The King of Mithila was a happy man. Even though most of the kings of the other kingdom wondered how could the Rishiraj Janak be so contended, for he had no son. In fact the King and his wife Sunaina , had been childless for a long time, until one day , miracurously they happened to come across a baby girl , a beautiful as a soft pink lotus petal looked when the first morning rays of the sun gently kissed them. Who could have left such an innocent in the middle of a feild , , to let the scorching sun , the harsh nature torture this infant soul. Janak could never understand, how can somebody's heart not break into peices , soul not completely crenched to part with this baby. After a month of the child's arrival , and no one comming to claim her as theirs , Queen Sunaina decided to be the mother of the child . And thus this child , grew up to be called Sita , princess of Mithila and Janaka's little girl .
It was Sitas's arrival that brought the prosperity that Mithila had longed to see. More crops harvested , more green was the country , more profits were made, more peaceful the nation was . It was also within a year of Sita's arrival , Chandrabhaga , the wife of Janaka's younger brother Khusadhwaj gave birth to a baby girl ,Mandavi, and Sunaina gave birth to another girl called Urmila . A year later Chandrabhaga's younger daughter , and the youngest of the four sisters , Shutakirti came along the way .
All in one , Janaka had four daughters , two of his own and two of his brother , but he had no son. Yet he never complained. In the time , when kings held rituals to be blessed with a baby boy , Janaka felt the most blessed with his girls . The King of Mithila was way ahead of his time . A deeply learned scholar and a very good father , Janaka had given his daughters all the teachings , any king would have given to their princes . The girls mastered in sword fighting , archery , learned the sanskrit verses , politics and would have given a tough challenge to any prince of whole Aryabharta .
It was known to all , even though Urmila was his biological daughter , Janaka had always loved Sita more. Maybe , it was because Sita was the first to call him father , or beacuse with Sita comming to his life , everything changed . But Urmila never complained, she loved her Sita didi and believed that her elder sister deserved all the love in the world . And Why wouldn't she ? Sita was perfect - so much so that at times it appeared rather inhumane . Sita was divine - she was beautiful , she was kindest of the being , she was loved by all of Mithila , Sita was their 'Maithili'. In fact , Sita was everything , that Urmila can never be. Urmila had flaws - even though the praises of her beauty and mastery with the sword were all over Mithila , the younger daughter of Janak had her imperfections . She got angry , often very quicky , with her milky white face turning red with anger , she had screamed and fought with her sisters , she felt a pang of jealousy hit when the king and the queen had showered extra love over their elder daughter, almost as if giving her share of love to Sita.
So never for once in her sixteen years , did Urmila think she was ever going to have the conversation with her father , that she was currently having. It was her birthday and as per the custom , Sita had dragged a very reluctant Urmila from her sleep to the Gauri Mandir (Temple of goddess Gauri). Mandavi and Shrutakirti had joined them, an laughter and shrills of joy echoed through Mithila as the four princesses walked from the palace to the temple. Sunaina had ordered all the servants to prepare Urmila's favourite food. It was this one day , in the entire year , that everything happened as per the third princess's choices . The curtains would be changed to shade of blue , just like how she love it , no one would stop her from taking her horse and running across the whole city . Her mother and sisters would pamper her , dress her up beautifully. For this one day , every year , Urmila felt important , as though she was the center of everyone's attention.
It was also a custom of Urmila , to visit her father every year , before he went to the court, wherein he woud smile , wish her and gift her on this occasion. Even today , on her sixteenth birthday , it was the same. She went to his room, she found her father looking out the of the widow ,
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The other Janaki
RomanceShe was always the second . Second to her parents , second in her husband's priority - yet Urmila , the daughter of Janaka never complained. She knew her part , and she loved her role. She knew her duties , as a daughter , as a sister. But then one...
