ENIGMATIC QUEEN

Story telling (Part - III)

Once they finished their dinner , Abhinaya went to back garden of the palace.  Duryodhan who couldn't sleep saw his Zahra strolling the garden and went towards her.

" Can't sleep, little one? " , he asked.

" Sleep is far from me Suyo", she replied as they both settled under  a tree.

" Why ?"

" My dad doesn't acknowledge my existence, and I have never received any letters from him. When I see Abhimanyu reading the letters that he receives, I feel happy for him but still one part of still longs  for my father. Sometimes, It's really hard to accept the reality Suyo.", she said looking at the sky.

Duryodhan saw the sadness behind the shinning face. He could feel the longing .

" Well, I know someone similar to you.", he said. 

" What did he do when he wants to accept the reality? ", she asked him.

" It continues with the story. So, when Ved Vyas separated the flesh in 101 pots,  after a year ,on a stormy night the first baby was born. He was said to be a bad omen. But king Dhritarashtra didn't want to kill the child. He said he would raise him well.", he said.

" Omens doesn't categorize once birth. No one is born evil. They are made evil", the little said.

" But there are persons who denies it , Anjali",   Subhadra said in between.

Abhi ran to her mother and Duryodhana made place for her to sit. 

" Then what happened Gandhari Nandan ", Bhadra asked.

"He was named Suyodhana meaning ' Great Warrior'. Later King Pandu had sons, Bheema, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadev.

Here the other brothers of Suyodhana was born along with a little sister. 

Suyodhan grew up as a naughty and a bright kid. He spent his time in library. He learned many scriptures but when he had doubt no one was there to clear it. His father was busy with kingdom, his mother had jobs of Maharani, whenever he approaches Bhishma or Vidura they go as if they have some work. When he understood why, he made a wall around his emotions and thoughts. He secluded himself from the world. But he had few friends other , they were his trusted servants. ", he said.

Abhi hugged Suyodhana. She felt the loneliness in him. Her small hands wiped the tears of Suyodhan while Subhadra admired their bond.

"  Later Gandhar Raj, Shakuni came to Hastinapur. He took advantage of the situation and manipulated the kauravas and King Dhritarashtra by his aura. Tough Shakuni manipulated Duryodhana , he couldn't do it when Duryodhana had great bond with his people. Duryodhana was adored by people of Hastinapur. He never biased his opinion depending on one's caste. ", Bhadra said.

"How do you know many thing about him ?, Subha", the little got curious.

"Because your mom is my good friend", Duryodhana said.

" After the death of Pandu , Pandavas came back to Hastinapur with their mom Kunti. Being Dev putra's they were adored a lot. Bhishma and Vidura taught them many skills , even they taught my brothers but not me. I started to learn everything on my own. I started my learning from books to cooking. Cooking gives peace. It teaches us art of life, art of war, and art of silence. Then I slowly started to learn horse riding from a kaka who took care of horses in Hastinapur. After that I used to sneak into the army practice arena to watch their moves and I practice those at night. Though the Pandavas and my brothers were taught directly the thirst to learn in them was less. Yudishtar follows his Dharma blindly. He doesn't know whether the Dharma he follows are accepted by his society. He believes the rules made by our ancestors were right, but he never goes through the process of experiencing it. I never hated Pandavas . I just disliked the way they thought. As we grew we 105 Kuru Prince were sent to learn from Guru Dronacharya. There I befriended Ashwathama , the son of our Guru who learnt skills with us. Guru Drona always favored Arjuna. He loved his disciple than his own son. But Ashwathama never felt angry nor jealous. He practiced day and night to get perfection in each skill to make his father proud and I practiced with him.", Duryodhana said.

Later Balarama came a took a seat beside them and he continued the story, " During Kala Pradarshan a valiant warrior Karna came to the view when Guru Drona was praising Arjuna as the best archer in the whole world. When Karna was humiliated by his caste , Duryodhan crowned Karna as King of Anga and made him eligible to participate the test."

" Why they distinguish a person by caste? Why shouldn't suta's learn weaponries . Is there any stupid rule like that? ", Abhi asked.

" It is there in a kingdom like Hastinapur. I tried to change it but my efforts went in vain. If I should achieve my dreams I need power. And the superior power one had is the status of king and I needed it", Duryodhana said. 

" Suyodhana , What exactly happened in Dyut Sabha?", Abhi asked.

Subhadra and Balarama also got curious. 

" Taking a warriors weapon away from him is equal to removing his vastra. A warrior's pride is his weapon. During my visit to Indraprasta Raja Surya Yaga, I demanded explanation for Shishupal's death and Queen of Indraprasta , the love of Pandavas , Draupadi punished us by taking away our weaponries from us. Leave me, but what did Karna and Ashwathama do. Ashwathama was given Durupad's half kingdom by his father, whereas Draupadi already insulted Karna as Suta during her Swayamvar. Both Karna and Ashwathama were innocents but they were punished with us. And that punishment was not right one too. Subhadra confronted them by saying the punishment was wrong but Draupadi was stubborn in her decision. That day I started to hate them little by little. I wanted revenge for my insult. Thus I sought Mama Shree's help. My plan was just to take away their kingdom but not to humiliate her.", Duryodhana said.

" Before the start of game I sent Ashwathama and Karna away because I don't want them to be a part of my cruelty. When Draupadi became Dasi I was about to slap Yudishtar questioning his Dharma  but I couldn't. When I said Dusshasan to stop dragging Draupadi he never listened. I once promised my Mama Shree I will not stop his game in the middle, but when the game went too far me and Vikarna tried to stop it. We begged our Guru , Mahamanim Bhishma, Vidura, the king, everyone where bound to their so called Dharma. According to the rules I couldn't get out of the hall. I couldn't send message to Karna or Ashwathama for help. Even if I go out I feared things would go out of hand. But my loyal servant understood my pain and ran to call my friends. But it was a bit late. Dusshasan started to insult Draupadi but my friends came at right time to save a big Adharma. But at the end I was blamed. I was ready to give even the throne of Hastinapur to Yudishtar but the game was played by my Mama Shree . What he says happens. I asked forgiveness to Pandavas but they were not ready to accept. They were given 12 years of Vanavas and 1 year of hidden life. At last no one is happy. They even blame Karna. This is what he gets for saving them. ", he finished.

The three understood the truth and they felt sorry for the poor soul.  

Abhi stood in front of him and took his hand. She tied a bracelet in his wrist and said , " This is our symbol of friendship. One for you and one for me. Never remove it. Understood." Duryodhana nodded .She showed her hand which had same bracelet as his. This started the blossom of their new found friendship.