Ace of Hearts

5 - New Found Companions

Avishi woke up to a harsh jab  followed by hot searing pain in her abdomen. Her eyes snapped open as she gasped loudly startling the people around her. Her eyes took in the worn out cloth a short distance above her that resembled a sack with the occasional tiny holes in them. As her gaze lowered, she could see the wooden slabs holding up the cloth.

Avishi prepped her elbows beside her abdomen and attempted to raise herself in vain. In the few seconds that she had before falling on her back, she noticed windows amidst the wooden slabs. Sensation crept slowly into her limbs and then her midriff making her realize that she was in a vehicle in transit.

It was then that she realized that the woman on her right was speaking to her in a foreign language. Avishi squinted her eyes at the unknown girl and tried to sit up. The girl rushed forward to help her sit. Avishi's fingers found her abdomen and she observed a white cloth wrapped around with some smelly green paste poking out.

"My name is Purnima" she heard the girl say in Sanskrit.

She snapped her head up in shock as she recognized the language. Avishi pursued BA in History, Literature and Arts back at New York and as a part of her course work, she had to go through multiple historical literature including Indian literature. In her attempts to find and understand authentic Indian scripts, Avishi undertook courses on Sanskrit.

However, she knew that Sanskrit was no longer spoken except maybe in the vedic schools of India. Her last memory was from her dive in Hudson river, a few millions of miles away from India and it's vedic schools. Panic flitted through her eyes before she shut them close gathering her emotions.

"Where am I?" asked Avishi in a calm tone quite in contrast to the budding restlessness in her.

"Dwaraka" came the reply.

"What!" Avishi, for the life of her, could not understand how she landed in Gujarat, India.

"Well, not exactly. You see that? That's Dwaraka." replied the girl, Purnima, pointing to something behind Avishi.

With Purnima's assistance, Avishi twisted her body to peer through a window behind her. A large wonderfully carved arch ,guarded by a troop of soldiers, was surrounded by high stone walls with watch towers at regular intervals. A moat ran along the walls adding a layer of security to whatever was behind the walls.

"Dwaraka, though a recently established kingdom, is a wealthy one. The royal family appreciates music and entertains performers like us generously. We had just finished a performance for the royal princes Rajkumar Shri Krishna and Rajkumar Shriman Balram and were leaving the kingdom when we found you on the shore on the brink of death." continued Purnima.

Avishi took in few deep breathes to keep herself from hyperventilating at the information. She ran her shaky fingers over her face and sighed. Krishna and Balram, royal family of Dwaraka, Sanskrit speaking people. She could not fathom the mess that she had landed herself in.

"Oh! Thank you. Can I get some water please?" asked Avishi.

Gripping the cylindrical bamboo bottle tightly, Avishi gulped water greedily reveling the feel of the drops down her parched throat. She observed the wagon to find it housing three elderly women, a teenage girl and another girl below ten apart from her and Purnima. The youngest girl gaped at Avishi in horror making her realize the scarcity of water among these travellers.

Avishi snapped the bottle shut and mumbled a quick apology causing one of the elderly ladies to admonish the little girl. She stared at the base of the wagon hugging her knees to her chest as she pondered over her situation.