Kairavi

Chapter 2

8 years later:

The little moon princess kept everyone in the ashram occupied with her mischiefs. She arrived like mid-winter spring in their lives, and made everything feel anew and hopeful.

Her day used to start with offering arghya to Surya dev, followed by daily lessons of Vedas, Shastras and Upshastras from the great Parshuram. She listened to her gurudev with utmost concentration and curiosity, assimilating every shlok as they flowed fluently from her teacher's lips.
Seeing the toddler grow up before his eyes filled the old man's heart with delight and warmth.
The sage, known for his anger seemed to have abandoned his aggression since her birth.

By the budding age of 8, she had mastered almost half of the vedas. The 4 major kalas: Geet, Vadya, Nritya and Natya were the centres of her proficiency. She was also good at making medicines from common herbs due to her strange fascination towards Chikitsa vidya.

Overall, Kairavi was growing up to be the perfect kanya under Bhagwan Parshuram's care.
Her devotion towards her guru was like no other and munishreshth returned her fidelity by conferring his limitless knowledge to her.

One fine day after her study session, a sudden urge to assemble a garland with Neelkamal and Kumud flowers took over Kairavi as she sat on the grass playing with her clay dolls.
'My dolls would look so pretty, adorned with those flowers.' she fantasized.
Her smile soon turned upside down as she recalled that she wasn't allowed to wander far away from the ashram. Her shoulders slumped down in dismay.
She huffed and made her way back to the cave.
Upon seeing the scene in front of her, her eyes lit up in excitement. Gurdev sat with his shishyas, meditating in silence.
Everyone was so engrossed in their meditation that nobody heard her come inside.

Kairavi giggled and ran towards the jalashay which was on the other side of the hill.
'I'd be back before gurudev and the other students open their eyes.' she calculated as her little feet sprinted towards the pond.
As she expected, numerous neelkamals were floating on the surface of water, ready to be plucked by her.
She bent down near the edge and collected two beautiful flowers for her two dolls which rested by her side.

The princess struggled while carrying so many things in her tiny arms. Occasionally, she would drop something and sigh while picking it back up.
The scene was heartwarming to the boy who watched her from behind the trees. He chuckled, looking at her getting annoyed with the flowers and dolls.

"I should put the flowers on my dolls right now, that way, there will be less things to carry back." she beamed at her idea.
She plopped down on the grass and began pulling out the petals from the flower carefully. "Be patient now, I'm preparing your ornaments." she scolded the toys as they watched her eagerly.
While weaving one blue petal to a string, Kairavi accidentally hit one of the dolls with her elbow, sending it tumbling down the slope. "No!" A shriek escaped from her throat as she chased the toy at perilous speed.

After running a short distance, her tired legs stumbled upon a rock and she flopped on her stomach, starting her way down the ditch, rolling with a dangerous speed towards another huge rock, which could easily split her head into pieces.
Kairavi screamed for her life and squeezed her eyes shut, while approaching her death.

Parshuram jolted awake from his tapasya as he heard the girl's terrifying scream.
Without a second thought, he stormed out of the cave in the direction of the sound, praying for her safety.

Just before the princess could hit the boulder, a strong arm yanked her sideways. Another one wrapped around her small frame protectively as she and the stranger fell down the ditch together.
Kairavi didn't open her eyes until she heard a very loud clank, like two metals colliding with each other, followed by a jerk as they came to a stop.

She craned her neck and saw a young adult holding her body tightly with one limb and the other covering her head.
She shrugged out of his grasp after catching her breath to get a clearer look at his face.

The lad's face had an unusual radiance and his eyes housed determination and confidence in them.
He was wearing an armour that must've been torn by the impact of the collision.

"Bhratashree!" she exclaimed.