It has been a few years since the princes of the Kuru dynasty started their education under Guru Dron. Today, he had sent his students for various jobs from his ashram. Duryodhan, Dussasan and Jalagandh were sent to bring firewood. The rest of Kauravas, Yudhistir and Bhim were sent to graze cows. Arjun, Sahadev and Nakul were sent to collect a few medical leaves and fruits from a forest near the Ashram.
Arjun, Nakul and Sahadev were walking, searching for enough fruits. When they reached the part with medicinal fruits they were too astonished. There on the floor, laid two children in strange clothes with fruit in one of their hands. A little apart another of same fruit laid and a bit far two baskets of fruits scattered around.
"Bhrata Arjun, please call Gurudev. We will check what happened." said Nakul.
He bent down and took the fruit from the child's hand. After a bit of examination, he and his twin looked at each other in shock.
"Bhrata...they..." said Nakul astonished.
Arjun came running followed by Guru Dron and Ashwadhama.
"What happened?" Guru Dron asked his disciples.
"Gurudev, these boys appear to be poisoned." said Nakul.
"They might have been pricked by the poisonous thorns. " said Guru Drona. "Take them to the Ashram. Nakul, Sahadev, you are well-versed in terms of medicine. Treat them. Let this be another lesson on how to deal with bad situations. "
The three disciples obeyed their teacher. Arjun lifted up one of them and Nakul the other. Sahadev collected a few of the poisonous fruits carefully. Guru Dron gestured to his son to help them. Ashwadhama searched the surroundings and collected everything he could find there, and followed his father. The five quickly walked towards the Ashram.
A few minutes passed. By then, Nakul had discovered the cure and almost all other pupils in the Ashram had returned. They all crowded around the strange newcomers.
Slowly both of them opened their eyes. They looked around, taking in their surroundings.
"Where are we?" spoke one of them looking around and spotting the other.
"Niv?" asked the other.
Guru Dron, his disciples and his son were bewildered seeing them speak in the strange language.
"Pranipat. Can you tell us who you are?" spoke Arjun in pure Sanskrit.
Nivitha blinked twice. She couldn't understand a thing." Repeat slowly?" asked Nivitha in Sanskrit.
"Can you tell us who you are? Are you okay now? We found you in the forest." spoke Sahadev slowly.
"Aham Nivithaha. Saha Saatvikaha." (I am Nivitha. This is Sathvik. ) said Nivitha. "We had lost our way on our trip from Gurukul. Now we stay in a farmer's house. Who are you all?"
"My name is Ashwadhama. This is my father Dronacharya. You are here at his Gurukul. " said Ashwadhama who stood nearby.
"Pranipat." said Sathvik and Nivitha joining their hands.
"Where are you from? Such strange clothes and language are not familiar in Aryavat." said Guru Drona.
"We are from the Southern kingdoms. Our region is a bit more different...some of our cultures are different from the rest of present Aryavat. But all our rituals and customs are almost the same, Acharya." This time Sathvik spoke up.
"You said that you got lost from your Gurukul trip? What all have you learned in your Gurukul? And which caste do you belong to?" asked Guru Drona.
"Acharya, our educational system is a bit different from yours. We had learned a bit of language, history, geography, political science, economics, science, maths and a bit of drama." said Nivitha.
Guru Dron nodded. Suddenly someone called for Guru Dron and he walked out of the room.
"You weren't taught weaponry?" asked Arjun curiously.
"Our teachers didn't find the knowledge of weaponry to be important. We were encouraged to avoid wars and fights. Only after becoming adults, if we chose to learn weaponry, we can learn it for defending our country. However, we still were taught basics for self-defence." said Sathvik.
"That seems to be a better form of approach. Wars always lead to calamity and it is pleasant to know that at least somewhere wars are discouraged." said Yudhistir with a smile.
"Are Kshatriyas too not taught weaponry?" asked Bheem.
" Kshatriyas were never an exception. In our system, all individuals were taught together and after completing basic education gained knowledge in preferable fields to excel in it," remarked Nivitha with a smile.
"Interesting..." muttered Duryodhan.
By then Guru Drona had returned. After a bit more conversations, Guru Drona decided on letting the duo stay and decided to decide on what to do with them the next day.
By their conversations, the duo had managed to earn friendship and admiration among the pupils there.
There it is. I'm back after a long gap due to the 10th board exams. I am not completely back but decided to engage in writing too amid studies since there isn't much information on our boards. So how do you like the chapter? Is it good? And can you guess why Nivitha's identity wasn't discovered despite saying her real name? Next chapter onwards, I'm writing about the next bunch of students who landed elsewhere which is a secret *smiles mysteriously*. Well, that's all. If you have any queries mention them in the comments. Don't forget to vote and comment. Byeess.
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A journey to the past
Historical Fiction"There are two primary choices in life: to accept the conditions as they exist or accept responsibility for changing them" -Shree Krishna A few school students explore the places where the Mahabharata had taken place. They meet strange people who a...
