"Mitra, my dear little one! Where are you taking me so hurriedly?" Raja Maatha Kunti exclaimed, as the daughter of Arjuna pulled her away from her chambers towards the royal sitting room.
It had been a few days since the conversation between Mitra and Kunti at the shores of Ganga, and Mitra had not said much to her in between. Kunti had begun to worry that she had further pushed the girl away from herself by bringing up her misdeeds which had cost Karna his life. Then again, it was hardly possible to spot the girl anywhere around the palace, except for brief moments during mealtimes. Then she would dash off once again saying she had some important task to tend to. Kunti's curiosity increased as the other family members appeared to not notice anything unusual with her behaviour, saying the child must have something important to get to. What could she possibly be busy with?
And then the girl had shown up randomly to her chamber today and started pulling her out towards the inner parts of the palace.
"Mitra, where are we headed?"
"Oh, Grandmother! You're questioning me as if though I'm kidnapping you! Trust me, I have a surprise for you!"
Surprise? Kunti became more confused as she registered Mitra's words. What surprise had the girl planned for her? Her curiosity increased tenfold as they entered the sitting room, and found the rest of the family assembled there.
"Mitra, Putri what are you....," Her voice trailed off as Mitra let go of her hand and moved towards an object on the centre table, covered with a red fabric cloth.
Mitra reached out and held one end of the fabric cloth with her hand and turned around towards Kunti with broad smile on her face.
"Say hello to your complete family, Grandmother," she spoke, as she yanked her hand downwards and the cloth fell to the floor, exposing the surprise.
Kunti's thoughts came to a standstill as her eyes travelled each and every corner of the oil painting. Her eyes fell on Nakula's (on the very left) handsome smile, and then moved to Bhima's victorious smirk. She saw Sahadeva's calm features (on the very right), and then travelled to Yudhisthira's composed, yet sweet smile. Her eyes landed on Arjuna's face next who had his usual broad grin on his face but froze as she saw his arms encircled around a mighty torso, and his head resting on the shoulder of a sixth figure. The tall, and well-built figure in the centre of the group, made the hair on her skin stand on end. Tears rolled down her cheek, and a beautiful smile formed on her aged face, as her vision landed on Anga Raj Karna in the centre of the Pandavas, with his arms wound around the shoulders of both Bhima and Arjuna.
"My family...," Kunti managed to say, despite the tears choking her voice.
"Yes, Grandmother. That is your picture-perfect family in the portrait. And this is your perfect family in person."
Kunti's eyes snapped away from the portrait towards her right, to see the replica of the portrait in person. The five Pandavas in the exact same position, with Arjuna's arms wound around the petite sixth figure in the centre, standing up on a cushioned stool to match the height of her father and uncles. The replica of her father – Daanveer Anga Raj Karna, with her arms wound around the shoulders of her Arjun Baba and Uncle Bhima.
"Can you spot any differences between both, Grandmother?" Mitra amusedly questioned Kunti who was crying tears of happiness, as both Draupadi and Subhadra comforted her.
"I do not, my dear child. You have fulfilled my wish of wanting to see my sons together," Kunti replied with a teary, yet beautiful smile filled with joy.
YOU ARE READING
DaanveerPutri
Historical FictionThe great Mahabharata battle took away the lives of many and left many families incomplete. What would it be like if Anga Raj Karna had a daughter? What would the emotional turmoil of a young girl who lost all she called family in the battle be lik...
