Samsāra

Chapter Twenty-Five

‘I’m not concerned about that. I've heard about the poets of Mahishmati, I've sampled some of their works including Goppa naipuṇyaṁ kaligina vyakti by Arjuna. It was delightful.’ Tannaya said.

Ajiona was again distracted from her thoughts. The image of maharani Snigdha vanished as their words filled her hearing. Poets? poem? Arjuna? Ajiona had heard none of those before. In fact, the last time she touched a work of fiction was The Lord of the flies during their flight to Mumbai. All she had read and was reading were religious books, treatise on grammar, books on laws, books on ethics, books on conduct, books on statecraft. She had read the Nāṭyaśāstra, a 6000 versed treatise on performance act, but it was for knowledge sakes. The Mahabharata and Ramayana don't count because she had read them at the behest of Devashuni, who derived lessons from them.

She felt uncomfortably out of touch with life, so caught up in studying and trying to survive in a foreign world. But now that she heard of them, she was determined to not let them pass her by. Maybe, the fictions would give her a sense of normalcy in the Topsy-Turvy world she had been tossed into.

The rajkumaris talked excitedly about their favourite poems, describing scenes from them with obvious delight. Ajiona did not join in. Isha noticed her reticence and a sly gleam appeared in her eyes. The talk crossed over to cuisine and then to jewellery, so by the time they arrived at the marketplace, the princesses have dissolved into fits of giggles.

They tried composing themselves as the litter was set down and they were helped out, but their faces were red and mouths twitched constantly.

The first stop was the jewelry shop and Ajiona banished her thoughts and turned to her role as host. She offered suggestions, asked them to try out this or that, and did not haggle when the price was called. The merchant was completely subservient in the face of four women from royal background, and the burly men that guarded them. He offered to send a messenger with their purchase later on, rather than burden such refined ladies with them. Ajiona found him slimy.

From there it was on to a sweets shop; a weaver’s shop; a cobbler’s shop; a cosmetics shop. It was sometime around past noon, after a refreshing cup of mango juice, that they made their way to the book shop. Ajiona was glad to sit, her feet ached and she was looking forward to the comfort of her chambers and her friends. She hadn't really had time to talk and relax with Pragya and Mekhala like before, learning had eaten up all the time she had. And now that all instructions have been suspended pending the time the guests would be around, she was busy with planning out events for the royal princesses that Pragya and Mekhala didn't fit in.

Ajiona yearned for them. To sit in the coolness of her verandah, all the cumbersome silks and jewelries exchanged for a simple antariya wrapped around her, while Mekhala kneaded oil into her hair and gossiped and Pragya scowled at Mekhala's informal verbosity. She needed to talk to them. Mekhala had been acting a little off lately, sulking and short-tempered. Ajiona thought Mekhala was mad at her, but she hadn't had time to verify.

Rajkumari Isha was giggling at the risque portraits in the poem she bought. Tannaya was clearly shocked by the lewd poses but she kept mum for the fear that Isha might tease her. Ajiona thought she needed a lesson with Aadarshini about the rules of comportment: how to appear comfortably even if you aren't, how to make the blush disappear from your cheeks.

Despite Tannaya's best efforts, Isha noticed the colour that flooded her face and proceeded to tease her more by flipping through the other epics she had purchased, which turned out to be all risque. She remarked about passages and commented with a professional air, her laughter was coarse. Tannaya grew more uncomfortable with each calculated remark until it became unbearable to watch.