𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒌𝒉𝒂, a young cheerful girl from Kaliyug, is reborn as the sister of the Pandavas after she dies. She was the apple of their eyes, their soul, their peace.
She was Yudishthir's mind.
She was Bheem's strength.
She was Arjun's eyes.
She...
"You went in the hut where Mata was praying, and Bhrata Arjun and Bro Nakul jokingly told her to look at the daan they had gotten from the swayamvar, referring to Draupadi." The five looked at her in confusion, wondering how that detail might've mattered.
"Mata believed it to be a daan and asked you five to divide it amongst yourselves." Indu sighed, facepalming. But it was to hide her eye which were almost teary, instead of showing disappointment. Their eyes widened, afraid of what she might say. "What do you mean, how can we divide Panchali amongst ourselves?" Arjun asked, leaning in. His anxiety was evident on his face, fearing the worst for his wife and brothers.
"Did we four take sanyas? What happened?" Sahadev was getting impatient, now. He desperately wanted to know which one of his visions were true.
"You five married her."
Chaos. Utter Chaos.
Chaos unleashed in front of her. The four stood up in a second, not believing that their sister-in-law was their wife. Not in any way did they want to accept that situation. Their voices overlapping could be the end of anyone as their arguments had already caused a headache for Indulekha. Arjun, who was still sitting, with his face devoid of emotions. His wife, his Draupadi must've bore so many insults from the world. How was it possible for him to share his wife and expect the society to accept it when he himself had so many doubts. "She didn't want to separate the five of you brothers and neither did she want Jyestha to lose the throne. I don't want to tell you anything else because I don't know what it would cause, but instead of me, Krishnaa was in the Dyut Sabha." The four who had stood up, felt their knees getting weaker than ever. They couldn't grasp a single thing they heard. Arjun, finally reacting, let a scream out, pulling on his hair.
"Why is it always us, who have to bear the consequences of your actions? Why, why do others have to bear the consequences of your actions, Jyeshta?!" He broke out in tears, falling to the ground. No one had expected him to break down like so. But it wasn't a lie that he was bottling up his feelings and they finally became too much for him to keep it contained.
Yudishthir, who was looking at him in shock at the sudden outburst, softened his eyes. "I don't know, I really don't." He slowly came closer to him, treating him like a hostile animal. Yudishthir's Phalguna, his trust, his protector, his blind follower, his little brother all had given up on him. He looked at his burnt hands, the ones he had burnt himself, and wondered whether those deserved to touch the son of Indra dev, the anuj of Vrikodar Bheem, the elder of the Madri twins and Chandraputri. "Jyeshta, help me, please," He cried on the ground, while his brothers were still shocked at the outburst of one of the calmest of them. Seeing him in such a vulnerable state, tears flowed through the other's eyes. And Indu didn't know who to feel sad for. She pitied herself and her brothers.
"The good guys suffer the most, don't they Kanha?"
"Don't the bad guys suffer too, sakhi?" Indu heard a faint voice, melodious yet lively.
"What's the point then?"
Humans, they suffer. Whether they're good or bad; they suffer.
A scoff left her mouths as she held her brother's hand. Arjun, wiping his tears, glanced at her with a thankful look before giving an apologetic look to his Jyestha. His Jyeshta gave a weak smile.
Everyone departed. Nakul went with Bhrata Bheem with his excuse of burning wood, Sahadev went back in the hut to lay the mattresses, Yudishthir, after conforming that Arjun was fine, decided to take a dip in the lake and Indulekha and Arjun went to collect fruits.
"Don't you four always support all of Bhrata's decisions?" Indu mumbled, jumping to grab the apples from the tree.
"Yeah," Arjun's puffy eyes lingered over her sister. He became awfully aware of her presence, unlike earlier where he didn't mind whenever she'd accompany him. He didn't want to talk to someone who was still a part of their previous life, to someone who might not have had a new identity after their past. He didn't trust her.
"So, what did you mean by consequences of his actions?"
"I don't know, I just said something. People say random things when they're angry, behen."
(Sister)
Indu frowned. Never once had Arjun called her 'behen', not even when he wanted to annoy her. Ignoring her 'bhai', she plopped some berries in his basket to make space in hers. While Arjun hesitated to get the berries, he let her put them in nonetheless.
What Indu thought might happen if she told them the truth, was much different than what actually happened and it was not for the better. She could clearly see further divisions in the Younger Siblings and Older Siblings.
Trust was now a game. Played by all, lost by all.
Lies were something usual, now. Perhaps not for the one they all looked up to.
Admiration didn't exist, though.
Between the cobwebs of trust, lies and admiration, was stuck Indulekha, the sister of the Pandavas.
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