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Karna's House

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Every one was waiting with bated breath to see whose voice was it. And then they heard melodious sound of Anklets. And the air filled with essence of jasmine. A unique scent of women perfume. Karna was in trance just by voice.

And then came a beautiful woman. Her long black hair flowing down in waves, Her fair skin complimenting her blue saree, Her hands and neck adorned with delicate and minimal jweleries. Her waist adorned with a gold chain. Her lotus like eyes and enchanting eyes giving serene peace to all the occupants of the room. Except karna. His heart beats was racing mile per minute.

His breath got caught in his throat when she stood immediately in front of him. Folded her arms and greeted.

Woman : Pranipat Radheya. I hope you didn't forget me.

Karna was still in the daze.

Nakul : She is not something to forget.

Dreamily. Duryodhana elbowed him glaring after seeing karna attracted towards the girl. And as soon as all realised the situation they averted their eyes guiltily. Because if karna was interested in her then she is their bhabhi. Sister-in-law is equal to mother.

Karna : Vrushali

He murmered in daze.

Karna Sangini Vrushali

Though she was wearing normal clothes her regality was that of a queen.

Vrushali: Nice of you to remember me Mitra.

She said sarcastically. Karna rubbed his back of the neck nervously and looked down.

Duryodhana: Are you blushing mitra?

And every one snickered. Karna glared at them all. Vrushali just smiled and said

Vrushali: Let me guess all of you. The ever so calm and serene Rajkumar Yudhisthir. The strongest brother of all Rajkumar Bheem. Most exceptional mace wilder and ever so charming Rajkumar Duryodhana. The quite and witty one Rajkumar Yuyutsu.

Built like a true warrior and exceptional archer with good looks Rajkumar Arjun. The mature and well-known son of revered father Bhramanputra Maharaj Ashwasthama. The most handsome prince of Aryavartha one and only Rajkumar Nakul. And ever so wise with deep knowledgeable eyes Rajkumar Sahdev.

She completed smiling. All were shocked by how much she knew about them. Yet they were happy. They were feeling like they were in presence of Mata Gandhari, kunti and Radha.

Krishna: Did you forget your favorite sakha my priye sakhi?

Krishna asked still sitting on the dining table eating his makhan.

Vrushali smiled and said

Vrushali: How can I forget about my priya sakha. And Aap bhulne ki chiz thodi hon Govind.

(You are not something to forget)

Krishna: Good. Ab baki baate baad mai karlena pehle bhojan banao aur hum janma janmantar ke bhuko ko khilao pilao. Punya milenga.

( Now other talks should be kept for later. First cook food for us hungry people since previous births. You will get some good blessings.)

All of them muttered their agreement. Vrushali narrowed her eyes cutely and put her hands on her waist in fake anger.

Vrushali: Govind! You didn't even ask me how am I doing. Inn purusho ko toh bas bhojan se hi matlab hai.

(These men only focuse on food)

She muttered and left towards kitchen before anyone could speak anything.

All the men chuckled at her cuteness. Karna was still in his own world smiling like fool....

After an hour all of them were sitting in a circle surrounding Vrushali and food. And the heavenly smell of simple Potato curry, puris and laddoos ladened with ghee was heavenly. Vrushali has prepared mountain of food to satisfy all the men.

And then she began serving all of them.

Vrushali: All of you eat to your heart's content. There is enough for all.

And when she was putting laddoos in karna's plate time stopped for both of them for a moment. They were looking at each other lost in each others eyes. Smiling beautifully.

This was noticed by all others. And everyone smirked.

Nakul : Vrushali jiji....I mean if you don't mind me calling you jiji...

He said teasingly. And due to this their trance broke. Both of them clear their throats and straightened up flustered.

Vrushali: No not at all Anuj.

She answered. Before Nakul could say anything Yuyutsu, Arjun and Sahdev too screamed

Yuyutsu,Arjun, Sahdev : We also want to be Anuj!

And Vrushali smiled.

Vrushali: Ofcourse. I will call Rajkumar Yudhisthir, Bheem, Duryodhana and Ashwasthama as Bhrata as they are elder then me. And Rajkumar Arjun, Nakul, Sahdev and Yuyutsu as Anuj as they are younger then me.

And every one nodded happily. Duryodhana was most delighted to have a little sister like Dushala.

Sahdev : And what about mitra Vasusen?

He asked cheekily. Karna glared at him and answered.

Karna : She is mine and Kanha's sakhi. I have Dushala as sister already.

And every one laughed at that. These were some of the happiest moments in their life unaware of the strom of conspiracies coming towards them.....

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Karna's House

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[ After 15 Days ]

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Again all were sitting in a circle surrounding Vrushali. This was daily thing for them. All of them will sit surrounding her and tell her about their day.

Ashwasthama: Now the malnourished kids can run 5kms without fainting and I think of it as achievement of my own.
Hame Naaz hai khud par.

(I am proud of myself.)

Duryodhana : I will now learn to make swords out of metal. Chota hathi bhoot banake chodenga.

(Baby Elephant will leave making me ghost.)

Yuyutsu: Today matas told me 'Ab kuch kuch karya ane lage hai tumhe balak' Achievement.

(Now you have learned to do few works kid.)

Bheem : Meetha let's me stir the pots of soups sometimes now.

Yudhisthir: Kakashree said I am getting the ropes finally.

Nakul : Pehle ghode se baat karna ata tha, ab dhona bhi mai sikh gaya.

( First I knew how to talk to horses, Now I learned to wash them.)

Sahdev : I learned to tolerate Nakul all alone for the day.

He said and shrugged when Nakul shot him an offended glare.

Arjun : I learned the survival skills. Pehle gao. Phir nacho. Aur jab thak jao tab sasura chugli karna shuru kar do. Iss yukti se jeevan daan milta hai.

( First sing. Then dance. And when you are tired start to gossip. This plan leads to life.)

And every one burst out laughing.

Karna : Rath dhona, Sukhana, Chalana, almost banana bhi sikh gaya re baba. Budhau jab dekho tab sar par rehta hai. Baki sabko shreeman kehkar pukarte hai. Shreeman Adhirath, Shreeman Chanur, Uss Kachra saaf karne wale ko bhi Shreeman Acharnav karke bulate hai.

Aur main? Dur se chilaenge budhau 'Areee oooo Nalayak! Kaha jakar mar gaya? Jaldi aa varna nark se nikalkar phir se maar dalunga. In Bhishma style.' Mujhse toh sasura janma janmantar ka badla nikalte hai.

( I learned how to wash, dry, run, almost make a Chariot. That oldie stays on my head. He calls every one with respect. Mr.Adhirath, Mr. Chanur, even that sweeper is called Mr. Acharnav by him.

And me? He yells from afar ' Ooooo useless fellow! Where did you went and died? Come quickly otherwise I will kill you after bringing you back from hell in Bhishma style.' It's like he is taking revenge on me from previous births.)

And then everyone burst out laughing again. Nakul, Sahdev and Krishna were literally rolling on floor.

Vrushali : Good. Everyone did good. Especially Radheya. Now I will bring you food.

She said and went inside and everyone looked at karna with smirk.

Everyone: Hamari Bhabhi khadi hai...Unki Akhiyaan ladi hai...

( Our sister in law is standing.....Their eyes are meeting...)

Arjun : Chote Chote Bhaiyon ke bade bhaiyaan...

( Big brother of little little brothers...)

Everyone: Ab voh banenge kisike saiyaan...

( Now he will become someone's husband... )

Duryodhana: Janu meri jaan....Mai tere kurbaan....

( Oh dear my life...I am in love with you..)

Everyone: Mai tera, Tu meri jaane saara Hindustaan.....Tu mera, Mai Teri jaane saara Hindustaan.....

( I am yours, You are mine this is known by all over Aryavartha....You are mine, I am yours this is known by all over Aryavartha....)

And karna had enough. He growled at them. Before he could say anything to giggling children a schreech of powerful hawk was heard. And it entered the living room through windows.

And it surrounded the men and dropped two letters. One on head of Yudhisthir and one on head of Duryodhana. Both of them yelped. And after that he calmly flew and sat on karna's shoulder where he got some treats to eat.

He was Aakramak. Pet hawk of karna for exchange of letters. People keep pegions but our great Vasusen keeps extremely intelligent and fastest hawk for letter deliveries.

Duryodhana: Can't this bird drop the letter on our lap. It is necessary to drop on our head?

He grumbled. Yudhisthir agreed.

Yudhisthir: Tagda marta hai sasura.

(He hits pretty hard.)

And every one snickered.

After they read the letter both of them frowned. And looking at that karna got tensed.

Karna : You go first duryodhana.

Duryodhana: It is from Kaling's Princess Bhanumati. She said her father has planned the forced swayamvar to Jaydhrath. And she doesn't want to marry him. No other kingdom has been invited except some friends of Jaydhrath. Kings of small kingdoms. Hastinapur is too not invited. And that's an insult to us too.

So she claimed she loved me from the moment when she first saw me weilding mace in Kala Pradarshan. She is friend of Dushala. So she has said if I will not accept her and take her away then she will end her life.

And the matter was pretty serious.

Karna : The political matters are not more important then the girl. So me, you and Yuyutsu will head towards Kalinga to help the princess.

But the question here is Suyo ; Do you love her?

Duryodhana blushed and looked down shyly. Others wolf whistled at him teasingly.

Karna : So we got our answer. Now you Yudhisthir.

Yudhisthir: There is a puja held in Vanravrat in respect of my father Maharaj Pandu. So mata has requested us five brothers to go along with her for three days. Mamashri Shakuni is especially looking after the arrangements.

Karna : That's good. You five will head to Vanravrat with Rajmata Kunti. And at the same time us three will head to Kalinga. Ashwasthama I need you to do all arrangements.

And all nodded in Agreement.

Krishna: I need to go back to Dwarka. Some political stuff.

All nodded in understanding. Their trip was gonna be cut short. But karna was feeling something bad was about to happen. What? He don't know.

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Karna was standing in the varandah. Lost in deep thoughts. Looking towards the moon and stars.Ashwasthama who saw him went towards him.

Ashwasthama: What happened mitra vasu?

Karna : I want you to keep a tight eye on surroundings Ashwa. I feel something amiss. Especially on suspicious some people involved in arrangements of preparation of puja.

Ashwasthama understood clearly what he meant with Some people. He nodded seriously.

And from behind an etheral voice of Shree Krishna spoke

Krishna: Beaware mitra vasu. The time ahead is of the test. You have to be alert, paitent and calm.

And the melodious flute provided a momentary relief to every single soul in the surroundings.