Ayodhya's Princess, Chapter 9- 19/9 - Page 7

THE APPLE OF THEIR EYE

Somada and Urmila stood at the balcony, staring at the men of the army practice sword fight.

"Ma, this looks interesting", said Somada, eyes shining.

"I said the same when I was seven", said Urmila. "I told Chote Pitashree, and he taught me. In fact, he was so excited that one of us four wanted to learn warfare"

"You are a trained warrior Ma?", asked Somada.

"I am with the sword and spear. I am fairly good with bows and arrows as well", said Urmila. "Ask your Pitashree how much I talk about it. Even he gets tired, and we know how much he loves his weapons"

Somada giggled.

"You and Pa ever fought with weapons Ma?", asked Somada.

"Never. After I became the bride of Raghukul, I was always busy with so much work, or I used to paint or read. I had no time for practicing", said Urmila.

"But do you still remember what you learnt?", asked Somada.

"Like the back of my hand", said Urmila. "Why putri? You want to learn?"

Somada was amazed at how well Urmila knew her. But her brothers always told her that Ma always knows. And though she knew that, she hadn't seen her Ma use it so directly on her.

"Want to go to Arya and Ram Bhaiya?", asked Urmila, a knowing look on her face.

Somada nodded, eyes reflecting the excitement she felt.

Urmila and Somada walked into Shri Rama's chambers, where He was sitting and talking to His brothers.

"Somada?", asked Lord Rama. "And Urmi. What is going on?"

"Why does everyone think that we need something?", asked Urmila, pouting at Raghuvar.

"I know that look on your face", said Lord Rama, raising an eyebrow.

"Well..", started Somada. "I want all four of your permission for this"

"Tell us, putri", said Lakshman, placing a hand on her head.

Somada exchanged a look with Urmila, and put forward her preposition.

Shri Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna looked on with love and pride, as they watched Somada follow her mother's instructions on sword fighting perfectly. She mirrored Urmila's actions. They knew it was a good decision on their part to allow Urmila to train Somada. It was the wish of the four of them to teach Somada warfare as well. Silently, Raghuraj made a decision of recruiting Lakshman to help him teach Somada dhanush bhan, while Bharat and Ripudaman will be showing Somada their own skills with a sword.

Somada for her part was having a great time learning techniques for sword fight. She followed her mother, and parried and defended, attacked and moved back. She felt like she was dancing. One had to feel light when fighting with a sword. Additionally, a person's best sword fight can be put up only when the sword one used was a balanced sword. Her mother and father's basic lessons on sword fight were ingrained in her head.

After practicing for more than an hour, mother and daughter took a break and sat under the shade of a tree.

"Ma?", asked Somada, hesitantly.

"Child?", asked Urmila, a gentle smile on her lovely face.

"I know that you and Pa were separated for fourteen years. But how is your love so intact for each other, even though you didn't see each other for that long a time?", asked Somada.

"That is true love, Somada. It didn't matter whether Arya was physically there with me or not, mentally, he was with me and I was with him. I am his strength and he is my support. That is how it has to be with husbands and wives, Purush and Prakriti. Every woman is Prakriti for her husband, for he is her Purush. Your father and my love is like this. You know how the sea has waves and it ends at the shore. That is how our love is. It is endless and eternal, we love each other more by the second", said Urmila.

"Ma, you are so confident about Pa's love for you", said Somada. "I wonder if there is anyone else other than the three of you Mas and the three of you Pas who are"

"Four Mas, Somada. Your Jyesht Mata Sita and your Jyesht Pitahsree had a love beyond all this. They can feel the other, they go through what the other goes through. Their love is Love, they are the name of Love. They are called SiyaRam because of that. I will tell you something. Your Jyesht Mata will be feeling all the love your Jyest Pitaji feels for you", said Urmila.

"Really Ma?", asked Somada, wide eyed.

"Really putri. Now what say you for another round of techniques?", asked Urmila, already getting up.

Somada could see that her mother was trying to divert herself. This topic hurt her mother. But she wanted to know. Her curiosity will get the better of her.

Somada sat on the lowest tree branch, deep in thought.

Lakshmana and Hanuman looked at the little girl and were surprised. She was always running around, dancing whenever in Nature, and right now, all they could see was a distracted Somada. What had gotten into her?

"Child?"

Lakshman's voice jerked Somada out of her deep thoughts.

"Pa?"

"What happened?", asked Lakshman, gently.

"Ma told me about Jyesht Mata Sita", said Somada. "Not much, but simply that Jyesht Mata and Jyesht Pitashree were the very definition of Love"

"They were", said Lakshmana, softly, tears forming in his eyes.

Somada, perceptive of the hurt in her father, decided to question this another time. She said, "That's all I wanted to know. Let's go? I want to go see Jyesht Pitahsree"

Lakshmana and Hanuman smiled at each other. They both knew that her questions will come soon, but for the time being, they will let her take things her pace.

Miles and miles away..

In Valmiki Ashram...

"They say that Somada, the daughter of Rajkumar Lakshmana and Rajkumari Urmila is exactly like her Jyesht Mata Devi Sita, with a tinge of her parents as well", said Maharishi Valmiki, smiling at Vandevi, who loved hearing about all this.

"Really Gurudev?", asked Luv, excited.

"What relationship does she have with Ayodhyapati?", asked Kush, even more excited.

"It is said that she is his daughter", said Maharishi Valmiki. "He loves her unconditionally, and she loves him back equally. She is always talking about her Jyesht Pitashree. Always. She adores Him, and respects everything He says and does"

Vandevi's eyes were filled with tears. Her Raghuveer had gotten someone who would love Him unconditionally. In her heart she knew that as much as Raghunandan was taking care of Somada, Somada was also taking care of Raghunandan.