Jaydratha the Wild bull of Sindh

The Ravished Nation

The battle of Gandhar resulted in complete anhillation of the male gender from the soil of Gandhar . The remnants were damaged beyond repair . It was supposed to be a joyous occasion for them as the Prince of Gandhar was getting married . But the destiny had other plans . The rituals hadn't even completed and the threat of war was looming in form of dark clouds . Hastinapur had issued a threatening in the form of a proposal for marital alliance with its army and its commander in its borders . Hence the Prince Shakuni had to enter the war along with all of the soldiers and patriotic citizens for the cause of the nation . He had to literally march of from his wedding leaving behind his new bride on her first day at her in laws . Like every wife she was praying the Lords for the safety of her husband but probably her prayers weren't going to be answered . Shakuni returned but only as a lifeless corpse . Before his death he was however fortunate to have witnessed the defeat of Bheeshma. He had a last few breaths before departing the mortal world when he handed over the control of Gandhar and the responsibilities of his people and his widowed wife along with his sisters onto the Sindhunaresh .

Arshi , was waiting for her husband but received the news of his death . Any girl comes with new aspirations to her household as she begins her journey post marriage. But she was unfortunate enough to lose her husband immediately after marriage. Wars may be fought by men but they impact the woman kind in the worst possible manner . To say she was devastated would be just a tip of an iceberg to describe her state . All her hopes , her prayers and her aspirations were smashed by this war . She had nobody remaining to look for . Her paternal family belonging to the Kekayas too had participated in the war for their son in law and neither of them could escape the wrath of Bheeshma . The whole world seemed to be nightmare to her which she desperately wanted to wake up from . But sadly this was a reality , a truly cruel reality of this ravished nation . She knew that she was at mercy of the the King of Sindhudesh now that He had managed to defeat their assaulter . But she had no hope to live in this cruel world anymore . She was ready to get herself parched on the pyre of her husband . But a hand stopped her from doing so , surprisingly belonging to the one for whom the war was fought anyway .

Gandhari , the only daughter of King Subala and the beloved princess of Gandhar was the one for whom Bheeshma had arrived with his army . The illustrious damsel was the staunch devotee of the destroyer and had practised severe austerities at a tender age to impress the innocent one . The impartial one moved by the devotion of this exceptional maiden blessed her with the boon of having a hundred sons . This very boon of Gandhari has proven to be bane for her whole kingdom . Bheeshma desperately wanted her for his blind nephew and for using her boon for flourishing his illustrious lineage . Hence he used all his might to crush those who came in his way . Gandhari was ready to sacrifice herself for her kingdom . But neither her brothers nor her father had the heart to let their beloved princess face such a gruesome future in their lifetime . Hence they fought like warriors and died in the battlefield . Her whole world had crashed down with the loss of her kin . After the death of her mother , her father and her brothers had pampered her enough to not let her stay alone ever . But now she had none except her sister in law who herself was new to her family . Hence she couldn't let her depart leaving her all alone in this world . She clutched unto the hands of Arshi as she was on her way to the funeral pyre of her deceased husband . The elder girl embraced her bereaved sister in law tightly , letting go of all her emotions that had brimmed up in form of tears .

As the two ladies were mourning loss of their kin , they could make out a soft whimper from a third source . On close introspection they found out the young lass who was perhaps the one filled with mirth until a few days before . Mandakini , the daughter of the Gandhar chieftain Nagnajit and the cousin of Gandhari was a crying mess now . Being the youngest of the family , she used to be the most mischievous one among them . The whole of marriage ceremony had witnessed her cheerful nature . But this war had made her lose her whole family too . At this tender youth she was subjected to this unbearable agony . She had no idea of what to do and how to react and hence closed herself from the surroundings near the burning pyre of her father . The two senior girls now had another junior member to console and hence they had to steady themselves as they engulfed her into a bear hug , caressing enough to reassure . The whole atmosphere was mournful as the three women left to themselves could only bare their heart out to this misfortune infront of a pair of moist eyes .

Sughada , the personal maid of Gandhari was here to comfort her best friend . She being a girl from the Vaishya community had taken up the job of a maid . But she had thoroughly enjoyed her stint with the immensely affectionate princess . Their bond was almost unseparable as other maids often taunted her , saying that Gandhari would perhaps take her along with herself in dowry to the kingdom she went after her marriage . But now her ever cheerful Princess was aggrieved beyond limits . Her tender heart couldn't bear it any more . Even she lost her father and brothers at war , but she had somehow consoled her heart . Her emotions had bottled up but watching her friend break down in worst possible manner was the last straw for her .

The kingdom of Gandhar had been floored as a resultant effect of the great war . The fortress that offered security had been destroyed , farmlands in the outskirts burnt , but most importantly was the loss of earning member of every families . A new era of rebuilding process was needed to make it stand up again in the map . So it had become a liability for any kingdom now but Jaydratha was ready for the new challenge . His army was steadying the rehabilitation process as he was keenly observing the city from the top of the castle . Everywhere chaos were present and somewhere in the middle were these four women who were trying to find solace in each other . The face of a dying Shakuni resurfaced in his imagination as Jayveer prepared himself to face the grieving damsels in distress .