Disclaimer: This work doesn't intend to hurt anyone's feelings and religious beliefs. This story is inspired from religious texts and famous folklores.
RAMAYAN
Whenever we hear the name of the greatest epic of the Indian history, a few things come i...
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Darkness loomed in the entire chamber even when the sun graced the sky painting it in the hues of blue and white. The extinguished flames from a few moments back made incoherent patterns in air until losing their existence into the invisible air. The beads of chudamani shone and reflected the slight light entering the protecting of the curtains, which for the first time laid in a corner of the room.
Her long dark tresses which were usually neatly pinned in a thick braid decorated with jasmines were now sprawled on her back, some tendrils falling on her face making it look like the clouds of a monstrous dark evening. The exquisite jewelry from the entire trilok was scattered on the floor. The colorful bangles, the gold neck pieces along with a few bottles of perfumes which were now broken.
Mandodari sat on the floor in a devasted state. As soon as she received the news of his husband's alliance with another woman, she lost all her senses. For the first time she experienced immense anger within her, a sudden hatred for everything around her especially herself. What kind of a fool she was to trust the mighty Lankesh to whom only one thing mattered and that was him.
How stupid she was to think that no matter how many nymphs or princesses he captured, he wouldn't marry anyone keeping his promise that she will be his only queen. How smartly he replaced the word 'wife' with a queen because no matter what, the first wife is always the queen. Mandodari chuckled at her state and threw another of her bangle to the far end of the room. The numerous warnings and voices that she heard before her wedding now played in her head like a rhyme, as if the music of her husband's wedding.
She thought that the pain of her husband spending time with his mistresses was the worst kind of pain and jealousy that she could experience. Alas, how wrong she was. Earlier she was the sole queen of this palace. She didn't have to share her household with anyone but now, all her rights as a wife, as a housewife were to be shared with someone. Worst of all, she had to share her husband with someone who had the same rights on him as she had. Distressed and frustrated at her helpless state, Mandodari grabbed the jewelry box and smashed it on the wall breaking it into pieces and scattering it's content on the floor.
The maids outside the room stood there with their heads hung low, pitying their queen. Dashanan was informed that his wife was unwell and hence couldn't arrive to welcome him. He just nodded and made a note to meet her.
The doors of the room creaked open revealing a familiar reaction. Mandodari turned her head away, not wanting to speak to her husband. A frown marred her forehead as she heard the sound of anklets and clattering of a few bangles. The person lit a few lamps in the room, enough to see everything properly. The person walked ahead and took a seat on the large cushioned sette. Even in her old and limp form, the person sat with elegance, just like a queen.
"What brought you here Rajmata?" Kaikesi was slightly taken aback by Mandodari's tone but took a deep breath composing herself.
"Thought to meet my daughter in law." Kaikesi stated running a hand over her already perfect drape.
"Why? The new one didn't please you like she pleased your son?" For the first time, Kaikesi saw that fire in Mandodari that she always wanted in Lanka's queen. The only reason that she wasn't able to accept Mandodari as the queen was her submissive behavior but today she witnessed a fire, a charm in Mandodari.
"I didn't really meet her yet. I welcomed her and then she was escorted to her chambers by the nobles' wives. I thought to meetthe cribbing queen of Lanka." Kaikesi shrugged earning a stink eye from Mandodari.
"What do you mean?"
"Come on Mandodari. You are not so naïve now. You are a queen. Then why don't you behave like one?" Kaikesi spat making Mandodari frown.
"What do you mean?" Kaikesi sighed and turned to her.
"See. I spoke to you in such a venomous tone and you didn't say anything. This is the reason for your state. You have degraded yourself Mandodari and no one else." Mandodari looked up at her, a sudden wave of realization hitting her like a cold wave of gusting wind.
"I don't get you."
"Oh Mandodari. Men are like kids. Stupid kids. They will go where they are pampered and not where they are subjected to constant complain and cribbing. Now for once imagine, you always complain to Meghnad and scold him while Dashanan always pampers him. Where will he go?" Mandodari looked at Kaikesi and answered him.
"Remember Mandodari, a wife can be replaced but not a queen."
And it was indeed true. Her position as a queen and the future queen mother was irreplaceable. She only had to maintain her rule as a wife. She had to declare her reign by fighting and not cribbing. She had to prove that she was not below her husband but equal to him. If he was Lankesh, she was Lankeshwari. If he was trilok swami, she was trilok swamini and no one in the world can take this title from her so easily.
She looked up at her mother in law who sat there with a slight and secretive smile. There she was a self made queen. Never raised a weapon but made everything and everyone else her weapon, so strong that even after her husband leaving, she had her own identity, her own place. Wordlessly, Kaikesi got up and walked away ordering the maid to clean up the chamber on her way out.
Mandodari got up, wiping her tear trails. She could feel a sudden change in her, a sudden sense of power in possession. If she was given a reign to rule, there was no way in the world she was letting it slip.
Now she knew that more than a housewife , she had to be the queen of Lanka.
