Shatru Sesham: Sequel of Baahubali ✔️

Acknowledgements

Period. I have managed to drag myself past the finish line. It feels unreal at the moment. But the feeling will gradually sink in and I will come to terms with the fact that I no longer have to write.

Shatru Sesham: Sequel of Baahubali will always have a special place in my heart. It is the longest and most ambitious among all my stories; finished and unfinished. It made me push my abilities and limits to the maximum.

I will take many things with me after this journey. The Sailaja who began this story is not the Sailaja who completed it. I learnt many things along with Shatru Sesham. With those few initial words, I would like to start thanking all the people who made this story possible.

Firstly, I would like to thank S.S. Rajamouli Sir, K.V. Vijayendra Prasad garu, the makers of Baahubali and Anand Neelakantan Sir. Without that initial bit of inspiration from the world of Baahubali and its characters, the story of Shatru Sesham would never have come into existence. Thank you for motivating me to better myself.

Next, I would like to thank my dear husband Dr. R.R. Srikant, my sons Sreekar and Govind for putting up with all my reclusive tendencies while writing this story and never complaining even once during the two years and seven months that the work was in progress. As for my dear little Sreekar who pestered me to write this story, I hope whatever I have written here satisfies you when you read this after growing up.

They say never judge a book by its cover. But the odds of a story being read and passed over hinge on a good book cover. I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank vidhyascribbles, Penfolk, Vanshikrishna and DevaDDK who took the time out to make beautiful book covers for my story. I was very hopeless in this department initially. Not that I am an expert now. Many of my initial readers would never have come to me without these book covers.

I am grateful to RadharaniBhattacarya who generated a map of Mahishmati and the neighboring kingdoms of Vijayapuri and Ashwakootam, accurately conveying my vision of the story. If any of you had seen my original doodle version, you would appreciate her work all the more.

My fellow writers and friends, astra07 and DevaDDK have made beautiful and awesome VMs on Shatru Sesham: Sequel of Baahubali in order to appreciate my work. Thank you very much.

My readers and friends. What would I do without you? A very big thank you to dancing_100, Krupavathi, DevaDDK, vasavadatta, k21pt11, Vedavati05, ROKSR, ktymfan, nimishajohnn, tazmu8, GandaBerunda, Kripa2486, DarianTeg, vidhyascribbles, MadhvaPriyaa, pariapte58, jyothirmayi1955, The_Specs_Girl, Beautyangel7, abiran1995, rrsrikant, crazy_soul07, -acciosleep, archuprakash, Sriram_Gudimella, jambam1963, ShashwatAnand0, JenniferMcKeithen, Padmaja_s, Devika_Vaishnavam, LeelaJat, Rinka_Ritz, PizzaSammy13, little-flaws, MisterAugust, Penfolk, SAKrishnan, Catapult123sydney, windwonderful, krishnanthamira, SecretUnraveller, shreyj7, Arthi001, suvachana, dreambookandi, pavithravellingiri, amazing2awesome, astra07, typical_Indiangirl, SaiSaran1, bhakthii, ImMadhumitha, Rpsummer, Rithusree, auravyt, PandavaPriyaa, shimmergold18, SurabhiGanu, purpleearings123, raniswaroopkrishna, aiswary, abiariel, sharma_sonali, Vanshikrishna, EliotEverdeen, Bhatt_vaish, IAmNikitaJ, manasinarain9, -Nynaeve, bubbled16, kimbarlyy, _the_future_brand_ for reading, reviewing and supporting my story.

Without all those huge dollops of positivity, I would have never made it to this point of culmination. If I have forgotten to thank someone, please forgive my oversight. I will cherish everything that we have shared together through the medium of this story.

Finally, I bow to my Maker, the Supreme Muse, from whom stems every act of creation. I place this story at His Divine feet as my humble offering.

That last hook in the epilogue about Gajendra Baahubali, Shivaansh and Avanindra Baahubali wasn't an announcement of an impending sequel to Shatru Sesham. It is just a reiteration of the idea that there is no definite beginning or ending in an interconnected story-telling universe.

Now the time has arrived for both of us, author and reader, to bid goodbye to Shatru Sesham and move on to other things in life. I sincerely hope that Shatru Sesham entertained you in a meaningful way and made the time you spent in reading it worth your while and effort just as it was worth my while and effort in writing it. Adieu!