A Heart of Gold

Chapter 8: Kuruvamsha- The Clan of the Kurus

Radheya peered at the boy in surprise as he kept tugging at Ashwatthama's dhoti, practically undressing him. Ashwatthama gave him a short, nervous glance, flashing his teeth, "Emergency, got to go."

Radheya nodded understandingly, "Of course. Tomorrow, same time?"

"Naturally."

Radheya rose to leave. The boy stomped his foot impatiently and huffed. Ashwatthama practically ran. The boy turned to go too, but then suddenly stopped, turned around and without explanation, unceremoniously took him by the hand and started dragging him across the lawn.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"Tathing you with me."

[Taking you with me]

"Uh? But why? And where? And who are you?"

The boy kept dragging him relentlessly, only pausing to answer, "Bhlata tolth me to geth help. I am Duh-thathana."

[Bhrata told me to get help. I am Dushasana.]

Radheya futilely tried to plant his feet in the ground. "Dushasana? As in the Kuru prince?"

Said prince glared at him. Absolutely shocked and gobsmacked, Radheya mutely followed him. Under the tamarind tree, by the small lake at the center of the ashram, a group of boys of varied ages and in singularly identical clothes had gathered in an ill formed half circle blocking the actual cause of the trouble from view. Ashwatthama was already in the center of the formation, presumably investigating the matter. The crowd parted like sea as the supposed Prince Dushasana entered, and Radheya saw a boy of gargantuan proportions standing with an insolent expression on his face, holding a much younger boy by his hair with his left hand as he fended off another furious lad with his right. Ashwatthama was unsuccessfully trying to unclench his fingers from the younger boy's hair.

"Let him go! Bhim, this is not going to end well."

"He called me a fatso", the gigantic child, Bhim, cried, flinging the boy almost onto the tree itself. "No Kshatriya worth his salt ought to let this pass."

"You could have called him something offensive in return and ended the matter. I said let go! You're hurting him!! Suyo, stop fighting. I'm handling this, aren't I?"

"Bhrata Yudhisthir said that I should not call them names."

"Well, I am telling you now to settle such matters this way."

The boy who had been trying to hit 'Bhim' now managed to land a punch right under his ribs. Radheya didn't think it was possible but Bhim actually roared louder, swung the other kid like a rag doll, and flung him into the chilly waters of the lake, before turning around and sending the other boy flying across the lawn with a bloody nose. Ashwatthama stood up uncertainly, unsure of whether try and restrain Bhim, or fish out the boy from the water, or take the one with a broken nose to the Ayuralay. He did not have to make that decision. The broken nosed boy charged at Bhim like the raging waters of the Ganga in a storm and started hitting him on the face and stomach, answering brute strength with agility. Ashwatthama threw himself between the two, desperately trying to stop them from killing each other. The child in the water flailed his limbs and practically drowned. Radheya looked left, then right, and made an executive decision. Rolling his shoulders, he dived into the water. The resulting splash shocked both the quarrelling parties into stillness, but not before Drona, the teacher, had arrived, just in time to see 'Suyo' land a bruising kick on 'Bhim's' solar plexus. Radheya grabbed the drowning boy by his hand and hair, and half dragged, half-pulled the semi-conscious kid to the shore.

"What exactly is going on here? Why are you hitting Bhim, Duryodhan?"

"He beat Durjaya and threw him in the lake."