Kairavi

Chapter 96

"No..." she whispered, finally giving up.
There was no way in hell she was going to win against Vasudev in a throw of words.

Krishna, on the other hand, smiled, "What will you do now, Kairavi?" The way he acted like nothing was wrong, even when her son was literally getting premonitions about somebody's death; is what pissed her off sometimes.
She frowned and plopped back down on the platform.

"As if there is anything I can do about it." She closed her eyes and sighed, praying that the dream was about her perish, and not Arush's.

She felt just as helpless when she woke up to find out that her husbands had given up her firstborn to the currents of Ganga, without allowing her to hold him for the first and last time.

Chandraja never got to see his face. Deformed or not, she would have drawn satisfaction by a mere glimpse of it.
However displeasing may an eaglet seem to the world; but to its mother, it is always equivalent to a beautiful cygnet.

Perhaps, what Nakul and Sahadev did was for her own good.
She might not have emerged from her pain if the sight of the still-born always danced before her eyes.

"Kuruvansh ki kulvadhuon ke bhagya me sukh kaha likha hota hai?" She talked weakly.

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"Niyati ishwar ka vidhan hoti hai, sakhi.
Kintu bhagya?

Bhagya toh kumhar ki maati saman hota hai.
Manushya usse kisi bhi prakar nirmit kar sakta hai.

Mushak ko jab bhumi ke upar nivas karne ka sthan nahi milta,
Toh wo mitti khodke apna aalay banata hai.

Prarthna usse sarpon ka bhojan banne se nahi bacha pati;
Isliye wo swayam upay dhundta hai.

Sadaiv smaran rakhna Chitrakshi,
ki bin maange keval anyay milta hai.

Nyay prapt karne ke liye sangharsh karna padta hai.

Kintu streeyan toh lachaar hoti hai na?
Unme shastra uthane ka sahas kaha hota?

Wo toh purush ke rakshan par aashrit hoti hain."

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"Do you even hear yourself!" Kairavi protested, clearly offended by the statements flowing shamelessly out of Govind's mouth.

"Have you not heard about the times when devtas give away such boons to demons that make them basically 'immortal', it is Adi Parashakti who cleans up the mess after them.

Because of Brahmadev, she had to massacre Arunasur, Durgasur, Mahishasur single-handedly; and even conspire to kill her own son, Andhak!
She has saved Swarglok from becoming the abode for ogres countless times."
The triggered Chandraputri failed to locate the smirk hidden behind Kanha's lips in her fury.

Her words puked fire.
Even after putting her heart and soul into her family's welfare, a woman is considered worthless for not carrying out the duties of a man.
As if their jobs hold no significant value.

"But she is a Goddess; what do ordinary women do? Stir a pot and sweep the house." He irked her further, sending the daughter of the moon over the edge.

She scrunched up her face in disgust. "Out of all the people in the world, I didn't expect you to have such sickening views, Madhav."

"The truth always hurts, Chitra."
"Oh, then you might want to learn a truth about men as well.
Not all battles are fought in a warzone.

A woman has to fight with her own body to bring her children to the world.
And what do her children do? Consider her favours meritless because he learns to wield a sword.

She has to devote herself to a single man her whole life, but her husband can marry innumerous females.
Why?
Because having multiple husbands makes her a prostitute, but having multiple queens is a symbol of conquering many kingdoms.

It is cowardice to attack a weaponless soldier, but it is in their rights to drag a helpless, menstruating queen to a court full of men by her hair.

Bataiye Govind, tab kyu nai dikhaya purushon ne apna samarthya?
Ek stree ka rakshan karna nahi tha kya unka kartavya?"

Her arguments had rendered the illustrious Dwarkadheesh pensive about the condition of females in society.
These words were coming out of a Maharani's mouth. It was hard for him to imagine what the ordinary female citizens had to say about the atrocities that males negligently discharged on them.

"Ranbhoomi me yoddha veergati prapt karta hai,
kintu uske shatru ka shoshan toh stree bhogti hain na?"

The despair in her words had become evident by the end of her monologue. Kairavi huffed and kicked a pebble lying near her foot in vexation.

"The reason why you men are able to overlook our tasks is because we are successful in executing them every single day.

It is okay if men don't earn bread for a few days, but we can't afford to leave our family unfed even for one meal. Tell me, do you have a justification for this bias?"
She stared at Govind's stolid expression. Her eyes demanded an answer, but he didn't have any.

"If women are so vulnerable and weak, then why did Gurudev give his divine parashu to me?
He could've offered it to Aryaputra Sahadev.
No one in Bharatvarsh can compete with him in axe-wielding."

Krishna let his ever-so-charming smile manifest on his face. Kairavi had reached where he wanted her to. Leaning slightly towards her, he asked,
"You tell me, sakhi. Why did he give it to you?"

And that's when it clicked. Arni was supposed to learn weaponry and warfare from her husbands, but she chose to keep her education aside to give Nakul and Sahadev a chance to complete their penance first.
Somewhere in the middle of the series of events, she had forgotten about her resolve to destroy the kaurav brothers.

"Shastravidya.." she drawled, fixated over the Devakinandan's strange obsession with conundrums.
History has been the witness of the fact that he was physically incapable of getting his point across, without being enigmatic.

Pouting in dissatisfaction, he pretended to be dismayed that Chandraja took so long to get to the point.
"I'm disappointed. You are still a slow-poke even after knowing me for so many years.

Kahin sainikon ke upchaar karte karte, dushton ka sanhaar karna toh nahi bhool gayi?"

Kairavi rolled her eyes at his goad. "Do you want to be my first victim, Govind?" She warned sarcastically, sending him into a fit of chuckles.

He threw his hands in the air, "Hold back, tiger! I'm not a threat to your cubs."