Shatru Sesham: Sequel of Baahubali ✔️

Chapter Thirty-Two

We reached this place late last night. We slept in the cowshed. When everyone seemed to be stirring, we hid in the nearby bushes to prevent detection. That was when He (pointing towards Narasimha) saw us. We were not sure how our presence would be taken; whether we were going to be evicted or handed to the local authorities or mistaken for thieves or robbers. We stole or took nothing. We harmed nobody. We just wanted a place to keep ourselves warm and safe for the night."

After hearing this heart-rending tale, there ensued a long and heavy silence. Nobody spoke anything. Narasimha and all the others kids at the hermitage were left utterly horrified. Only Bhavani maintained a stoic demeanor of calmness while this whole tale was being narrated. Guru Dharmagupta said, "Both of you are safe here. You can stay as long as you want in this Ashram. We all lead simple and disciplined lives. We may not be able to provide much but your basic needs will be taken care of. You can live as students along with my students."
-
-
-
Ever since the children had heard the tale of Vedant and Nandini, they were all very subdued. It seemed as though the recital had snuffed out all the merriment, glee and innocence of their childhood. Coming to terms with something that the children had actually been through was a really difficult thing. They had all come from good, safe and secure homes and loving parents who doted upon their children. It was the dawn of understanding for many of them that reality wasn't always kind and considerate.

Even during the lunch-time at noon, most of the children hardly ate anything. They lost their appetite for food. Narasimha hadn't touched even a morsel of food. But Bhavani seemed to be eating and going about her usual routine in the same manner as she did everyday.

Narasimha was astonished and shaken by her hardness and insensitivity. He hadn't expected that his friend would be like this after listening to such a tale. It would take him many more days to limp back to normalcy. How could a single person be such a bundle of contradictions? So sensitive and attuned to the needs of others during some instances and as hard as rock and fossil at other instances that it was literally impossible to move her.

Looking at the untouched plate of her friend with arched eyebrows, Bhavani asked, "Your lunch plate is untouched. Aren't you going to eat?"

"May be you could after listening to such a tale. I can't!" The words spilled out accusatorily out of Narasimha's lips. But after he spoke, he bit his lips feeling a bit sorry for having spoken the words he did to his Gurukul friend and mate. They would hurt. At least, if anybody said the same thing to him, he definitely would!

"I am sorry! I didn't mean it!"

Bhavani's face was however rigid and inscrutable. It seemed that the words were either unsaid or did not penetrate through her internal defenses. She said at last, "You should eat when you get!"

That is when Narasimha realized the true import of his friend's words. It only meant that his friend must have gone without meals a number of times prior to this, "Have you ever gone without a meal before this?"

His friend just evaded the question, "I am going back for the afternoon session. My lunch is over."

"Bhavani" Narasimha ran behind his friend, "Wait! You haven't answered my question."

"What will you do knowing the answer? You aren't going to feed me", said Bhavani with exasperation.

"I will!" said Narasimha.

Bhavani retorted, "How many? Your father hasn't earned so much with his business that you can afford to donate it in charity to the whole world. Life isn't all roses and rainbows. There are thorns too!"

Narasimha mumbled within himself, "If I want to feed, I can feed every hungry mouth around me with the money and wealth my father has!"

But remembering his promise to his father to hide his true identity at the Gurukul, he checked himself and merely contented himself saying, "I want to make a difference....at least to the extent I can. Just because I cannot change or correct the whole world does not mean I cannot try to change that which is in my power? I will make a difference to every person in my life and every person around me."

Guru Dharmagupta who had been listening to this conversation from behind appreciated, "Yes! That is the right spirit. Rather than concentrating on what we cannot, we should do what we can. As Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita'Karmanye vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana, Ma Karmaphalaheturbhurma Te Sangostvakarmani!' It is the foremost duty of every human being to discharge whatever duties and responsibilities they have been assigned in their particular place and station of life. Neither should the fruits of the action be the incentive for you to discharge your duty nor should you waste your time in inaction and pessimism."
-
-
-
It was the second night that Narasimha was supposed to spend without sleeping to complete his punishment for breaking the Gurukul discipline. He sat on the porch, the cool night air brushing against rich, silken brown locks of hair that were wafting in the air. This night seemed easier than his first night of punishment. The incidents of the day had left him with a lot of food for thought.

What sort of a man must that king have been to ditch his citizens like that and forsake his duties? He should have been protecting his people to the last drop of his blood. But he simply ran off with his family out of fear for the enemy.

And what sort of a demon must that enemy king have been to attack, kill, plunder, enslave, rape women, and reduce common hapless citizens and children to a state like that? Where was the need for all that? Did having strength and power entitle somebody to destroy?

Dharmagupta observing his student in his emotional turmoil and dilemma  said, "Go inside and sleep in my chamber. I told you that the punishment was just for the sake of appearances. You needn't carry it out to the exact letter."

"I wouldn't be able to sleep today even if I tried, Guruji" said Narsimha shrugging his shoulders.

"Something is disturbing you. You can confide in me if you want" offered Dharmagupta.

"I haven't been able to forget what I heard from Vedant today morning" replied Narasimha. "Can any human being be so evil?"

Dharmagupta asked "Have you read Ramayana and Mahabharata?"

"Yes, they are our sacred scriptures. My mother has often read them for me. But what does that have to do with what happened today?"

"If you view them as any other text, then may be not! But if you look at them as a way of life, you will find all the answers to your questions in these two texts. You will begin seeing yourselves amidst those diverse stories. Your story, your conflicts, your dilemmas are not very different from what happened in the past. The names and places might have changed but everything else is similar. This whole world is a big battle field, a Kurukshetra of good and evil. Ram and Ravan lie within the same human being. And every human being is given the time and opportunity to choose the right path and make the right decisions. The right path is often the most difficult and conflicting. You may face many obstacles. You might be all alone and isolated in this fight. None of your near ones might be ready to support you. Still you have to keep going with the conviction that what you are doing is right. Being the Vibhishan or Bharath in the battle of good and evil is even more difficult than being the Ram or Ravan."

"I am feeling much better after talking to you Guruji." After a pause, Narasimha asked with a slight bit of hesitation in his tone, "Guruji you have the power to see and foretell. Do you know about those demons who attacked Vedant's village?"

Dharmagupta realizing that his student was still physically and mentally not ready for the revelation of the full truth at this point of time, simply evaded and changed the topic speaking something entirely different.
-
-
-
Author's Note: If you liked whatever you read, kindly vote and comment on the story. A big thank you to all my constant readers, supporters and friends. Your love and encouragement for my story means a lot to me. It inspires and motivates me to write.