Journey to the Old Era (Drisana's Mahabharat #1)

Chapter 4

Five days later the Pandavs along with Kunti and Drisana reached Varanavat. It had taken that much time before Nakul seemed it fit for her to travel. They still hadn't managed to communicate except a few words with hand gestures with her.

Yudhisthir decided to send men to find her family or relatives as soon as they reached Varanavat. Bheem was sure because of the head injury she had lost her mental balance (bikshipt ho gayi hai becari). Arjun was skeptical about her as she seemed rather watchful and observatory. Nakul was sure her head injury was healing fine and had nothing to do with her strange behaviour. Sahdev tried to find out where she's from by giving her the Aryavart's map and also handed her a scroll and ink. Her grimace confirmed his suspicion that she was illiterate. Kunti had decided to take the poor girl under her wings and she took care of her like a daughter.

As for Drisana, she was thinking and observing these strange people. It was like she had landed 3000 years back in time which wasn't possible. These people with their weird language, weird clothing and weird customs confused her to no end. She had once encountered a tribe where all the people were named after some greek mythology. Maybe this tribe also followed something like that and their names were taken from the Mahabharat epic. But She couldn't remember what happened after the basement incident or how she landed among them. Hoping against hope she tried to make hand gestures of phone, nearby town, which country this was, where was the nearest police station, anything. But it all went in vain. She was sure the giant guy thought her to be mad. After five days of rest, they started going somewhere.

In chariots and palanquins.

Okay. At least they weren't walking on barefoot. The journey was hell. But they were at a slower pace. And she was annoyed and bored sitting inside a palanquin for days. But she also understood they were moving slowly because of her only. No matter how strange these people were, they had a good heart. She was greatful for that.

After two days journey they reached some village. It was as strange as them. Drisana thought this might be where they reside. When she asked about this place, Kunti answered it was 'Varanavat'. Odd. First Pandavs, now Varanavat. These people seemed to be obsessed with Mahabharat.

♧♧♧

Purochan with his wife and son was standing before Yudhisthir. Folding hands, he greeted them all and said,

"Forgive me Yuvraj, the palace is still not ready to reside in. Due to some problems the work got delayed. But I've arranged a mansion for you to live in. The palace will be ready soon. I assure you."

"We already arrived later than expected and now you're telling us it's still not ready." Bheem said with annoyance. Yudhisthir told him to cool down and ordered Purochan to finish the work soon. They were led to a huge mansion then.

Days passed.

Drisana's health got better. Her head injury was completely healed. She roamed around the village often now. One of the brothers always seemed to follow her, Nakul more than the rest. He tried to help her understand their language by pointing at different things and making gestures. The progress was slow. She was trying to figure out a way to go back to her place. Once she tried to find her way back to some town or highway or anything that could lead her back to civilization and ended up getting lost in the forest. Thankfully Nakul was following her and brought her back when she relented after tiring.

She wasn't much surprised at their backward ways as there were many tribes around the world that chose to forego the modern utilities and live a simple life. But wearing crowns and jewelleries made of gold while leading a simple life and ordering others around like they were servants, was surprising. One more thing she noticed that only the family she was living with wore so much gold and were treated like superiors by others. People bowed and respected them like they were royalties. Drisana thought maybe they were the chief of the village.