A Prank
Pit Pat, Pit Pat. The sound of little feet running across the marble floor in Indraprasth makes the guard look up. A flash of yellow, red, green, and purple fly by him as he is shocked. As the flash turns the corner, it laughs in a high pitched, squeaky voice. The guard hears the sound of anklets softly making a chan-chan sound and he smiles. This was far from an enemy and he returns to his statue like position.
The flash was obviously no mythical creature. It wasn't Shukla - the raven bird of the cunning mamashree Shakuni, it was no ploy of Duryodhan, nor was it a gift of the Hastinapura King Dhritarastra, the greedy and selfish uncle of the Pandavas.
As the creature moved past the various candle lamp posts, a figure slowly comes into formation. It was a girl, wearing a yellow, red and green chaniya choli and a purple bow held her long hair away from her eyes. With speed she runs past the various entrances until she stops in front of a large arch. As her eyes trace the arch, she stops at the peak and gazes at it. A bow with a heart-shaped arrow decorated with the mysticism of fire adorned the peak. Her eyes light up and a smile slowly etches across her beautiful face. This was her destination.
She bends down, removes her anklets and places it in the hands of a guard. This was nothing new for the guard, who simply smiled at the girl. Walking on her tip toes, she slowly enters the room. She had been in the room dozens of times, but this particular moment made the room seem different. The shadows caste from the various candles around the room was her enemy; she had to make haste in her plan, before it was ruined. Crouching down, she sneaks up to the left side of the bed post. Like a feline, she slowly climbs onto the bed and approachs the man who was sleeping soundly. She was almost there, soon the mixture of excitement and nervousness would end and usher in a new moment of happiness and laughter.
Being so concentrated, the girl did not realize that her entrance had caused the man's wife (who was also sleeping in bed) to stir. The wife slowly moved to see who it was, and a small smile came to her face. She couldn't miss this, so she purposely turned to her left side to face her husband and the little girl who was slowly approaching the man's face. She closed her such that anyone would think that she is asleep, when she was actually awake and watching.
Seeing the wife turn in bed, the girl got scared. Was she going to get caught? No. Everything was fine, the wife just had to turn. That was all. Phew, she thought. As she brought her lips close to the man's ear, she was caught off guard when two arms can around her and a voice called out "Gotcha!" The girl screamed and closed her eyes, perhaps in fear or more likely because she was caught and her plans were spoiled.
The laughter of the man and woman made her open her eyes. The couple were laughing and shaking their heads at her. Embarrassed, the girl climbed down the bed and was about to run away.
"Statue!" the man called out and the girl had no choice but to freeze and stand still.
The man yawned, looked at his wife who was still laughing, and got out of bed and approached the girl, chuckling.
"Got you again!" the man said.
"That wasn't fair. You cheated!" the girl retorts, clearly upset at being caught and then forced to stand still because of that cursed word 'statue!'
"Admit it darling, your father is awake even when he sleeps, just like Uncle Madhav!" the woman remarks. She too had risen from bed, and a red silk robe graced her body. Even though the couple had just awoken, a certain tej adorned their faces making them look just as fresh.
"But Mai ..." the girl mumbled. She looked away, knowing her heart would melt when she looked at her mother.
The wife turns to her husband and sternly, though with a spark of jester in her eyes, says, "Look Arya, sometimes let her win!"
"But Panchaali!!!" the man yearns, winking.
Panchaali simply looks at her husband, her Arya, her Gandheeva-dhari Arjun and laughs.
"No. I've said it, that's all, I've said it."
Arjun laughs. He folds his hands and bows to Panchaali who raises her right palm as if to give a blessing. "Oh great Panchaali, forgive me. Your wishes are my command." Arjun then turns to the girl and says "Darling Pragiti, are you still angry with Papa?"
Pragiti couldn't take it any longer. First, her plans were chopped in half (she wanted to be the one who screamed Gotcha!) and second her mom and dad were making this funny. This was humiliating. How would Suthanu react when she tells her about this!
"Yes Pitashree, I am very angry. I'm not going to talk to you anymore. Hmmph."
Arjun smiles. "Teek Hain. Teri Marzi. Whatever you want. Guess I'll just have to give this special present to your Mai!"
Upon hearing the word present,' Pragiti's anger vanishes. She shakes her head and says, "I was just joking Papa. Give me the present, please. pretty please. With cherries on top."
Arjun stands up revealing his huge height. He turns to Panchaali, who was slightly shorter than he was and walks a few paces closer to her.
"Please Pitashree. Please! I'm not angry anymore. I was just joking. You're the best daddy in the whole world!"
Arjun flashes a grin and raises his eyebrows at his wife, but continues to slowly approach her.
Pragiti closes her eyes and rapidly shouts "You're.the.best.daddy.in.the.whole.wide.world. Please.daddy.with.a.bow.and.arrow.on.top!!"
Arjun stops, exchanges a look with his wife and both collapse to the floor laughing. Pragiti just stands there amazed at her parent's behavior. It wasn't anything new, her dad was after all the world's greatest archer, so it was pretty reasonable to assume that adding a bow and arrow to the please would actually get things to work out. It was a new thing to say, she admitted, but this was not the reaction she expected.
After a while, Panchaali and Arjun calm down. After taking a few deep breaths, Arjun looks at Panchaali and says, "Dearest Panchaali. I'm sorry but you know how much I love bows and arrows. I'm sorry, but you don't get the gift anymore. It belongs to Pragiti."
Hearing this, Pragiti forgets she is under the statue pose and starts to jump up and down.
"Uh. You're in statue mode Pragiti. Statues don't jump." Arjun says.
"Aww daddy. Take me out of statue mode so I can hug you!"
The moment Arjun releases her from being a statue, Pragiti runs over to her dad and hugs him. She came with such force, and Arjun was that happy, that they both crashed to the ground, locked in a father-daughter embrace for about 1 minute before they split.
Pragiti holds out her hands. "Ok Daddy, where's my present?"
"This gift isn't something you hold in your hands forever. It has a different place."
"Oh that's interesting. What is it?"
Arjun laughs, gets on his knees and bends forward, kissing his daughter on the forehead. " I Love You." Arjun whispers, so low that even Panchaali couldn't hear him.
"I love you daddy." She whispers back. "Now where's my present!"
Arjun laughs. "I already gave it to you!"
Pragiti's eyes open wide. She didn't see him give the gift. Perhaps it was behind her. Yes, that made sense. She look behind her and scanned the floor. She saw a bowl of ladoos on the table, but that was probably a gift from Kaka Bhim (Kaka Bhim always sent in freshly made ladoos each morning as his way of saying "I Love you" to Pragiti). She looks at her mother who is standing smiling at her.
Have I been tricked? Yes. I don't see a present. Daddy - no - Pitashree lied to me. Oh I'll get back at him, yes I will!
"I don't see a gift. Where is it?"
Arjun gently holds her hand and lifts it until it touches her forehead at the spot where he had kissed her. "This was your gift Pragiti."
"A kiss?"
Arjun nods his head.
Pragiti's intelligent mind begins to work. A kiss was my gift. Hmm. Ooh that's interesting.
"Daddy, can I ask you something?"
"Ask me anything you like sweety!"
"If I didn't want the gift, you were going to give one to Mai right?"
Arjun saw where this was going, but played along. After all, he loved flirting with his wife. "Of course."
"So Mai's gift would have been a kiss and the words 'I Love You'?"
Arjun feigns an embarrassed look and turn to Panchaali. Her eyebrows had risen, her eyes twinkled like the stars in the night sky, and her smile was shy, yet it was obvious she wouldn't have minded such a gift. He turns to Pragiti and gently pats Pragiti's face. "Naughty Pragiti! Naughty Naughty Naughty!"
Pragiti's pushes Arjun away and runs towards the door. Before reaching the end, she turns around with a huge smile and shouts, "Sorry I ruined your present Mai. I'm leaving now! Tell Daddy to give you extras now!" And with that Pragiti rushes out the chambers, leaving a sheepish looking Arjun and a smiling Draupadi in the room.
Arjun turns to face Draupadi. He tries to say something, but Draupadi just smiles and shakes her head.
She winks at Arjun, laughs, and moves towards the clothes room, leaving a stunned Arjun in the background scratching his head. Had he been outsmarted by two ladies he loved dearly?
Edited by shyam09 - 11 years ago
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