Document 6: Memoir of Queen Komalavalli (Amarendra's biological mother)
I was born in the tribe of the Vaithalikkas, the tribe that ruled over most of the lands of what is the kingdom of present day Mahishmati. Approximately three hundred years ago, we were cheated and driven out of what was originally ours by an usurper and upstart from Kadarimandalam, Uttama Varma, an ancestor of the present King of Mahishmati, Maharaj Somadeva.

We have been branded as rebels, dacoits, thieves, and even worse, demons in human form. Did we deserve to be called all that? Maybe yes......because losers have no choice in the way posterity perceives them. Propaganda is a powerful weapon. You say the same lie in ten different ways in ten different places; that lie becomes even more powerful than the truth. Truth needs authentication and proofs but a lie needs none. It travels faster and penetrates into those dark corners truth can never enter.

Every Vaithalikka King has been fighting ever since to regain our kingdom, to find that home which we lost because of one man's ambition, to win back our sacred Gauri Parvat, our mother. We, children of the mountain, were fighting for the mountain from which we were driven away.

These were the stories on which all of us grew. These were the memories and visions that stirred up in the eyes of every Vaithalikka child. This was the dream every warrior king of Vaithalikka had and which led to his early grave. The grave was their only constant bed. But every king preferred this to a bed of roses.

My father, Bhutharaya died five years ago leading a military coup against King Somadeva of Mahishmati. I didn't have tears in my eyes on my father's death. Only pride that he lost his life for a noble cause. Today or tomorrow, I might see my brother, Kadhiravan meet a similar fate. But I, Komalavalli, daughter of Bhutharaya and sister of Kadhiravan, will not cry. I will steel my heart and take up the mantle of responsibility for the sake of my tribe. I will continue that fight from where my father and brother left off.

I hated everyone connected with Mahishmati. I wanted to see this empire crumble to ashes. Its prosperity reminded me of everything that I and my people had lost. Everything that could have been but wasn't. It was during this period that one of our scouts ran in with the news that the Prince of Mahishmati, Mahadeva and the Mahapradhana of Mahishmati, Sivagami were approaching our headquarters with a white flag of truce flying above their chariot.

How could I forget these two people? They were the ones who were instrumental in thwarting our military coup five years ago. They were the people who upheld everything when we had won almost half the battle. Everything was well-planned and executed until it all went wrong at the last moment.

It was a surprise night attack that was to be staged during the Mahamakam festivities.

Mahadeva got wind of this. He was severely wounded but he managed to alert the army of Mahishmati in time to take retaliatory action. My father had almost intruded into Maharaj Somadeva's chamber along with another accomplice. The king was alone and unguarded, but this girl Sivagami poked her nose into this. I do not know the exact details. But somehow she was responsible for my father's death and for saving the King of Mahishmati.

This Sivagami got promoted as a Bhoomipathi, a powerful feudal position under the King and Prince Mahadeva received the title of Vikramadeva, a title awarded only to bravest of kings after a spectacular military victory.

I growled and hissed like a wounded tigress, "Kadhir, finish them off. This could be a trap. We cannot allow them to come here."

My brother was reluctant, "But the flag of truce?...."

"We lost the previous time because of these two. We cannot trust..." I argued.

"Yes, you are right. Send in our men!" Kadhir ordered.
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Mahadeva and Sivagami's chariot was surrounded by masked soldiers. Mahadeva spoke, "I am Prince Mahadeva, son of Maharaj Somadeva. We have not come here to fight. We are here for talks....."

Sivagami placed her hand on Mahadeva's shoulder to calm down the anger that she felt rising within him. She knew that Mahadeva was a fearless and redoubtable warrior. He could curb and defeat the Vaithalikkas any day. So could Maharaj Somadeva.

The very fact that the king sought negotiation to retaliation showed that he was tired of all this. The kingdom would bleed again from within from a thousand cuts and thrusts. Mutiny would keep on brewing. If they quelled it once, it would keep on festering again and again. They had to put an end to this vicious circle once and for all.

She said in a low voice audible only to Mahadeva, "Patience.....It is clear that they barely trust us....Let them have things conducted their own way."

The Prince instantly cooled down. He realized the wisdom in Sivagami's words. He allowed himself and Sivagami to be taken prisoner and blindfolded by the Vaithalikka soldiers.

As they plodded along on rough and rocky terrain interspersed occasionally by the noise of the Patalaganga waterfalls dashing against the rocks and boulders, Mahadeva asked, "Where are you taking us?"

The men chose not to answer. They ignored the question with studied silence. They apparently had orders not to talk anything or reveal the whereabouts of where the prisoners were being taken.
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There was a lot both sides had to talk and a lot that both sides had to answer. There were a lot of grievances and this huge wall of mistrust to be surmounted. Nearly two months had passed. But ultimately both the Prince and Sivagami won most of us over to their side.

The sincerity and honesty of their approach moved all of us. They had been the first to approach us and try to listen to our side of the rebellion. All the elders of our tribe were unanimously of the opinion that we cease hostilities and sign the treaty of peace.

But I and my brother vacillated this way and that for a long while. We too wanted to believe this time round. But what if we were being cheated? What if after the treaty was signed, the Mahishmati administration went back on the terms and conditions and refused to honor them. Mahadeva and Sivagami were mere envoys. It was the King's office to decide what would be executed. Some of the terms and conditions would badly affect their military strength and position in a big way. Were they willing to do it for us?

The clauses for the treaty were:
1. All mining on the Gauri Parvat for Gauri Kant would permanently cease.

2. The Gauri Parvat and all the forest lands would be restored to the forest people.

3. Though we would acknowledge the suzerainty of the King of Mahishmati and provide an elite fighting force of tribal warriors during times of war, we would be exclusively governed by an elected body of elders and rule ourselves and our lands with perfect autonomy and no interference from the king of Mahishmati.

4. We would pay only a nominal tax to the royal coffers of Mahishmati.

5. Our laws and regulations would not be modeled according to Mahishmati Law Book. We would rule according to laws and codes devised by our own elders in the community.

Both I and Kadhiravan thought that these clauses were too conciliatory and too much in favor of our tribe. The kingdom of Mahishmati owed her military strength to the use of Gauri Kant. With that advantage taken away, it would be like any other kingdom. The Gauri Parvat was sacred to all of us. But to the people of Mahishmati, it was just a symbol of strength. Why would they give up that for rebels like us?

Mahadeva convinced us, "Our true strength is not unbreakable weapons, but a united and sovereign kingdom. So what if our weapons are no longer immune. What survives is the unity and strength among all our people, all our people seeing themselves as part of the same kingdom."

We had reached a dead end with no way ahead. That was when Sivagami suggested a solution amicable to all, "You are all a bit doubtful whether the clauses of the peace treaty will be honored or not. I suggest that the treaty be sealed on a condition which can never be dishonored by both sides, a marriage alliance between the Crown Prince and future King of Mahishmati and the Princess of the Vaithalikkas, Komalavalli."

This was a solution that seemed amicable to all. I was promised as a wife to Bijjaladeva, the Crown Prince and future king of Mahishmati. During their two-month stay in our Vaithalikka headquarters, I had a lot of opportunities of watching Mahadeva and Sivagami together. I have always felt that they formed a wonderful team.

The love and affection they had for each other was easily palpable. I watched and witnessed with interest and curiosity the tender and beautiful tale of love their eyes spoke for each other. I was going to share another relationship with both of them in a short while. I would often tease them playfully, "When is the marriage?"

Both of them just shook their heads in embarrassment and smiled. Little did I, Mahadeva or Sivagami imagine even in our wildest dreams that the opposite would happen; that I would end up marrying Mahadeva and Sivagami would end up marrying Bijjaladeva.

At the time when the treaty was signed, Bijjaladeva's position as the Crown Prince and future king of Mahishmati was taken away from him for his acts of treachery. Mahadeva was the future king of Mahishmati. So, according to the terms of the signed peace treaty, Mahadeva was forced to marry me.
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Ironical and incredible, isn't it? I became the queen of the very kingdom I once despised and hated. One year after my marriage to Mahadeva, I prayed with my whole heart and even undertook the arduous Agni Prastham ritual for the sake of the prosperity of my husband's kingdom.

I don't ever regret that I didn't marry Bijjaladeva. As a matter of fact, I am happy that it never materialized. But I will always be sad that I unwittingly came in between the love of Mahadeva and Sivagami. I had no cause to suspect either of them or be insecure of the love Mahadeva and Sivagami had for each other after my marriage. They never crossed their boundaries. Mahadeva was everything that a woman would want in her husband.

But what caused me infinite pain was that Bijjaladeva was never the husband a woman like Sivagami deserved. Mahadeva and Sivagami remained forever like the horizon and the sea which look as though they are very close and in contact but can never touch each other. Sivagami always stood and walked behind Mahadeva as his rock solid support in all his endeavors but she could never walk beside him as his lawfully wedded wife because I snatched that place from her.

I have prayed countless times to the Almighty; if there is another chance and another life, let both Mahadeva and Sivagami be together both in life and death. Let their love reach its right destination.
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