naam ka dhwaj lagaya. Veer ko jaante toh sab hai par jaanta koi nahi." Hmmm!!!! So my next mission would be to search Kunal and Veer!!. I was thinking... "Hum bhi toh dekhe ye Veer kya cheez hai jisne Rajmahal tak jaake Raja ki neende uda di".

Somewhere else in Paurashpur, Veer was already planning to give a major shock to the King of Paurashpur. Veer was thinking " Tonight!!!..."
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Hey you wonderful people!!! Hope I did justice to the update and the story.. Please please please do view n vote n comment. It would mean alot. I know I took longer to update..Apologies!!! Couldn't help it with a one n half year old running around. And yes I'm working on first person conversation n stuff...