Sootputra: The Unsung Hero

Swayamvar

The bow was an eye-catching sight, but I set my eyes on the blob of water above the smoothened mirrored platform. It was like any normal pool of water but except it had no banks or sandy bed to support it. The transparent ball of the blob was floating up as if supported by an invisible container. It was mostly a spherical shape aside from the constant way it shifted around like a loose ball of clay meters above the ground. 

The floor below only sparkled the crystal clear water with the rays that reflected off the mirror-polished marbles. I wouldn't even call them marbles, they were mirrors. One can look its face and tell how old they've become for a marriage or how nervous they looked in front of all these Maharathi's who sat watching in awe. Their jaws dropped, only a few ever dared to look around and gaze.

" This is the test, isn't it?" murmurs rattled around in whispers. There was something else in the water.

" Are those fishes?" Shalya, a king said. The four glossy fishes were swimming in the blob, expanding and shrinking it as they struggled to get out. They were the size of my palm, maybe even less. To hunt a fish in a river is a thing to be proud of. There they are more powerful, more agile, but here? They were waiting for the slaughter to come. The only saving grace for the four fishes was their size. They were too small and hence too fast. Yet that water won't be crystal clear for long.

The kings and princes who a moment ago had pride on their staches and confidence in their eyes were now dumbfounded, dividing their attention between the heavy bow and the fishes flapping in the transparent water. Was it Water?

The bustling, murmuring, and chorus hall turned silent. Every prince or king was looking at the test or at the prize.

The stairs leading to the King divided the hall into two. On his right was sitting the guest of honor Lord Krishna, surprisingly not taking part in a marriage, and on his left was his son standing with his left hand on the spear and a sword on his waist. 

The next heir to the throne and twin brother of the bride. Further left was a girl, sitting on a royal silver chair with a thick red sari, embroidered with gold design. Her nose, ears, forearms, forehead were all loaded with jewelry. It was like she was wearing half her weight on top of her. Her face was lit with makeup like kajal, redness on the cheek, rose lips, and a lotus perfume whose smell filled every nose present.

A daasi(servant) was standing by her side with two thick garlands on a plate like the coils of a white serpent. They were even thicker than my arms. Wide enough to cover the entire neck and heavy enough to make the poor girl sweat leaning on her back just to support it for hours on end.

But in all this entirety, the princess sat elegantly reflecting an equivalent attitude. I wouldn't have believed that she can act like that if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Keeping her eyes down but face up. She was checking out every attendee present while trying very hard to not give any hints. Trying not to look weak. But she had already slipped up. She had made a mistake by giving me the biggest hint there was. A hint that made me sweat the moment I saw her today.

She had finally given me her name.

I wouldn't in my hundred lives have pegged her as the girl born out of fire. She was the boon the gods gave Drupad along with his son. I felt a shock like my heart has fallen down in an endless well. She came down the hall, voluptuously walking towards her chair. But when she lifted the red veil from her face, that's when I stumbled. That's when I was ready to fall.

I never had a chance from the beginning. A foolish play on my part and a prank on hers. Maybe that's why she didn't tell me her name and that's why she ran off. She wasn't trying to steal it was her jewelry all along. She was Draupadi.