Indulekha: The Sister of The Pandavas • Mahabharat

39. Humans.

Indu laid on the grass with her brothers surrounding her. "Are you sure? She just fainted?"

"Perhaps because of the difference in the amounts of food she ate. Life here is very different compared to the royalty." Arjun suggested, stroking her head.

"No, she never ate so much for it cause such effects. She ate an adequate amount and here, we give her most of our food too. There's no way that could be the reason." Bheem grumbled, picking up his sister to take her inside. "Maybe excessive training?" Nakul suggested. They shrugged. Walking towards the hut, they realised how silent it was without her talking every few minutes. Maybe the first time they had gotten silence in years. "Should we call a medic?" Sahadev asked a reasonable question to which there was no reply. Only thinking faces.

"Maybe you should." An enchanting voice said. The moment they heard the voice, they knew who it was. "Pranipat Vasudev," They greeted him together as he entered the hut.

"Kya hua meri priya sakhi ko?"

(What happened to my dear friend?)

"She fainted, all of a sudden, when we went to call her back." Nakul explained with a guilty smile on his face. Maybe if he hadn't left her alone, he would've known what was wrong. "I'll call a medic; you all can stay with her." Krishna smiled, leaving the hut.

The five brothers glanced at her before glancing at each other. "Indu reminds me of Mata Madri," Sahadev revealed, to which the brothers had no shock to. They smiled, knowing that somewhere in the back of their mind, they felt the same thing. "Maybe because she's as sweet as honey,"
"And as pretty as the moon itself,"

"And as understanding as the ocean who takes in everyone," The brothers smiled, feeling empty without her. For a second, a devasting thought came to their minds. They looked at each other before trying to shake the thought out of their head. But they all knew what they all felt.

'Is this how it would feel if Indu died?'

"We can't let her participate in the war," The brothers mumbled in unison.

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A few hours had passed and no one was ready to leave the hut without Indu waking up. Yudishthir tried his best to liven up the mood while the four brothers seemed tense.

"Uh, Indu has seemed to know everything about what happens to us, right?" Yudishthir brought up the topic, trying to engage a conversation. Usually, it was Indu who would start the conversations. Even in gurukul, the main subject of their gossips would be revolving around Indu or the letters she had sent.

"Yes, ever since we came back from gurukul. She told us It's the perks of hanging out with Vasudev but it just feels like she's lying." Bheem glanced at her while voicing his opinions.

"Always feels like she hides something from us. I always thought she knew out fates. I always respected her on the same level as Jyeshta." Nakul gave a weak smile, saddened by the thought of her having too many secrets from their own brothers. But again, after the dyut sabha, Nakul doubted if she could trust any one of them. "Should we ask her regarding this?" Arjun asked this specifically to his Jyestha but Sahadev replied in his stead, "Yes, of course. But let's not pester her to answer."

A whine was heard from Indu as her eyes slowly opened. She turned around on the mattress, covering her face with her dupatta.
"Indu? Indu?" They shook her lightly, trying to wake her up.

"Yeah?" She whispered; her face still covered. "Are you fine? What happened back there?"

"My head hurts," she whined. "It's fine, we'll leave you to be. Rest." Saying so, the brothers left leaving Nakul and Sahadev for her protection.

"Bro Nakul?" She mumbled, extending her hand to see where he was instead of opening her eyes. "Yeah?" He sat down beside her as Sahadev came near. "What do you both really feel?" Indu had caught up on their feelings a long while ago. She always wanted to ask them and comfort them. But the three of them never got time alone.

"What?" They said in unison, confused. "They always leave you, don't they?" She said, sitting upright which caused them worry. But what troubled them more was a subtle truth in her words. They did, in fact, always leave these two out. They were the only ones who stuck up for each other, being the only Madri sons. While Indu always looked out for them, she was known as Kunti's child and not Madri's despite her being a fruit to both of them. The world always highlighted the elder three while these two were always the ones who were forgotten and underestimated. Nakul only known for his beauty despite him being a skilled swordsman and so was Sahadev, but he was known as the shyer and quieter one. Even their mystical gifts such as Nakul's ability to communicate with animals and Sahadev's ability to look into the future were overlooked.

The two looked at each other, a hint of tears in their eyes. "That they do." Sahadev spoke, sitting down beside Nakul. "We might be Pandavas but we aren't Kaunteya's, according to the world at least. Mata always treated all of us the same, but no one else does. It's always us in their shadow." Nakul tried to smile, fighting back tears. He'd hid what he felt from everyone and only shared it with Sahadev. Indu caught on their feelings a few months after her marriage, when she could see that her time and attention being divided between so many people, Sahadev and Nakul seemed lonely.

"Of course, we love Bhrata Arjun, Bhrata Bheem and Jyeshta but we would be lying if we said we weren't jealous of them." Sahadev lowered his head. Never once had he cried in front of Indu, except for the sabha and their father's death. But this was the first time he was crying for himself.

He slowly let the tears release as Nakul hugged him from the side. Indu dashed up, resulting in her head to spin, but nevertheless she hugged him. Sahadev reciprocated the hug. He found comfort in the younger siblings rather than the older ones. They always had so many duties and he didn't want to burden them more by his own problems. While the younger siblings seemed freer and more outgoing, like friends and the older siblings seemed like parents or guardians. Wouldn't there be more comfort in someone near your age? Would they feel more love with each other and not the elders?

Outside the hut and near the lake, the three eldest Pandavas greeted the medic which Vasudev has brought with him. Satyadev was with them who had gotten extremely worried upon hearing Indu's sudden fainting. They were soon to go into the hut but Yudishthir delayed it to give Indu as much rest as possible.

A few minutes spent in Nakul, Sahadev and Indu's warm embrace felt like ages. Nakul knew Sahadev and Indu understood him. Sahadev knew that being younger, they had to bet here for each other. Indu felt that the Ashwini twins were her safe space and blamed the elder three for the incident in the dyut sabha. After all, it was their responsibility to take decisions. But all five were enveloped by guilt of not protecting her. In the times where they all were supposed to be united against the Kauravas, they were divided into two groups- the Youngers Siblings and the Older Siblings.

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Heyy y'all! This chapter was specifically dedicated to the Younger siblings. I, for some reason, always felt like the strength of the Madri twins was really downplayed in many versions of Mahabharat. After all, their contribution was so much in The Great Epic. This chapter holds a special place in my heart because despite the Pandavas being demigods, I wanted to show that they also feel human emotions. I really wanted to contribute this chapter to their humanization. I will make more chapters about the issues of the Older Pandavas. And them all together, as siblings feeling divided.