The Enchantress

4. Strongest weapon

A panicked Mahamaya entered her home as Indrayani asked worriedly, "What happened Maya? Is everything alright?"

The daughter gulped and said worriedly,
"No, nothing is right. Everybody just keeps staring at me and I feel like they have sinister intentions."

Indrayani sighed and held her daughter's chin lovingly, "What do you think should we do about it?"

The daughter shrugged and mumbled, "I want to feel safe."

The mother smiled and asked again, "So what do you think is the solution of this problem?"

The daughter thought for a while as she mumbled, "A-A weapon?"

Indrayani smiled again and asked, "And what can be the biggest weapon?"

Mahamaya was lost thinking when Indrayani pointed a finger at her daughter, "You my daughter, you are the biggest weapon. Remember, you are a MarAthA. Chhatrapati ShivAji MahArAj's mother, his wives, his daughters, daughter-in-laws, everyone knew how to fight when they had to protect themselves. Even JhAnsi's Queen, Queen Lakshmibai knew how to fight. They led armies, protected their people and most of the times, returned victorious."

Mahamaya felt excited as she asked, "Can I fight too?"

Indrayani giggled at her daughter's excitement and said lovingly, "Of course. We will enroll you for learning GanAvi kAvA and mardAni khel, the two Marathi martial arts which they learnt. Along with that, I'll also buy you a pocket knife and a pepper spray for safety reasons which you can keep in your bag."

Mahamaya felt relieved. Placing her head on her mother's lap, she asked curiously, "How old was Shivaji Maharaj when he decided that he wanted to be the King?"

Indrayani played with her daughter's super long hair as she answered, "He was trained since he was eight. He was around twelve when he had decided that he would establish SwarAjya (self rule). In those times, very bad rulers used to rule over Maharashtra. They used to collect more taxes than the people could afford, temples were broken, women would be kidnapped and that led to a series of bad practices in the society like child marriage and sati (widow burning)."

Mahamaya gasped and said, "But these problems stopped much later. Shivaji Maharaj was born in 1630. How come the problems went on for this long?"

Indrayani continued playing with her daughter's hair, "When people grow up seeing things, they repeat it thinking that it is tradition. They didn't see that the holy scriptures say that women aren't mature enough to be married till they are twenty years old. Even I was married before I was of legal age but my case is not that extreme. Thankfully, I got a good husband."

Mahamaya huffed as her mother went on to praise her father. Indrayani would do that every chance she got. Mahamaya tried to steer the conversation again, "Aai, you were telling about Shivaji Maharaj."

Indrayani laughed at her daughter's excitement and continued, "Yes, but he is Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, not just Shivaji Maharaj. Chhatrapati is a title given to him. Chhatra means umbrella or shelter. He was a King who was protective of his subjects, like a father is protect of his child. That's why, always remember to use Chhatrapati before his name. Maharaj means great King. I call him RAje(y) (King) lovingly and almost everyone knows who I am talking about because everyone in Maharashtra love him. His father, ShahAji RAje used to work as a minister in one of the kings' court. Shahaji Raje longed for freedom so much but he couldn't get it. He was the first one to have the idea of SwarAjya (self rule). So he had appointed men to train his son since the age of eight. After Raje (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj) had become twelve, he was handed the jaagir of Pune."