Mahabharata. A tale of victory of Justice over injustice. A tale of sacrifices. A tale of diplomacy. The tale of the greatest war of India. The greatest epic.
from my point of view. A 21st century girl.
This is my version of Mahabharata so ofcourse...
Some where in Philadelphia Pennsylvania in a simple yet elegant flat mobile phone rang and woke up a girl in her 20s. She picked up the phone with out coming out of blanket.
"Hello?" She said
"Adrika.. good morning princess." A lady voice said in a sweet manner.
"Good morning Maa."she said. "Why are you calling so early?"
"To remind you that tomorrow is his birthday." The lady said. Which caused the girl to sit up throwing the blankets.
"What? Tomorrow? God Maa! why didn't you remind me earlier? It's his birthday and I don't have any gift for him." She said panicking.
"So what? He will understand. He understands everyone. Living or dead. Can't he understand his own sister?"
"Maa I don't have time for this. I'm already late and I need to prepare for his birthday." She said
"Ok fine. Even i don't have any time for you untill day after tomorrow. You are not the only one who celebrate Janmasthami princess. We do too. Have a good day" lady said before the line got disconnected.
Yes the girl was me. Adrika Idivita Chouhan. And the lady on the other side was my mother Maharani Nibedita Chouhan. Yes we are royals. And I am the crown princess. I didn't believe in this royal tradition I mean in this era all are independent. India is a republic. We didn't have our kingdom anymore then why this facade should be there. But my parents didn't agree with me. So as per result I grew up as a princess. I needed to learn everything a princess should know. I never liked that life. So after trying so hard to get admission in Pennsylvania university in surgical department I moved here to Philadelphia. Now I'm a surgical resident at Pennsylvania hospital.
I did my morning retual of praying the mother earth before placing feet on her. I made a mental note to call my Maa later as she was angry. I shouldn't have blame her. But what could I do, tomorrow was my brother's birthday and she was reminding me today. And she knew how much it's meant to me.
I brushed off the thoughts as I needed to prepare so much for tomorrow. Biggest day for me in the entire year. Janmasthami. My brother's birthday. My kanha's birthday. Yes. You guessed right. It's Lord shreekrishn I'm talking about. He is my brother. I remembered how this relationship started.
Flash back A 7 year old me was sitting near door waiting for her mom and dad to return. It's been 3 days since she saw them. She had so much to tell them. So much to talk. But they never had time for her. And due to her father's order she was not allowed to befriend anyone who was not a royal. So the only one I befriended was the loneliness.
"They won't come today my princess. Come on let's go and sleep." My grandmother said.
"But dadisa I have something to tell them. Why can't I have someone to talk. Babasa(dad) have office. Maa have NGO and what about me. I wish I had a sibling. A sister or brother." I said.
"Come here. you should pray to Lord shteekrisna. He is the Almighty. He protects everyone." Dadisa said.
"Dadisa. I don't need a protector. I just need a brother. Whom I can talk. I can complain. I can love. Can he be my brother?" I said.
"Kanha can be won by love. Selfless love. But I fear my princess. Krishnbhakti ka asar iss parivar pe sirf dukh hi Lai hai. Kahi main tumhe kaston ki rah main to nai vej rahi." Dadisa said mostly to herself. I didn't understood what she meant.
(Devotion to Lord shreekrisna always brought sadness and grief to this family. Do I sending you in to the path of misery and hardship?)
After that day for a very long period of time I remember that I used to ask Lord shreekrisna whether he will be my brother or not. I used to fall asleep crying infront of that life size idol of him. I didn't get answers. But I was stubborn. So I decided whether he likes it or not he will be my brother and I start addressing him so. I used to talk to him. I didn't remember at which point my loneliness vanished. I felt connected to him. I felt his presence. I felt my words are not going in vain. But someone was listening. That's how my relationship with him started. I opened my whole life Infront of him and to tell me about him there were so many books. Ancient. Mythological. And greatest. But my favourite was Mahabharata. It shows his Divinity and his character so well. End of flashback
I wiped my face to get rid of tears. After all these years this memory still bring tears in my eyes. I called my hospital
"Hello. This is Dr adrika Idivita Chouhan. Can I talk to Dr Murphy please?"
"Sure Dr. Just a second."
After some seconds I heard Dr Murphy my superior's voice.
"Yes Dr Chouhan." He said in his 'im on duty' voice.
"Morning sir. I called to inform you that I'm taking 2 days off."
"You are a surgical resident here Dr Chouhan. You can't just take leave whenever you want." I smiled at his fake seriousness I could sense that he was worried and panicking.
"My leave is already granted Sky. I'll ask Henry to fill in for me. And it's really important. You have to understand." I said. I knew my boss would understand. But not the best friend.
"Rika that's not the case. For a whole two weeks we were doing opposite shifts. For God knows what reasons Dr Karl took you out from me. Then today we were finally going to work together and you are saying you won't be coming. This is not fair." He complained.
"I know Sky. Even I was so frustrated working under him. He never listened. Or we were not allowed to say anything. I love how you value our opinions and discuss with us. He was nothing like you. But I need this 2days to myself. Please Sky." I said and definitely felt him smiling.
"Ok. Fine. I'll see you at work on Wednesday."
"Thank you so much Sky. I love you." I said. He chuckled.
"I love you too Rika. And you definitely take advantage of my love. Now I need to hung up. Everyone is looking at me weird. I must be looking stupid smiling at phone. Bye." He said.
"Bye. Have a nice day." I said before cutting the call.
I went to do all my morning jobs before going to see my brother. I stood Infront of him looking him into his eyes and said
"This is not fare. You know how busy I'm. At Least you could have remind me about your birthday. I don't have any gift for you."
And I watched his beautiful smile.
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I smiled and started the rituals saying
"Ok. Fine. I'll figure something out. You and your smile. Anyway what do you think about Sky. Melanie said he likes me. But it's impossible. He is my boss. But we can do something after I start practicing on my own. I know what you are thinking. No I don't love him. But I don't expect to fall in love like those movies. He is smart. Handsome. We are good friends. We are a good team. We are compatible. We understand each other. What else I can expect from a husband. I can't have lunch with you today here. We can eat out if you want. Ill be busy all day. Don't spy on me to see your gift." I finished my talk as I started the aarati. Smiling my self to finally deciding on what gift I'd get for him.
