Suffered in silence ~~ Legend of Sumitranandans

New beginnings

While they would have loved to stay at Chitrakuta for the rest of the exile as well, Ram Sita and Lakshman decided to move on and leave for Dandakaranya. It was Ram's suggestion, mainly, because this place was revealed to the citizens of Ayodhya and their family, so it was not advisable for them to stay there any longer

Sita was distraught. She had fallen in love with this beautiful place and its natural beauty, and so, moving away from here was almost as hard as leaving her home. But then, she was sure that she would adjust in Dandaka just as well, because she had Ram by her side. While she did miss her family and was herself in bits and pieces after all the disasters that had taken place, she was determined take good care of both Ram and Lakshman

Lakshman had not given much thought to it, he had just blindly agreed to what Ram had said. This had two reasons, one being that he knew Ram wont take any decision without thinking twice, and so, he dint feel the necessity to think much himself, and the second reason being that his mind simply wasnt working straight.

Ram was functioning like a well fueled machine since the last few days. A machine which had only three things in his mind- His duties, his family's safety, his Pita's Vachana palana. He had not allowed any other thought to enter his mind, not the grief, not the yearning. And now, as he was moving ahead, he felt like he was leaving the last remains and memories of his family, of his father behind.

The next dawn, the three hermits packed the bare minimum of their necessities, and left Chitrakuta

**************

"Nandigrama. Thats where I will be staying for the next fourteen years." Bharat declared, not meeting anyone's eyes. 

Bharat dint look up, but if he would have, he would have noticed Shatrughan stumbling back, his eyes devoid of any emotion at all. He would have noticed Mandavi look at him with eyes full of disbelief. He would have noticed Urmila look horror struck. He would have noticed Shrutakirti look at him in pure terror. He would have noticed Kaushalya and Sumitra look faint. Last but not the least, he would have noticed kaikeyi look like he had physically slapped her. 

But, Bharat dint look up. Bharat Just walked away.

***********

"I am coming along" She declared, looking indifferent to anything else at all. Key word: Looking

Bharat's head snapped up at the declaration

"What? No, No Maan, you are not! This is for me, I am gong on my own will, and I cant let you accompany me. Maan..... Please" His tone turned to that of pleading in the end, but Mandavi dint have any intention of budging even a little

To be true to herself, Mandavi was scared for him. His behaviour since the last few days, his silence, his deafening Silence, his occasional bitter words towards his mother, and most importantly, his heart breaking guilt- Everything had started making her afraid. afraid for him

While Mandavi was starting to understand his perspective and very well knew that he was strong enough for these blows, it still dint stop her from worrying about him. And so, he would follow him wherever he went, to keep him some company, to tell him constantly that these fourteen years would pass by quickly, to keep him sane, to keep at least a bit of the Bharat they knew alive.

"Bharat. I am not listening to you, I am sorry. I dont want to leave you alone. And besides, wont you like some company? Why on earth would you want to isolate yourself?" The last question was the breaking point for Bharat

"I DONT DESERVE IT, MAAN!" He screamed painfully

"I dont deserve the love you are giving me. I dont deserve all the respect. I deserve nothing! Thats the reason I am going away, I am not going to experience something I dont deserve-" Mandavi cut him off