"Drau, you know that we will take different names in the Gurukul, to hide our identity?" asked Drishtdyumna.

"Yes, Dyumna, I was there when Baba told us all the rules and regulations of the Gurukul." Draupadi said nonchalantly, she was preoccupied as she was seeing the bushes move past them. They had just changed their transport from the royal chariot to a bullock cart, as they were nearing the Gurukul. So, that all the students of the Gurukul were treated as equals, everyone was given a new name, to hide their identities. Their clothes were woven such that they wouldn't stand out. For a change, the twins liked the khadi and cotton attire. The porcelain Drishtdyumna looked dazzling in saffron and red dhoti and angavastram, he had been forced to wear. And the white khadi blouse and dhoti enhanced the dark-skinned Draupadi. The white cotton angavastram flowed in the breeze. 

"Do you know what they will name you?" Asked the elder of the two.

"No." said Draupadi monotonously, she wanted him to be quiet so that she could savour the view.

"Murkhati." Drishtdyumna laughed.

Draupadi did not reciprocate, instead, she turned towards him away from the expanse of cornfields, and squeezed his hand.

"What is it Dyumna?" She asked concern evident in her voice, her brother only cracked hideous jokes when he was agitated.

"Nothing, it's just everything will be so different here! Trust me I wanted to go out of those walls, but just the idea of living away from home for almost a decade sounds scary."

"Dyumna, home is where the people you love are, yes Baba and Jiji are far away but we at least we are together! Imagine, how many new people we will meet!"

"Yeah, I suppose you are right, you will be there. So, I can mock you!" The boy grinned.

Before Draupadi could reply to his ridiculous jab, the cart came to a stop.

A soldier in his early twenties, Vrishank had been disguised as the cart driver, he would live near the ashram, careful enough to not disrupt any activity, but intervene when any sign of danger was eminent on the royal twins.

"We have arrived, your highnesses." Said the soldier though, in the clothes of a common man, his posture was still impeccable.

"Clearly you are new sir, my dear sister here won't allow you to call us by those titles, call us by our names, our real names, if you want you can even call her murkha!" Said Drishtdyumna while getting off the cart and hanging an orange cotton bag on his right shoulder.

Draupadi was about to say something, but she saw a figure standing in front of the premises of the gurukul.

"I knew it would be smaller than the palace, but this is pretty concise." Said Drishtdyumna.

He was right, as far they could see, only a solitary hut was visible, everything else was just dense foliage. A part of the fence was broken, and a little looked burnt.

"Shh... come." Said Draupadi making her way to the man, possibly their guru.

The barrel-chested man was a whole of 6 feet with muscles that could injure. His white beard reached a little below the neck. His head was shaved except for a tuft of hair which signified that he was a brahmin. The coarse khadi clothes contrasted his tanned skin. His flowing angavastram revealed scars of combat. He was the son of Rishi Bhardwaj, born out of a pot, Drona. 

"Guruji!" The twins said joining their hands and then bending to touch his feet.

"Live with Dharma!" Blessed the man, smiling.

"Come. You suspect right, this is not the Gurukul you will study in, this was the Gurukul in which your Father and I studied. Mother Nature has taken over must of it, but my father's hut still remains. This is a sanctified place. Here, we will perform the ritual of naming you." Drona said, clearing their doubts.

They reached a clearing where stood a table with some weapons the twins had seen, and some they didn't know even existed.

"Come forward son, and pick a weapon of your choice."

Drishtdyumna walked to the table, and without a seconds delay, picked up a double-edged sword, about 2 feet long with a leather hilt, it must have been heavy as the boy struggled to carry it. But his excitement prevented the sword from touching the ground, he had seen his father play with swords as a child playing with marbles, and he just knew he had to be a swordsman.

"Hmm.. a longsword, fling it." Said Drona with a little doubt.

But Drishtdyumna had spent hours seeing his father practice various manoeuvres. He didn't simply fling but made a show of it.

Drona smiled, "Good, with a suitable sword and years of practice, I can see you beheading someone with it! Now, answer a question of mine." Said Drona.

"What is life?"

"If you treasure it, a gift. If you challenge it, an adventure.If you learn from it, a mystery. If you are solving it, a puzzle.If you are facing it, a struggle.If you are embracing it, beautiful." Drishtdyumna recited what he had heard Drupad say one day, and he felt every word of it.

"In you, I see the illumination. You will charms those around with your words or your acts, I name you Udyat, a rising star."

As Draupadi walked to the table. She saw all the weapons, there were spears and maces, swords and bows, but what she was drawn to was a small weapon, which was almost invisible between the swords around it. It was a dagger, double-edged and pointed, with a jute hilt. It was small enough to be unnoticeable but sharp enough to pour out blood. 

"See that, board, with the three concentric circles on it? Aim for the smallest one in the middle." said Drona pointing to a board attached to stumps of wood, painted with three different colours. 

Draupadi ascended her right hand till the dagger was in the same plane as her eyes, she aimed at the smallest circle on the board kept 7 feet away. She receded her hand an inch or two, then with a jerk pushed it forward and released the dagger, the weapon stuck on the border of the smaller circle.

Draupadi sighed.

"Not bad, not bad at all. You just released the dagger a little early, but with practice, you will excel in it. Now answer few of my questions." Drona said.

"What matters more to you roop or gun?"

"Gun."

"And roop?" asked Drona.

"That resides in the eyes of the viewer."

"Meaning?" Drona pressed.

"When under the sky some see the limit and some dreams."

"What is the greatest weapon in war?"

"Courage."

"What is the greatest gift?"

"A blessing."

Drona smiled. 

-:-

Nakul had run straight to where some students were clashing with wooden swords. Sehdev looked at the eldest, and only when he nodded went to the students throwing axes on a wooden plank. 

"See you later Jeshtha!" said Bhim going to the area where the maces were kept.

"Brother, there I see the archer section, go on!" said Yudhishtira advancing towards the stand where painted wooden sticks were placed.

Arjun slowly proceeded towards the area, unsure of what to do and how to conduct himself, he saw all of the archers were almost twice his age, he looked around for someone his age, and he saw a boy with a sword in his hand, porcelain-skinned, but Arjun decided against going to him. He seemed a little rogue, roaming without an angavastram.

Yudhishtira had already chosen a spear and was named Dheeraj for his calm composure.  And Bhima was holding a mace and was named Abhay, for his daring answers to Drona's questions. The elder of the twins, holding a sword was named Aradhya for his charming personality, and Sehdev holding the axe was to be called Gyanav for his fierce intellect. 

And then came Arjun, standing with a lubricated wooden bow, flushed a little by the praise he had heard from Drona, on his perfect shot, and named so. 

Without a word Arjun stood in front of the target, picking up the bow, not as strong and heavy as the one he had held yesterday, this was a mere practice bow. Arjuna picked up an arrow, it was wooden too, Arjun wondered how it would pierce the target. He went up to it and touched it. The material with which the target was made was both soft and hard. Soft enough to be pierced, but hard enough to be pierced with force. Arjun went back to the mark, he sensed some of the students looking at him, but he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes, the small black circle was the only thing visible to him. He held the end of the arrow between the tips of the index and middle finger of his right hand and width of the thumb and placed it approximately in the middle of the thread attached to the bow. His left hand held the bow sturdily so that when he fired the arrow, the motion of the bow did not intervene. He stretched his hand back and released the arrow, and the arrow spun right into the centre of the circle. He heard a few grunts of approval around him. Arjun went forward to retrieve the arrow when he heard the sounds.

Swish - thack.

A perfect shot, but he could tell, it wasn't an arrow, it was something heavier, not as heavy as a spear. A dagger. Arjun turned back. He hadn't noticed but just opposite the Archery section was another. The sound had come from the position just opposite him, but he couldn't see the thrower as the target board blocked his view. He walked his way around it and a girl almost his age came into view, she was facing her back to him. 

The girl was wearing a white cotton dhoti, paired with a white khadi blouse,  her angavastram was tied around her waist so that it wouldn't interfere with the release of the weapon. Her colour was just a shade darker than his. Her black hair, reaching the end of her back was tied in a thick braid. Arjun had an urge to behold her face. His breath hitched a little, and his chest felt like someone had put a pillar atop it. 

And then she turned around.

All was forgotten. It felt like Arjun had seen something which only a few get to. He had gotten moksha. His heartfelt like it was elated. Her round black eyes, beneath those thick eyelashes, was looking at him, but he couldn't look away, his body was not in his control. Her face a shade lighter than her skin tone, looked like that of an apsara. Her lips neither thin nor full were partly open. Her long nose gave attention to her sharp jawline, and her thick arched eyebrows were raised in question. He saw her mouthing something. But he was not here anymore. Arjun couldn't listen to what she was saying. Then he saw her coming towards him, and he couldn't move. Arjun saw how she lifted her right hand and placed it on his shoulder. And then the trance broke. Arjun was out of the air, looking at her, he had forgotten to breathe.

"Are you fine?" asked the girl, concerned. Arjun winced on how dumb he must have looked staring at her and started straightening his angavastram.

"Absolutely, kumari. I heard you throw the dagger and I just had to see the wielder." Arjun said smiling, he had gotten out of the trance completely now and was able to walk and talk like humans, his breathing was normal, and his heart in control. But his mind was still trying to figure out what had happened to him. 

"Well, thank you!" She smiled then turned around.

"Umm..." Arjun mumbled.

"Yes?" she asked turning back to him.

"I was looking forward to making some friends my age, aren't you?" Arjun asked.

"I have my twin brother, Udyat." she said pointing at the boy who was not wearing he angavastram, twins!

"But I guess it wouldn't hurt to befriend more!" she said looking at Arjun.

"Parth."

One who never misses his target.

"Prishati."

One with various hues.

-:-

"Are you following me now?" said Prishati without turning back.

Arjun stopped in his tracks, how did she know? But then he paced to get in her stead.

"No, we are just going in the same direction." said Parth nonchalantly.

"Is that it now?" said Prishati looking at him playfully.

"How long have you been in the gurukul, you seem very skilled!" asked Parth.

"Three months. You seem to be new." said Prishati, sidestepping a puddle.

"First day today." Parth said looking at her.

"So, where are you going?" asked Prishati smiling.

"Hmm... Let's see! My brothers are too busy practising or eating or making mischief. So, I am going where you are." said Parth, deliberately not looking at her.

"So, to the forest?" asked Prishati.

"We are going to the forest!" asked Parth, shocked.

"Just a part of it, it is secluded from the rest of the forest. It is within the premises, don't worry. I go there sometimes. Reminds me of home. Peace within all this turmoil." Prishati said looking at him, but her conscious was elsewhere.

Then, without a word, they just kept walking, until they reached the section of the forest. Parth let out a gasp, it was beautiful. The trees were orange because of the fall. And the leaves had fallen to the ground, making an orange and yellow pathway. 

"Wait till you see it from the inside!" said Prishati, running towards the foliage, and then she disappeared behind it.

Parth followed her into the canopy of trees. The trees were arranged in a straight line and were bending inwards, creating a roof of leaves, through which the sunlight partially entered. 

"This is beautiful." said Parth, breathless.

"It is." said Prishati, said smiling at him.

They both knew they had found a friend in each other. Together, they would laugh a little harder, cry a little less and smile a lot more.

कहलाती वो प्रिशति है

कलाए है उसकी सौ रंगो की

कहने को वो पार्थ है

चूकेगी ना धारा तीर की

मिलन तो हुआ है

पर प्रतीक्षा है अभी प्रीत की

दोनों को एक दूजे में मित्र मिला है

और संसार को कथा प्रेम की