Hey guys! This is just a rather random and shoddy attempt of mine to write something I could actually imagine happening in the show.😛
PART-1
One scorching summer afternoon, a visibly dejected Praanpriye hurriedly makes his way into the palace of Gandhararaj Shakuni.
“Anarth hogaya Maharaj!” He declares, heaving and panting, “anarth ho gaya.”
When he is met with nothing but profound silence despite all the urgency he had poured into his announcement, Praanpriye rushes into the bedroom of his lord and finds him peacefully taking a nap.
“Uthiye,Maharaj uthiye varna bahut derr ho jayegi,” he tries to vigorously shake him out of sleep but to no avail.
Finding no other alternative, he grabs the earthen pot filled with drinking water kept in a far corner of the room and empties the contents on Shakuni’s face.
“Haan…kya hua?” Shakuni wakes up with a start, breathing heavily as the cold water causes him to shiver and his eyes twitch uncontrollably, rolling around in all the eight directions.
“Anarth hogaya maharaj!” Pranpriye sobs dramatically, “Aapki priyasi Damodari…”
“Damodari…”Shakuni lets out a long sigh, finding himself in a dreamy fit for a moment.
Mere khayalon ki mallika,
Mere khayalon ki mallika,
Chaaron taraf teri chhaiya re,
Thaam le aake baiyya.
“Maharaj, humari baat suniye, Damodari….”
“Kya hua Damodari ko?” Shakuni asks, barely paying attention as he is still lost in his visions and memories.
“Maharaj, Damodari ke swayamwar ki ghoshna ki hai Maharani Gandhari ne!” Praanpriye spits.
“KYA?!” Shakuni shrieks, finally looking back at Praanpriye, astonished, with his pupils bulging out. The very next moment he is holding his chest in agony as devastation hits his lovelorn heart.
Dil Jude Bina Hi Tut Gaye
Hath Mile Bina Hi Chhut Gaye
Ki Likhe Ne Lekh Kismet Ne...
Recovering a few seconds later, he holds praanpriye by his shoulders and looks directly into his eyes.
“Ye sab kya hua? Kab? Kyun? Kaise?” He questions, hysterically.
“Maharaj vo aisa hua ki…”
Flashback
The sun has barely risen upon the kingdom of Hastinapura. Maharani Gandhari has mistakenly ventured deep into the forests this morning. She was miffed with Maharaj Dhritrashtra for ridiculing her brother Shakuni in the royal assembly and in thoughtless rage, ended up sending all her daasis away. As a result, she was forced to set out to fetch flowers on her own for her morning rituals. She was expecting that the Maharaj or the daasis would come looking for her eventually but nothing of that sort seems to have happened.
She is still blindly looking for flowers in what she believes to be her garden as she mutters about those useless servants to herself. Just then, Dr D’Souza happens to pass by, returning to the city from his abode in the wilderness,having failed once again at another attempt at creating a black hole to take them back to the present time. He has donned his daasi guise too, just in case.
Dr D’Souza sees that the Maharani now stands at the edge of a cliff with her hands out in the air, searching for support. Alarmed, he runs to her side and stands in her way, hence stopping her from falling off. The queen runs her fingers through his arms and face.
“Kiska itna dusahas ki humara raasta roke?” The maharani yells in anger, not liking being halted that way.
“Maharani…aap ek edge ke cliff pe….i mean, ek cliff ke edge pe ho..” D’Souza stammers.
“Arthat?”
“Arthat…arthat…haan khaayi. Yahan ek khaayi hai maharani.” D’Souza tries to explain.
“Oh khaayi…”Gandhari exclaims carelessly, then realizes what he is means and is taken aback, “Kya?! Khayi?”
“Haan haan..maharani..”he nods his head.
Gandhari nearly faints in fear but he holds her and leads her away.
“Maharani, now it’s alright. Sab thik hai. You are safe. Main aapki daasi..Damodari…remember?”
“Damodari?Oh tum damodari ho?” She sighs in relief, “Dhanyavaad, tumne humare praano ki raksha ki. Hum prasanna hue. Hum tumhe puraskar dena chahte hain. Bolo kya chahiye? Tum kaho toh tumhare pati ko hum Maharaj se kehkar darbar me uncha pad dilwadein?”
“Nahi maharani, I am not married. Pati…pati nahi hai..”
“Oh iska arth ye hua ki tum avivahit ho?”
“Haan…haan..ji maharani.”
Gandhari ponders for a bit, then something captures her mind, something that causes her face to light up with a grin.
“Hume ek…vo kya kehte hain mahasarthi sanjay, haan idea aaya hai. Hum tumhara swayamwar rachwayenge. Haan swayamwar. Keval ek yogya purush ka hi tum jaisi bahadur aur gunvanti daasi se vivah hona chahiye aur hum ye sunischit karenge ki vo bhi tum jaisa bahadur ho. Haan yahi uchit inaam rahega tumhare liye.”
“Per maharani,listen….”
But Gandhari walks towards the palace, paying no heed to D’Souza’s pleas.
CID
Kumkum Bhagya
Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
