Hidden behind those red blindfolds, were curious eyes that once saw the world, soaked it's hue and carried dreams like every other girl. Gandhari, mother of 101 kids, sister of Shakuni but most importantly, she was yet another bird shackled by rules...
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"Some paintings looks best when they are left incomplete."
The lines of beggars accumulated in the compounds of the temple. Each one of them had ragged clothes gracing their bodies, more like hiding away their modesty. With grime covered face, disheveled hair infested with lice and a putrid smell wafting from them, so much so that I had an urge to grimace, they hoarded to recieve something, anything. Their frame was cadaverous and their cheeks were sucken with eyes that were almost popping out. They sat in a line with copper bowls in their hands, their eyes held anticipation while their mouths salivated, smelling the aroma of the food that was supposed to be given along with the rest of the alms.
Bhrata Shakuni was monitoring the guards who were lining the beggars and occasionally instructing them about one thing or the other. On the other hand, a maid was distributing the stuff on my name while I was staring at all this from a distance.
"Rajkumari, do we have to stand here?" Nityasha pouted with a look of disgust in her eyes. Her fingers trailed to her nose and she tried to suppress her urge to gag from the odor of sweat and lack of hygiene. I left her question unanswered instead kept standing there seeing through the whole process. The line kept on going and the maids kept on distributing till it was almost afternoon and the heat of the sun started to be evident. A droplet of sweat rolled down my cheeks while my whole body was aching after standing so long.
"How long?" I questioned Sugdha, by now Nitysha had already left saying her legs were giving up. Hence, I was standing there alone with my maids.
She craned her neck and looked at the line ahead, then whispered to another maid, "Get me a count." To which the maid nodded and followed her instructions. My body almost swayed in exhaustion but I stood there waiting for the maid to return.
With swift steps she returned and reported, "10 people are still remaining." She answered our inquisitive gaze. I sighed in relief and signalled the maid distributing alms to hurry things up. Soon everything was distributed and I would have rushed to the palanquin if my legs were not aching from the last night walk and today's long period of standing at the same spot. The weight of gold on my body was another thing that held me down from free movement but it was mostly legs that were the main set back. Thankfully Sugdha and Jasvi helped me to get into the sedan else it was getting hard for me to fold my legs.
On my return trip I peeked out of the sedan and the contrast in view with that of the morning was clear. The dark roads and the mist covered area was now turned into lush green forests. The birds chirping too were less evident but the screech of monkeys concealed from the sight due to branches of trees were more obvious. I craned my neck outside the sedan to get a better view and coincidentally, a monkey jumped between two branches over my head, making me squeal.
Hearing my shrill voice my brother, who was trotting on his horse ahead, turned around and smiled looking at my laughter but soon turned apathetic when our eyes met. A pang of disappointment hit me but I brushed that thought out with a shake of my head. I retracted my head and fiddled with the hem of my lehenga and strung a few loose threads. After that I spent the rest of the journey with only a few glances outside or trailed my fingers on the wooden carving of sedan walls.
