A Heart of Gold

Chapter 5: Eklavya and Ashwatthama

The 'It will be alright' part remained as elusive as the fishes of mountain streams. For the next few months, their condition steadily deteriorated. Where they usually had a part of vegetable dish thrice a week with lentil, now they could barely afford to have the lentil itself. It did not help that Adhirath fell deeper into depression and debt, and drank his sorrows and money away. Satyasena, still a hot-blooded youth and a stranger to the world of family finance, now struggled to make ends meet. None of their neighbours fared any better. Radheya, Shon, and the twin girls secretly began spending long hours at night on the Ganga's coast with makeshift fishing rods, hoping to catch something. But the paucity of rains had forced even the perennial waters to shrink. A point came when the quantity of rice on the leaves before them began to dwindle. 

One night, Shon woke up to suppressed sniffles. He shook Radheya awake  and together, the two brothers snuck down to investigate. When they finally found the source, Radheya wished they had not come down. Radha maa was sobbing before the empty rice pot as a semi-conscious Adhirath tried to console her. That night, Radheya could not sleep. When the east finally blushed with dawn, Radheya ceased his tossing and went off to accost his mother. He found Radha maa in the stables, sifting through the hay, her back to him. She must have sensed him coming, for she set aside the pile and turned to him, her lips stretched in a smile weary with the strain of a sleepless night. Radheya loped up to her and squeezed himself into her hearty embrace. They stood there awhile in silence, mother and son, with only the dew stained leaves and flushed sky testimony to their love. At length Radheya gently pulled away and tugging his mother to the steps of the raised stable porch, seated her there. He knelt in front of her, put his head on her lap and began without preamble, "Shon woke me up last night."

"Hmmm?"

"He said he heard someone crying."

Radha's hand stilled in his hair. "And?"

"We went down to see what the matter was."

"Was that a very prudent thing to do? Didn't I tell you that children should not be out at night? What if something happened to you? What would we do? Where would we -"

"We saw you maa." Radheya interrupted her rant. Radha maa fell silent. Then she asked, "Did you sleep at all last night?"

Radheya did not press the issue. Instead he said, "Well, a little. I'm going to the other bank today."

"Alone?"

"I doubt that. Only if no one wants to come."

"Use the pontoon bridge. No swimming. "

"As you say, maa."

Her work-worn hand resumed carding his hair. Radheya put her cracked feet on his lap and deftly ran his smooth fingers over the cracked soles, massaging them. Radha maa laughed. He looked up and smiled at her. She ruffled his already messed up hair and then made a couple of futile attempts to flatten them. Then she affectionately clapped his shoulder, declaring, "Off you go. I have plenty to do." Radheya gave her a hug and ran off.

Astonishingly, Vaishali joined her sister and the two brothers on their way to the forest. The company crossed the river, leaping nimbly over the gaps between the boats, and landed on the other side with clouds of dust. They hunted around for edible berries and waited with impatient sighs as Vaishali stopped to watch birds and butterflies and ask endless questions about them to Radheya - the only one willing to answer her. The sun was nearly above their heads when Shon spotted a rabbit - beautiful and blithe and brown - and ran after it. The others followed in enthusiastic pursuit. At some point, the rabbit slipped behind a bush, and slithering down a burrow, disappeared from sight. After releasing a couple of disgruntled curses, Shon threw himself to the ground.