श्रीकृष्ण और सम्मानित यादवकुल को प्रणाम ,

मैं एक लड़की हूँ जो अनजाने में घर से बहुत दूर आ गई है। मैं वर्तमान में माँ कुंती की देखरेख में हस्तिनापुर महल में निवास कर रही हूँ। हे कृष्ण, मैं आपसे विनती करती हूं कि मुझे मेरे परिवार के पास वापस जाने में मेरी मदद करें। मैं हमेशा आभारी रहूंगी।

आशा के साथ,
अभिजिशया।

{Greetings to Shree Krishna and the esteemed Yadavkul,

I am a girl who has unknowingly come too far from home. I am currently residing in Hastinapur palace under the care of Mother Kunti. Hey Krishna, I beg you to come and help me in returning to my family. I shall remain forever grateful.

With hope,
Abhijishya.}

Her hindi was alright. It was her third language, English being second and Bengali her mother tongue. She knew Shree Krishna already knew about her circumstance. Since he didn't come voluntarily, Abhijishya thought perhaps he was waiting for her to contact first. She ignored the little voice that said perhaps God had foresaken her as she was born in kaliyug.

First thing tomorrow morning she will give the letter to any one of the Pandavs so that it could be sent to Dwarka as soon as possible.

She rolled up the letter and kept it by her bedside. Then she undid her hair. Every night her Maa would comb and braid her hair. Her eyes watered as she used her fingers to untangle her hair.

She would probably be fighting with her little sister over the T.V. remote at this time back home. Baba would wait for them to argue and sneak the remote himself and watching news. Then her sister and she would pester their Baba till he gave in.

And here she was, stuck in this stupid era, not understanding what people were saying. She cried because she was scared. Scared of this uncertainty, scared of being forsaken by Krishna, scared because she didn't know how long the Pandavs would let her stay.

Finally she felt drained and lost her battle against sleep.

================================

Abhijishya woke up to the calls of "Rajatithi" by dasis.

She squinted and slowly got up. Oh. She was in Dvapar yug. Not home.

She sighed. From the faint light coming from outside she realised it was nearing sunrise. She fell back with a groan. 'Why would anyone with a sane mind wake up now??!!!!'

The dasi kept saying something to her. She sat up with a huff.

"Rajmata Kunti has asked you to accompany her for arti of Bhagwan Narayan," dasi said.

Abhijishya quickly got off the bed and went towards the bathroom. She brushed her teeth with a twig of neem tree and bathed. She wore the clothes that were laid out for her.

She wanted to forego the veil completely but she'd rather not come off even more different than she was percieved to be. So she wore it in a way such that it covered her stomach, chest and settled down her left shoulder. On second thought she removed her neckpiece. Her neck was still tender. No need to make it any more irritated.

She went outside with the letter to find Nakul and Kunti talking.

She touched Kunti's feet and said,"Pranipaat."

"Kalyan ho putri," Kunti smiled.

"Pranam, Rajkumar Nakul. Patra for Shree Krishna. Dwarka," she gave him the letter.

"Pranam," Nakul greeted and took the letter.

"Don't worry. I'll send it at once," he assured.

Abhijishya said,"Dhanyavad."

Nakul smiled and left.

Abhijishya accompanied Kunti to the prayer place that was adjoined to Kunti's room.

They entered the prayer room. Abhijishya started rolling cotton with oil for the Aarti. She had seen her Maa do it.

Kunti guided her by showing how to make chadan paste. She arranged kheer and laddoos in copper plates. Then washed tulsi leaves and placed them next to the flowers.They didn't speak but Abhijishya felt at ease. The sculpture was like the ones she had seen in museums.

Kunti was gifted with a melodious voice. She did aarti with the right hand and used the left to chime the bell. Abhijishya blew the shankh three times to mark the need of puja.

Kneeling down, she closed her eyes and prayed with her very being that Krishna answered her pleas. She muttered under her breath,"Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare. Hare Ram, Ram Ram, Ram Ram, Hare Hare."a single tear slid down her cheek. Her mind flashed with memory of an eight year old Abhijishya who was taught this very mantra by her beloved Dadu (maternal grandfather) and a fifteen year old Abhijishya who stopped chanting as she stared at her Dadu who was gone forever.

She kept on repeating under her breath.

"Putri,"Kunti called but she didn't stop. She poured her uncertainty, her doubts, her guilt, her helplessness into her chants. After completing the chant ninth time, a voice stopped her short.

"Bua, prasad nahi khilaogi ?(won't you give me prasad?)"

Abhijishya hastily got up and turned around to see the most beautiful person she had ever seen. From the peacock feathers adorned on his crown to the copper yellow aangavastra, from his Urdha Pundra on his forehead to his smile, the only word that could describe it was divine.

"Bhagwan," she stumbled towards him forgetting everything to bask in his presence alone.

"Sakhi, this is your Gopal and here you are calling me God. I know you haven't called me for many years but that doesn't mean I have forgotten you," said Krishna with his sweet smile.

Abhijishya fell before his feet but didn't dare touch it. "Gopal" and she cried.

"Gopal, I am sorry. I am so sorry. You know everything Gopal. I swear I didn't do anything. I don't know how this happened. I am so lost, Gopal. I am so lost. Maa, Baba and pekopeko (nickname of sister). I miss them so much. Please please I want to go home. Please send me home," she joined her hand and sobbed.

Kunti looked worriedly at Abhijishya. Was she truly in so much sorrow and yet didn't let anyone understand?!

Krishna touched Abhijishya's shoulders and prompted her to stand up. He lightly wiped her tears but she couldn't stop crying. She was overwhelmed. Guilt because the innocent child grew up to be this.. this bitter girl who twisted words, was suspicious of everyone, who cheated and lied, who screamed at her parents.

"You shouldn't touch me Gopal," her breath hitched and more tears came. "You know everything I have done."

"I know and I have never forsaken you, sakhi," Krishna said cupping her cheek.

Kunti saw them speaking in Abhijishya's tongue and silently left. It didn't feel right to stay.

"Sakhi? But but why?" Abhijishya asked while sniffling a little.

"Why not? When you were a child, didn't you play with my flute and chose my clothes everyday? Or now you don't want to be my friend," Krishna raised his eyebrow in question.

"No no, It's just... I am nothing special Gopal. I am just human and well just me. I am jealous and greedy and rude," Abhijishya stuttered.

"Well, good thing I am human too. I got jealous when you made friends with Keya, Ankita, Saurav and Hritesh and didn't even include me. I am greedy for makhaan and I am called rude by many royals behind my back. Now Sakhi, will you keep me standing here or will you give me the kheer that you have kept infront of Lakshmi-Narayan," Krishna smiled.

Abhijishya chuckled and brought the kheer. "My hands are dirty so you feed me," demanded Krishna.

Abhijishya's eyes widened. She picked up kheer with her shaky hand and fed him. Krishna hummed," Very tasty."

"Now tell me what help do you need. I got your letter from Nakul," said Krishna.

"Please send me back to my time Krishna. That is all I want," Abhijishya pleaded.

Krishna looked serious. He said calmly," I can't do that, sakhi. Forgive your Gopal. Vishna may be the driver of the entire universe but he cannot tamper with time. It would result in the destruction of the universe."

"But but I was brought into the past. Then why can't I be taken into the future?" Abhijishya demanded.

"Sakhi, when you were brought into the past, your future became your past and the past became your present. One could say one thread unravelled but the universe adjusted accordingly. The future is continuing without you as you have ceased to exist then. Time does not flow at the same rate then as it does now. When you were brought to this time, a new destiny was created for you and the fate of the world adjusted accordingly. Forgive your sakha, sakhi," Krishna said with sadness.

"No no no... this simply cannot be Gopal. I studied so hard for the exams and Maa... Baba... sister... my friends. I had my life there Kanha. I don't belong here. Please. Please," Abhijishya pleaded.

"Your sister is grown up now. She is happily married and has two daughters. Your parents are old but content. They have made peace with you gone. They miss you but they have accepted it. They also have adopted a dog which you had wanted but they didn't allow you to keep. Your friend Keya is a doctor married to a doctor and has adopted a son. Sourav has taken over his father's business. He is a single father to a son and a daughter. Hritesh is a music artist and single. He is enjoying his life to the fullest. They miss you and cherish your memories. Their children call you Jessy auntie," said Krishna placing a hand on her shoulder.

Abhijishya clung to every word like her life depended on it. She shed a few tears but was glad that her loved ones are happy. She would hurt but it would be okay. Her Gopal was with her now.

"Okay," she whispered and wiped her tears. "But Gopal do something with this language barrier. I can't understand what anyone is saying to me here. I have said don't understand here more than to my Physics tuition teacher," Abhijishya whined.

Krishna laughed in amusement and said," okay, okay." He closed his eyes and prayed to Goddess Saraswati. A bright yellow light filled the room.

"Hey Devi, please grant my sakhi's request."

"It would be my pleasure to be able to help you Vasudev Krishna. Bolo putri," said an ethereal voice.

Abhijishya joined her hands and said,"Pranam Devi Saraswati. I pray you grant my wish to speak, read and write every language of Aryavart efficiently."

"So be it,"Devi said.

A golden ball of light entered her throat. Her head felt heavy for a moment and the next the light was gone.

'Woah, I just met a God and a Goddess in a single day. How cool is that!'

Krishna looked amused. Abhijishya blushed.

"Now come on, everyone must be wandering where we are. Let's go," Krishna said.

"Wait Gopal, how will I know whether I am speaking Old Sankrit or not?"she asked.

"How do you know whether you are speaking English, Hindi or Bengali?"Krishna asked.

"Oh"

"Yes, oh. Now let's go," Krishna said and they made their way outside.

A.N. - I just wanted to write this so much that I updated early. Please vote and comment. Afterall your love and support are my motivation.

Until the next time,

Byeee ;")