Mahagatha

A Doomed Friendship

Arjun had always been the social recluse one among his outgoing and fun loving siblings. And he had never been more aware of that fact until now. Since Kul Guru had been called due to some urgent business by Maharaj Kakashree, all of the disciples had been given free reign to do as they pleased. His younger siblings were sitting together, while Bhrata Bheem was God knows where. (And believe him he didn't know) And jyesht was supervising upon them all along with their cousins. He had absolutely no wish to mingle with their dearest cousins. Since their arrival five summers ago their cousins hadn't been the most welcoming thing, or maybe it was just him.

With this the young child of eleven summers old sat up from his resting spot under the cool neem tree and dusted his extravagant robes. His sharp eyes surveying around the forest clearing and decided to visit the forest to pick some fruits for himself and his brothers (since Dushyala Di wasn't allowed to learn the "brutish art of weaponry" as per Kakishree). Oh what he wouldn't give to be in Di's spot.

Reaching a big tree with juicy ripe mangoes ready to be picked and eaten. Declaring the tree worthy of supplying him and his brothers with mangoes he picked up a stone took aim and was about to let go when the barking of a dog awoke him from his trance. A dog entered his line of vision and following him a youth of jyesht's age who adorned tribal attire carrying bow and arrows.

Predicting the teens next move Arjun took an to the boys arrow and shot the stone with remarkable speed. As predicted the boy had just at that moment let go of the the arrow towards the dog but the dogs life had been saved by God himself(literally) the stone struck the arrow obstructing its path unabridged it to put an end to the dog's life.

"Hey! I was practicing archery you privileged brat!" shouted the idiot who though archery was another brutish art of slaughter.

"Oh! Were you? I only saw someone trying to slaughter a dog with not even a shred of talent for the fine and delicate art of archery." Intoned Arjun his voice dripping with sarcasm. Being a prince came with privileges and one of them was making people obey you, thus, the confidence the once stuttering youth held.

" What do you know about archery, kid. You're barely out of the cradle yourself." Replied the still no named youth, which was rude.

"Yeah! Tells us what you know if someone "barely out of the cradle" is able to deflect your shot! Oh so great Master!?"

"Uuh! Listen kid, it's not like that dog's your pet, neither was my intended shot you. So, just let it go. You should be mindful of your elders, you know." Spoke the exasperated no-name guy.

"Oh! My esteemed elder, apologies if I offended you. You seem like someone with exceptional grace and poise giving that during the entire length of our conversation you've yet to once even try to introduce yourself." Replied the "kid", voice dripping with sarcasm. Had there been a God of sarcasm they surely would've knelt in front of the young prince.

"It's Eklavya, kid. The son of the Vanraj. Do listen to your superiors." The now named Eklavya spoke with thinly veiled superiority.

"Oh! A thousand pardons, my lord. In front of you the great son of the Vanraj, I, a mere prince of the Kuru's. The third son of Lord Pandu is but a mere ant, no?" Spoke Arjun words intended to carry a sense of humbleness yet tone was anything but.

Upon finally opening his eyes from the blindness of superiority Eklavya noticed the young child-no, prince-the fine clothing he adorned and the shimmering jewels that hung from his frame. Upon finally coming to the conclusion that the child was not merely pulling his leg and was indeed telling the truth, Eklavys stood there stumped not knowing what to do.

Alas he needn't have as when he was just about to say something to salvage the situation Arjun's Grandsir had arrived to take the young royals back. With a nod of acknowledgement at the teen in front of him. Arjun made his way towards his grandsire along the dog he had saved

~Two days later~

Arjun stood in front of his Matashree's chambers in the dead of the night. While he had absolutely no wish to stay here in a stalemate. Arjun wasn't able to decide whether he should enter the chambers or not. Suffering from an agonizing nightmare was nothing new. But the last time he had the was when he had the mentality of a God who was older than the world itself. Now as an eleven year old his ,entail capabilities had gone down.

In the past it was(chhoti) Ma who helped him but as of now................she clearly wasn't an option. After her demise he went to his grandsire but grandsire had been occupied with tons of paperwork and Arjun did not want to be the one to disturb him from it.

Eldest brother was a kid himself. The only option that left was Matashree. Deciding that it now or never. Arjun entered his birth mother's chambers. The sight that greeted him was not a welcome one. Matashree lay there on the ground smelling horribly stinky. And around her tons of now empty wine glasses lay now discarded. Gut wrenching cries was heard from the chambers resident as she lay there with no sign of recognition at her youngest son's arrival.

"Matashree.......?" Arjun called out, in hesitation, as he saw that his birth mother showed no signs of acknowledging his entrance soon.

"You! Why are you here? Haven't you taken enough from me? What more do you want?" muttering this an doubtlessly other infinite other insults the princess of Kuntibhoj looked as she had lost it.

Arjun knew that his mother didn't necessarily love him as much she loved his other brothers(oh! If only Madhav had been here he would've shaken his dearest friend by the shoulders and told him of how food Arjun had become at lying to his own self, but well, Krishn wouldn't have allowed someone to speak a word of anything but deep respect towards the one who held the highest place in his heart). But that was no reason for Arjun to let anyone to look down upon his mother. With this though he gathered all the little cups and made as many journeys to took to dispose of the cups his mother had.

Arjun wasn't totally oblivious, he had been brought up as a Kuru prince after all. A lady's honor was a fragile thing that society treated with nothing but disregard. Females were easy prey in the eyes of history. If someone were to discover what his mother had consumed he honor would be brought into question. And as her son it was his foremost duty to protect his mothers honor.

With this Arjun secretly snooped into the medicinal cabinet his elder brother maintained in his room, gathering some pills for the hangover(brother had kept them around since Bhrata Bheem had unknowingly consumed alcohol when eldest cousin brother Duryodhan had jokingly said alcohol to been sharbat as a prank). Keeping the pills on the bedside and shielding his mother's frame with a blanket Arjun took his leave.

~Next Day~

Stepping into the same clearing he had two days prior Arjun let his heart feel all the torment he had blocked. His eyes filled with tears as he recalled the words his mother had shot as fiercely as arrows. He knew he couldn't blame his mother since she had said that in a state of intoxication. Thus, only him and all the awful luck he had given his dear family were to blame. It wasn't as if mother had said anything wrong. He knew Ma and father were going to die yet he hoped(oh! How treacherous hope truly is he and learnt that day) that he would be wrong. But when had mere hope ever yielded result. ,ere worship of God's didn't result in success and neither did lamenting of past regrets wrote them anew.

With these morbid thoughts Arjun cried his heart out in the forest clearing. Hearing his cry, Eklavya wondering why the youth who had been arguing with him for the past two days. He wouldn't say it to the child but he thought of the child wit familial fondness rather than irritation. Seeing him cry, Eklavya spurned into action and gathered the child in his arms and soothed his cry. Making Arjun seize the idiotic self depreciating comments that came from Arjun's lips. This, my beloved readers was the start of a friendship doomed to end in tragedy. But oh, even the lord of Time himself was unable to stop this. At least we can remember it.