Changing Destiny

2. What did Karn want?

"My wife is pregnant", Karn revealed.

Kunti's face blossomed with happiness like that of a lotus. The thick tension in the air started to melt. Duryodhan was smiling like the bright sun.

"Mithr Karn! What a happy news!", Duryodhan hugged his friend,"Why didn't you tell this to me earlier? I am offended mithr", he faked a stare.

"I meant to tell you mithr. But I came up with a problem that is annoying me so much and I don't know what to do",Karn replied.

"Who is causing you trouble?", Duryodhan raised his voice, "Tell me so that I can introduce them to my Gadha", he finished eyeing Bheem.

"No.. I actually -", Karn started but was interrupted by Yudhister.

"Angaraj Karn", he spoke up for the first time ," Congratulations! We are happy for you. But if I may ask what exactly do you want with Bheem?" 

"OK!", Karn started ," We may have our differences and misunderstandings. One of you may have even taken an oath to kill me. But today I request you to put aside our enmity and rivalry for once and be normal people for a day. I need your help and it is of utmost importance to me"

"You have a weird way of asking for help Angaraj", Bheem said.

"Shush! Putra Bheem", Kunti scolded, "Tell Karn . What help do you need?"

Karn hesitated a bit. 'Come on Karn! You came all the way to the palace. You cannot be a coward now' he thought to himself and looked at Kunti's expectant eyes " I will tell you but promise me you wont laugh", he said.

Everyone had a confused face on. "I promise putr. Nobody present here will laugh. Now go on", she said.

Karn took a deep breath,"So this is it. Since my wife is pregnant, nothing seems to taste good for her. I have tried all kinds of sweets and snacks from all over the place. I even tried to cook something by myself for her but nothing seems to satisfy her sweet tooth. I heard Bheem here makes the most tasty Laddoo in the world. I came here to ask him if he would help this desperate man by tutoring him in making laddoos for his wife", he finished his speech and looked up to find all frozen faces.Everyone were stunned.  

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After few moments of intense eye contact Arjun, Nakul and Sahadev burst out into fits of laughter with Yudhister and Duryodhan suppressing a smile.

"Rajmata ji You promised no one would laugh at me", Karn complained.

"No! No! Angaraj! We are  not laughing at you", Nakul managed to say inbetween laughs.

"We are laughing at our Bhrata Bheem", Sahadev said.

"Whaaaaatttttt", Bheem raised his voice.

"Yeah ! Out of all the strengths you have, people remember you only for your cooking skills", Arjun mocked his brother.

Bheem who got angry tried to catch them but they slipped away and hid behind Duryodhan. "Help me Bhrata", Nakul said without realising that he was talking to Duryodhan. Duryodhan stared at Nakul who then took of his hand from his shoulder. Everyone stopped smiling. 

After a few seconds of awkward silence even Duryodhan started laughing. "HaHaHA Maataji! You are really lucky. You know what? Actually Bheem's wife is lucky", he said. Everyone shared a good laugh. 

Kunti suddenly had tears in her eyes. Karn who noticed it first asked her, "Maataji what happened?"

"This is tears of Joy Putr. This is the first time Prince Duryodhan addressed me as Maata", Kunti replied caressing Duryodhan's cheeks. He blushed and tried not to stutter but failed, " I - uh- I have some work. Let me take my leave. I will see you later", he said and left.

Kunti smiled. Karn was happy to see her smile. The others were still teasing Bheem. Karn looked at him expectantly.

"You know what? You guys are not going to get even a single laddoo when me and Angaraj finish making them", Bheem scowled at his brothers.

"Whaaaat??? NOOOOOO!!!", Nakul and Sahadev yelled in unision.

"Does that mean you will teach me?", Karn asked.

"Yes Angaraj", Bheem said, " To be honest, I know you are a great warrior. If you can throw away your enmity for a day then Kunti Ma's sons are no less. You want no rivalry then so be it. I can do that coz The Pandavs don't say no to white flags and kind requests" 

Kunti felt proud of her sons. Karn sighed in relief.

"But I will teach you only on a few conditions", Bheem said.

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NOTE: That's it for chapter 2. What are Bheem's condition? Stay tuned to know that. Please express your thoughts on this chapter in the comment section. Your comments are valuable. Don't forget to press the star button (vote)

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