The Princes of Ayodhya-The Ramayan Through Short Stories

Character Drabbles-Part 3

Character Drabbles-Part 3

A/N-Well, with the amount of requests for yet another character drabbles, I have enough characters to do a part four. I included Bharat, Mandavi, and Kaikeyi here as a set because they all are related.

Mandavi "The Reasonable"

Mandavi remembered, at the tender age of just eight, she used to walk down the halls and lean over the balcony and watch the soldiers do their swordplay, and wish she was part of the action. Not as a warrior of course, she wasn't nearly as excited about bloodshed as a warrior undoubtedly had to be, she just wanted to learn how to use a sword so that if she was ever cornered without protection, she could learn to wield a weapon.

"Papa, papa!" cried Mandavi, running up to her father, who, sitting with Rani Chandrabhnaga on his throne, turned away from his divine scriptures, and looked up at her, leaning forward and asking her for her wish. "I want to learn how to wield the sword!" she cried giddily. "It sounds fun! It sounds awesome, in fact!"

Raja Kushadwaj turned uneasily towards his wife, but under her kind smile and encouraging nod, he returned his unwavering gaze and attention to an innocent Mandavi, who did not know the magnitude of what she had just asked for. "To wield a sword, my dear Devi, is hard work. A warrior's sword is a warrior's pride, it is." he swallowed hard. "Not many women learn the art of sword fighting. I myself shall teach you!"

A young Shrutakirti watched this, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. Later, she caught up to Mandavi. "That was quite bold of you," she mumbled, her face down towards her feet. It was only years later that Mandavi understood exactly what made her so bold in other's eyes. That she had asked to learn the sword? Was that it? That she wanted to do something that boys could as well?

She didn't want the title of bold when what she did was reasonable! Of course, she left the sword a few years later, not liking it very much, but even then. She never had an affinity for cooking, nor sewing, much to her mother's aghast, and did what she pleased. Mandavi never thought that was anything terrible! It was pretty obvious that everyone else did not share her thoughts, and she would often get hostile, but somewhat curious glances from the maids.

"I need to leave. The throne isn't mine." Bharat muttered. "My older brother is in the forest, alone, and I can't live a life in luxury when I know-I know that he is not, he ever so deserving of this throne and this gold, is sleeping on the forest floor." Mandavi looked up angrily, and scowled, but fear rushed up her spine like a torrent of freezing cold water.

Shrutakirti was watching the two of them carefully, and that was when Mandavi knew she was about to do something bold. Bold didn't matter then. All that mattered was having her husband with her. Did it matter to him that she was here as his wife was going to be alone? Was the love of his wife nothing to him anymore, compared to the bond of his brothers? In this way, Lakshman bhaiyya's sacrifice was useless if her own husband also exiled himself!

"No!" she cried out angrily, stepping forward. "You assign me to the same fate as Urmila, and you cannot! You have no right to, you understand? NONE. Ram bhaiyya is not alone, he is with Lakshman bhaiyya and Sita didi! Such devotion you have to your brother, but do you have none for your wife and mothers? Do you have no thought before you make such rash decisions?" Tears began flowing out of her eyes as Kaikeyi Maa sobbed.

"Do you have no feeling of responsibility for me?" she shouted. "Do you have zero second thoughts about your wife? Need I remind you that you will not be reigning as king? Need I remind you that you have an obligation towards your wife?" she looked around angrily. "At least Lakshman bhaiyya had a clear reason to go with his brother! You have none. You are not directly supporting the three, nor are you helping us. You are just selfishly leaving your responsibilities." she spat out angrily.