The dice, Draupadis and the war

Once upon a time, long long ago….

When the Pandavas had no luck left, they had no choice but to surrender to the Gauravas. They lost their wealth, valour, empire and what not. But losing Draupadi was more humiliating to them. Enslaving the royal queen of the mightiest, bravest, just and the most beautiful empire of the world, was as equal as the victory of the world for the Gauravas.  They utilized the opportunity to the fullest.  Disrobing  Draupadi’s clothes was the most brutal punishment Duryodhana thought of when they had to humiliate Draupadi and the Pandavas to the extreme. Poor Draupadi had no hopes left on her husbands. So she prayed that her friend Krishna could save her. Thanks to Krishna that he didn’t let down the hopes of Draupadi.

Draupadi was angry. She was angry for many reasons. She decided to avenge for what they did to her. She decided to avenge for what happened to her in the name of “fate”. She swore that only when her hair would be washed by the blood of Dutshasan, it would be combed and tied to a bun, which led to the Great war of Mahabharata. It was the bloodiest war known in the inscriptions of Indian history. Lakhs and lakhs of people died, injured. People suffered the loss of family members. Everything happened on both sides of the war.  King Dridhrashtra was seeing all these, through the eyes of Sanjaya. He asked, “Who won, and who lost?”

Once upon a time, in the 21^st century AD....

When this guy had to marry for the second time for the sake of his two little boys, he had to agree to his parents’ choice. He got married to this girl in a very simple manner as compared to his first wedding. This girl had dreams. She left her small hut with her old-aged mother to live her dreams with her husband. Little did she know that her dreams are to be smashed inside the kitchens of that royal bungalow. This guy was always in remembrance of his dead first wife.  His parents got him married to this little girl so that they could get a maid with a dowry for taking care of these two kids. Plus, she’s there to fulfil the guy’s requirements. This little girl who had dreams in her eyes saw the reality on her first day at the royal bungalow. She cooked food for the family, took care of the abandoned children like her own, and did nothing more than that. Ohh yes,  getting scolded and beaten up for growing up in a small hut by her in-laws was more like a daily ritual for her. She tolerated everything. Everything for years.

The little girl turned into a woman now and the little boys turned to marriageable age. The woman forgot that she could sing, dance, talk, laugh and cry by then. When her elder son got married, the woman considered it as a sign of her freedom. She welcomed her daughter-in-law to the royal bungalow in hope that she would be her helping hand, a pillar of support in the royal bungalow. Unlike the woman, the newlywed girl was different in many ways. She was not a second-hand wife to her husband. She grew up in another royal bungalow and not in a small hut. This made her refuse to give her mother-in-law, a lending hand. The empire that the woman built in her heart started destroying. She couldn’t digest the fact that the tiny ray of light entering her world of darkness refused to enter. She was broken. She sat and thought to reset her life. 

The war verdict: Victory or Defeat

She was angry for many reasons. She decided to avenge for what they did to her. She decided to avenge for what happened to her in the name of “fate”.  The royal bungalow collapsed. Every member of the royal bungalow including the woman’s in-laws, husband, sons and her daughter-in-law suffered. The royal bungalow is hers now, despite being collapsed. Neither her in-laws nor her husband could hold her captive again.

Sanjaya was again asked by Dridhrashtra, “Who won? And who lost?”. “ I think Draupadi won and all of us lost your majesty”, Sanjaya told. “How is that possible? The war is between the Pandavas and the Gauravas!” asked king Dridhrashtra.  Sanjaya remained quiet.

Meanwhile, the Pandavas, Krishna and Draupadi were resting in their tent after the massacre. Arjuna and Subhadra, were consoling Uttara, while the others were trying to help themselves from the tragedies of the war. Krishna said, “Lakhs have died and we even lost our sons.”. Yudhistra sadly agreed that “Yes, we have to pay the price for the victory. At last, Draupadi’s wish is fulfilled.”

Draupadi who was standing at the doorstep looking at the vast blood shredded battlefield veered forward towards a better vantage point.