More tasks and tests were conducted in course of the day. A few students stood out among the crowd. Among them, the most prominent were Narasimha, Bhavani, Dilipa, Lohith and Jayanth. Even here Narasimha and Dilipa were almost equal and neck to neck. The rivalry and competition for the top spot was already palpable between the two students.

The day gave place to the night. Dharmagupta and Guha were overseeing the arrangements for the night and checking and seeing that everything was in place for the competitions and tasks that would be held the next day.

Dharmagupta enquired, "Is everyone comfortable? Are the competitors asleep? The tasks begin early tomorrow morning. They have to sleep now if they have to wake up in the morning."

"Guruji, they will not be able to sleep today night. I have been through this phase. They all must be very excited. It is a new beginning for all of them" replied Guha. "There is one question which has been with me since today morning. The tasks are the same or similar to what were given during my time. It appears obvious that a few students like Dilipa from Gandhar have rigged and misused it to gain an undue advantage over the other competitors. I feel this is unfair to the rest of them."

Dharmagupta said, "I get your point, Guha. But this isn't his advantage. It is to his disadvantage. Generations come and go. But the questions, dilemmas and conflicts are often the same. Only the answers and approach each generation and individual adopts towards them are different. So we have not varied the testing procedure much from year to year but the standard of evaluation is not the same. You want to see the scores of the competitors? I believe I can trust you."

The score card read like this:

Narasimha- 50 points

Bhavani- 34 points

Lohith- 32 points

Jayanth-29 points

Dilipa-25 points

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------ and so on.

Guha was astounded. He thought that Narasimha and Dilipa must have been equal looking at the fact that they had solved every problem and task given to them perfectly. He wanted to know the reason for this, "How? I thought that Dilipa would have been at the top of the list."

"Every time Dilipa tweaked and rigged the testing procedure, he has lost five points despite solving the problem or succeeding in the given task. So as a result, his ranking is much below than the other competitors. If only he had attempted to sincerely and genuinely accomplish the tasks, he would have been at the top of the list with Narasimha. Now he is dangling in the bottomline in constant and perpetual danger of elimination and eviction from the race.
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In the student dormitory,
Bhavani congratulated Narasimha, "You were very good. I don't know if I will find a place for myself in this Gurukul or not, but I want you to get selected. I loved the way you had solved the task of making the line smaller without rubbing it. It reminded me of the tales my uncle used to narrate about Amarendra Baahubali and Mahendra Baahubali from Mahishmati....By the way, you told me that you are from Vaishali Nagar. Who is your father? What does your father do?

Narasimha was distracted by Bhavani's words for a moment. Who were this Amarendra Baahubali and Mahendra Baahubali? Why hadn't he ever heard about both of them when he was in Mahishmati? Maybe they were his ancestors. If so, their tales of bravery and achievements should have been sung in every nook and corner of Mahishmati and their deeds eulogized in the victory edicts. No kingdom ever forgets her heroes......They are immortalized even after their death in ballads, people's memories and folk tales. But this silence.....or rather collective forgetfulness......What was he to make out of it?.....

Narasimha was roused out of his reverie by the questioning look in Bhavani's eyes. "Where have you been lost, friend?" Laughing heartily at Narasimha's confusion, "You rattled off like that to every problem and task posed before you today morning.......and to such simple questions like 'Who is your father?', you think so long?"

Narasimha shrugged his shoulders while sheepishly saying, "No....I was simply preoccupied. My father's name is Kuber. He is a merchant. He trades in silks and jewels."

Who were this Amarendra Baahubali and Mahendra Baahubali? Why didn't he know anything about them if they were also from Mahishmati? Why did his heart skip a beat when he heard their names? Why did he feel proud as though he was being praised along with them? Why did he share a strange affinity with the people about whom he had never even heard? How did this girl, Bhavani know so much about Mahishmati? So many whys to which he had no answers continued rankling in his childlike, innocent mind.
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It was early morning. Everyone had already woken up and were ready for the day. But Narasimha was still fast asleep. Bhavani shook him, "Prince Narasimha would you mind waking up? You are already late. You have to take your bath as well. You will miss the first task of the day."

Narasimha woke up with a shock, "How did you know that I am a Prince? That was meant to be a secret."

Bhavani broke into peals of laughter that rang merrily like the bells of a temple, "Prince Narasimha was dreaming or what?" She continued imitating a fake royal tone and accent, "Ha! Ha! I am Prince Narasimha!" before checking herself saying, "I was just joking and you took it so seriously?"

Narasimha felt very happy. He said to himself, "Father....you are right. Having friends who can laugh with you and at you is such a wonderful thing. I had no friends in the palace. Everyone was afraid of me.....But it is different here at this Gurukul.....this competition......this rivalry....this adrenaline rush.....this desire to excel.....this desire to learn something new every day, every hour, every minute, every second..... This feeling of being an equal among equals is really incomparable.......I would not get this anywhere else in the world. Thank you father!....You really know what is best for me."
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By the lakeside,
All the students had to assemble before the first break of dawn after taking their bath in the nearby lake. Narasimha was running down along the path leading to the lake when his feet came to a sudden standstill.

Dilipa stood blocking his path. It seemed as though Dilipa had already finished his bath and was on his way back to join the rest of the competitors. He belonged to the powerful royal house of Gandhar and was unacquainted with hardships and difficulties. He too had been running late having never woken up for the Brahmamuhurta just like Narasimha.

But on perceiving his rival's approach, Dilipa judged otherwise. He did not want to be the first one to let go or give way. Narasimha observing that Dilipa was determined to be mulish and pick up a quarrel with him, quietly stepped aside to let him pass.

His topmost priority at the present moment was to reach in time for the first task of the day.  As Dilipa crossed Narasimha, he aggressively glared into his eyes in an attempt to unnerve him. But Narasimha looked on calmly smiling to himself at his mate's apparent folly. Dilipa roared, "I will win....I will get admitted into this Gurukul at any cost..."

"The result is yet to come!" Narasimha couldn't resist adding rather cheekily.

But even before he could complete the sentence, Dilipa had thrown himself at Narasimha and both the boys were rolling in the mud, wrestling each other, the hands of one flying to the other's neck to wring it out, while the other was simply trying to defend and push off the other. If the defender here had deemed it right and fit to attack, his opponent would have been knocked out before long.

Dilipa gasped almost out of breath by this time due to this trial of strengths, "You think you're so good.....good enough to get this admission.....If at all anybody has to get admitted..... it is me, Dilipa......from the royal house of Gandhar!"

"I do.....I am good.....good enough to get this admission......But there is a slight difference between you and me.......I know that I am good....That is my self-confidence.......But you.......You think that only you are good......and the rest are nothing......That is arrogance, my friend.....", Narasimha giving a fitting retort to Dilipa.

"I want to win this challenge at any cost.....Do you get it?.....If I don't get admitted in this Gurukul, I would rather die.....I cannot return back to Gandhar as a failure.....", spat out Dilipa.

"Is this victory really worth so much than your precious life? This is just a competition....and there will be many more like this.....", Narasimha genuinely taken aback by the attitude of his fellow competitor.

"No....I cannot lose....I would rather die than see the day I lose..... " said Dilipa as he got up dusting his clothes and hands. "We'll continue this charming argument we were having some other day. I don't want to miss any of the tasks."

Narasimha shook his head in absolute disbelief. How could any person prize a victory or defeat over their own life? He was very sure that Dilipa really meant every word he had spoken. If he lost, he would rather give up his life than accept his defeat and learn the lessons that defeat had to to teach him. Maybe, he was like that because of his upbringing which taught him to win and only win at all costs.Not everyone was lucky enough to have a family like his or understanding and supportive parents like he had.

He sent up a heartfelt prayer to the almighty, "Thank you Lord for bestowing such wonderful parents and family on me. I wouldn't have been what I am today without them."
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Two more days passed and it was time for the last competition. After this, the results of the students who had made it to the Gurukul would be announced.

Dilipa was fidgeting about. He had done everything he could to secure this admission. He had secretly tweaked and rigged the competition in many places. He had threatened his fellow competitors, bribed a few of them to underperform, played one competitor against the other by spreading rumors, secretly created unfavorable conditions which would deter the progress of the others.

He had become the much feared bully of the group. Everybody already seemed to hate him. He had made no friends in these three days. Everybody swarmed around that Narasimha. They all laughed, played, had tremendous fun. There were occasions when he wished he too could join them. But he stopped himself with great difficulty. He was meant to rule a kingdom not be a merchant like that Narasimha in future. People had to fear their ruler. They could not mingle or become one with him.

Just then, he observed a scroll drop out of Dharmagupta's robes. He picked it up and was about to return it when his eyes widened, first in surprise, and then in shock. It was the evaluation sheet containing the marks all the competitors had been awarded till now. Narasimha was leading the others by a slight margin. He was two or three points ahead of the rest.

When he examined the detailed break up of the score card, he found that Narasimha hadn't scored anything for the two tasks he had missed yesterday morning because of their argument by the lakeside. This meant he too must have missed out scoring anything in those tasks along with Narasimha. He cursed himself for his rashness.

By the way, where was his name in the list? He looked for it again and again at the top before his eyes caught something near the bottom line of the list, very near to the names of those students who were on the verge of elimination. How? He had completed all the tasks he had been assigned. He had answered all the questions correctly.

Dilipa looked at the detailed breakup of points. He had scored the points in all those tasks and for answering the questions, but for each time he had tweaked and rigged the selection process, he had created unfavorable conditions for his mates, points were being deducted. He thought that he had been clever but Guru Dharmagupta knew everything all along. Dilipa let the scroll drop from his hands in desperation and shock.
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While returning the scroll back to Dharmagupta, Guha said, "Dilipa has seen this. He will again misuse this to his adavantage."

The maestro said, "No....he won't. He had to see this otherwise he would never  learn."
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Dharmagupta announced, "This will be the last competition and most important competition of this screening process. Those who have not scored properly till now have a chance to make up for that. The winner of this race will    be admitted into the Gurukul irrespective of their scores in other tasks. That is the starting line and when the conch is sounded, all of you will begin running. This path leads you through the forest around the mountain to the back of this hermitage where you have the finishing line. This is the last and final opportunity for all of you to prove yourselves and your worth."

Dilipa thanked his stars that he got one final opportunity to prove himself. The conch was sounded by Guha and all the competitors started running. Narasimha and Dilipa were running neck to neck with the others following close behind.

Suddenly Dilipa slipped and fell down with a bloodcurdling scream. He was writhing in pain. He seemed to have sprained an ankle. All the others stopped for a moment contemplating on what to do, before they raced ahead leaving him alone by the wayside. There was not even a single soul beside him in his times of trouble.

Dilipa cursed himself. He had been so bad to everyone. He was getting back what he had given every one. He started crying uncontrollably. Just then, between his tears, he beheld somebody looking at him sympathetically.

"You?....You didn't go with the others....."

"No...."

"You should....At least you would win.....I have no chance now...."

"If you are done with you muttering, I have to tie these leaves around your ankle before your wound gets worse.....But before that...."

"Before that what?...."

"I need to temporarily fix this sprained ankle....It will pain for a moment......Can you bear?"

Dilipa closed his eyes, gritted his teeth. Fixing sprained ankles was a painful business. With a slight click of the wrists, his companion fixed the sprained ankle in it original position. A raw and unnerving wave of pain flashed through his whole body for a second.

"Feeling better?"

"Yes....The pain is much less. But I cannot walk......You go now and send somebody later....."

"Leaving you in your present condition in a place like this?.....If you thought I was capable of that, then you really must have a rather low opinion about me."

"What are you going to do?"
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Guha and Dharmagupta were observing the finish line to determine the winner of the race from a vantage point.

"Bhavani, Lohith and Jayanth running neck to neck. They will turn round the corner in a moment and reach the finish line shortly. I wonder where Narasimha or Dilipa are? I expected that either of the two would be the winner of this race."

As though anticipating the words Guha was about to speak, Narasimha and Dilipa came into the line of vision. Narasimha was carrying Dilipa on top of his shoulder and running the race. He was undeterred by the burden he was carrying nor was his speed reduced because of it. He had a nonchalant smile on his lips as though all this was mere child's play to him.

He gradually overtook all his other competitors one by one till he and Bhavani were running the final lap of this race. Bhavani looked spellbound for a moment at the sight of Narasimha running the race with an injured Dilipa on his back. Instinctively and in an involuntary manner, she eased her speed of running instead of accelerating.

Dharmagupta remarked in a loud and rousing tone, "Gelichinavaadu vijeyeta, gelipinchevaadu Paarthasaradhi!" (He who wins is the winner, he who makes others win is a leader!)
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