Changing the Tides

Return & Worry

The kingdom of Hastinapur was buzzing with the hustle and bustle of its citizens. Where Adults were running here and there in order to perform their daily jobs, children on the other hand were creating a chaos on the streets with their games.

It was a little later in the day, when sounds of horses were resonating within the streets of Hastinapur. Everyone stopped their work, and looked at the direction of the sound, where they saw 6 horses along with their yuvraj, their prince, and the princes of Indraprastha.

Duryodhan, who was riding the horse and was in front of everyone smiled at the sight of his citizens, after which he looked at his younger brother, who was also smiling. They passed all the streets swiftly, and soon were dashing inside the gates of their palace.

Reaching their courtyard, they dismounted their horses, where some workers who worked in the stable at the palace took them. Duryodhan then looked at the four Pandav brothers, but did not say anything. Taking his gaze away from them he looked at Dushshaasan, and gestured him to come along

They started moving to the entrance of their palace, where they were able to see preparations that were still going on.

Soon, one of the staff members who was working on the decorations of the palace, informed the royal family of the return of the Yuvraj and the other princes.

Everyone came out in a hurry, and hence began an emotional reunion.

Where Bhanumati and Chandramukhi were welcoming Duryodhan and Dushshaasan. Draupadi, Subadhra and other wives were also welcoming their respective husbands.

Family elders along with Devika, who were also present there, stood behind and smiled at seeing their family.

Gandhari who was happy too on return of her sons , spoke, "Putriyon, I know you are happy on seeing your husbands, but let them at least come in."

After they came in, Bhanumati and Chandramukhi took both Duryodhan and Dushshaasan to their respective chambers, since they wanted to spend some time with their husbands. They also wanted them to relax after their punishment and their journey.
The same thing was also done by the wives of the pandavs, where their wives took them to the guest chambers allotted to them. Only Draupadi and Devika were left standing there from this generation of the family.

Seeing Duryodhan, Dushshaasan and Pandavas leaving with their wives, Bhishma spoke, "I think it would be appropriate for everyone to rest for now, and we can meet after some time in our common family chamber."

Saying which he and others too started to leave.

At some distance, in a house which was located in the city of Hastinapur there stood a woman who was feeling tensed. She was looking out of the window, and was constantly thinking about her husband. Till last night she was feeling happy for him, but as soon as the sun had set, a feeling of sadness had started to crawl into her.

She was not sure why was she feeling this way, but she was at least sure that this was somehow linked to her husband, which was the reason for her feeling nervous and also negative thoughts running through her mind.

While she was thinking, a young boy crept inside the room and smiled seeing his mother. He slowly went to her and called her out. But the woman was so lost in her thoughts that she failed to register her son's voice. The boy called out to her again, but once again the woman did not respond. Getting impatient, the young boy grabbed the hand of his mother and pulled it for getting her attention.

Feeling the tug at her hand the woman looked down and saw her son trying to get her attention. She fake smiled in order to hide her worries, and spoke, "Vrish what are you doing trying to pull my hand?"