(Written by)That First Moment
A moment when the world came to a standstill...
Prithvi laid his eyes on Mrinal ...
He found the pair of eyes that had been eluding him since forever ...
A gorgeous pair of eyes...captivating...alluring ..mysterious...
He sank deep into their depths...
Sparks flew all around... The contrast was most beautiful...
His eyes warm ,welcoming ...trusting and honest ...
Hers piercing... pulsating with anger and hatred...He extends his hand ..with a sweet genuine smile..to welcome her wholeheartedly into his world...
Prithvi so charming and articulate...
talks non stop to woo the damsel in distress...
Kantak a flirt just like his master,
refuses to let a beautiful maiden walk on her foot ...
Prithvi volunteers most eagerly to be her guide...
to accompany her through the wide and narrow lanes of Malwa...
meandering through the heart of the city...to her destination...KalaBhawan..This was a musical moment ...
it reverberated through the ambience...
when music told the untold...
when music revived the deep sorrows and pain...
when music sowed seeds of love n concern ...
Prithvi could feel Mrinal's pain...her trembling fingers...
her broken surs, told him of her sorrows..
Mrinal relived her moments of pain...
music could have healed her ...
if she had allowed it to... Prithvi was moved ...
he felt connected to Mrinal thru music...love and
concern his foremost thought for her ...A grieved Mrinal breaks down...
unable to carry the misery and grief
which had snowballed over the years into an ice berg...
humongous in proportions...
Prithvi wants to share her pain...
he wants to lessen it...
his gentle and loving soul affected by Mrinal's suffering...
he offers his friendship as a salve...Prithvi takes Mrinal along with him through the lanes of Malwa ...
Secretly wishing her to become an integral part of his life
he points at the colorful ambience and surroundings...
and introduces her to some beautiful traditions
being followed there since years...
He suggests that she could choose a partner for life
if she came across someone she liked...and bends his head ...
silently urging her to choose him..
She with an inferno of rage burning in her heart,averts her eyes...
hatred had blinded her to every emotion other than revenge...Mrinal wounds Singhdant and tries to escape...
Prithvi enraged follows her...
Shocked at this cruel side of Mrinal...
Unable to find any reason behind the gruesome action ...
She jumps into the waiting boat and looks back in triumph...
He hurls his sword as a silent warning to her ...
with a promise engraved on it..
'When crimson palash and gulmohar flowers would float through the air...
when tiny raindrops would shower on the earth I would meet you'...The most beautiful dream dreamt by Mrinal...
Prithvi as promised fulfills his promise...
He comes to meet her... His eyes, love filled and intoxicating,
cast a magic spell over Mrinal...She melts under their warmth..
She dreams of him ...he sweeps through her self erected barriers of hate...
And knocks at her heart... He pours in all his love over her...
and drenches her to the core...she surrenders..
The flowers ...scented and crimson hued...fall ..
Their smiles reach their eyes ...and reveal their secrets to the world...
The moment was magical...a man in love with his woman...him tender and caring...her all accepting ..Prithvi ,gentle in his approach ,abhorred violence...
he believed in the finer feelings of love and peace...
He was the mightiest... a skilled warrior..with perfected moves...
every weapon like a toy in his hands...skilled at maneuvering it...
to strike and slash through muscle and bone...
he could kill with his bare hands ... He tries to persuade Mrinal...he pleads...cajoles...appeals..to call a truce...
to sort it in a different way.. All his words fell on deaf ears ...
Mrinal was adamant ...she wanted revenge...
thirsty for blood she turned his pleas down..There was a fine display of true warrior skills by both Prithvi and Mrinal...
Agility and dexterity...quick clever calculated moves...
gracious and smooth... One attacking ...the other defending...
Their weapons were at war... Their thoughts were at war...
Their beliefs were at war..
Prithvi had an edge over Mrinal...he was calm...at ease..
Mrinal driven by revenge was agitated...
Two beautiful souls ..both most beautiful creations of God...
were fighting a lost battle...Prithvi is distressed to see a wounded Mrinal...
his heart bleeds for her...He wants to absorb her pains...
He whisks her off to the palace...to tend to her wounds...
His touch gentle and soothing...
Burdened with concern and guilt he ponders over the day's happenings...
perplexed as how one thing led to another...Mrinal , frenzied by hatred,
attempts to murder Singhdant again in his chambers...
Prithvi , shaken by her hostility,
finds himself bereft of all his gentle emotions...
He is momentarily filled with extreme hatred for her ...
his wrath knows no bounds...He is aghast to feel such extreme emotions which he had never experienced before...Mrinal is rescued by Prithvi who disguises himself as Dharti Singh...
He appears in time to save her...
and exhibits his super fighting skills...
Single handedly he defeats her abductors and carries her to a cave ...safe and secure ...to look after her..Mrinal is startled by Dharti's looks...she finds his appearance disgusting...
His silly looks and even sillier behavior irks her ...
She finds him dim witted and annoying...
Dharti through his antics, convinces her into believing that
she was chained on the orders of his Mama...A dacoit leader
who was fierce and most scary..
And he could not free her as his mama would chop off his head if he did so...
She was kept as a captive so that he,
Dharti,the most masoom looking Moda could find a Modi for himself...
His greatest desire was to get married...
the sooner the better...he didn't want to die a bachelor..
Dharti sobbed and sniffed and howled and wept ...He pleaded and cried his eyes out ..Mrinal found him amusing at times but kept stiff expressions all through..
Moved by the childlike innocence and
honesty of Dharti she gives him her word that
she wouldn't run away and ruin his marriage plans...
Dharti takes great care of Mrinal ...
He foils Sindhu's plan to saves Mrinal from
poisonous scorpions and then fire...
Mrinal feels drawn to Dharti...she hugs him to express her gratitude...
overwhelmed to find a simple unpretentious guy
who guarded her from all kinds of dangers and harm...
Dharti moves Mrinal away from the cave
as more attempts were made to kill them...
Mrinal struggles with the tender feelings burgeoning in her heart...
Her mind and heart at war...
Overwhelmed by the attraction between her and Dharti...
She wanted to deny her feelings...she wanted to accept them...
A princess who had always let harshness reign over her was
suddenly affected by the antics of a young fellow...unsophisticated ..unkempt...uncouth..Mrinal overheard the conversation between Dharti and Vandevi...alas !!
She couldn't appreciate the thought behind Dharti's sincere efforts...
She let her newly awakened feelings of love to die again...
She was furious and decided to play along...
to lure Dharti ie Prithvi to devastation...
For he stood between her and the total destruction of Malwa...
Prithvi s happiness couldn't be controlled...
he believed his true love for Mrinal had won her heart and
driven away the enmity between the two states ...Mrinal is declared guilty of a crime she didn't commit...
She is humiliated and punished...
Prithvi ,kind and merciful, appears as a saviour...
he carries her in his arms...His eyes conveyed all his love for her...
Mrinal ,burning with rage, lashes out her anger at him...
Her thirst for revenge had increased by many folds...
Prithvi's sincere apologies were rejected...
humiliation at Sindhu's hands had fueled the hatredshe had been carrying in her heart since childhood...Prithvi reaches Manyakhet to ask for Mrinal's hand from her brother...
he believed his deep love for the princess could win over hatred and
bridge the wide gap between the two states...
He accepts he felt true love for Mrinal ...
Mrinal who had always let revengeful thoughts guide her was
angered at this open declaration..
all her softer feelings were crushed at a tender age...
She denied the love she had felt for Prithvi even to herself...Prithvi and Bhoj were the royal guests at Manyakhet...
He could see how different Manyakhet was from Malwa...
The air there reeked of hatred and violence...
it lacked vibrancy and gaiety...he wanted them to have better tomorrows...a better future ...
He knew he needed to bring a change in
princess Mrinal's perspectives towards life to achieve that task...
so he sought permission from her to stay there till Deepotsav...A cruel move from Satyashrey almost killed Bhoj...
Prithvi horrified and shocked brushes Mrinal's sincere apologies aside...
the tables had turned...once Prithvi was seeking forgiveness...now Mrinal was...
She abhors the idea of a statue...she didn't see it altering anything...
most reluctantly she grants him the permission
as he had laid it as a condition for his forgiveness..Prithvi while helping Bhoj gets affected by poison ...
Mrinal s heart rumbles in pain...
she couldn't see him suffering...
Her eyelashes droop to shutter the love she felt for him...He is moved by her tender touchthough for love and harmony between the two kingdoms
Mrinal allows him to carve a statue...
it wouldn't survive she warns him
how could she let any artistic creation take place in her kingdom...He gives form to what existed between them...
He carves her dream into a statue...Him and Her...as a couple... she is aghast...How could he see through her to reach her innermost thoughts...she cringes with shame...
what she had hidden from herself was there for all to see...
her image of a warrior princess was shattered ...
people saw her as a woman...in love with a man..
They were stone hearted...they didn't see the thought behind the creation...they didn't see the motive behind it...Prithvi is given his death sentence...
he accepts it gladly as it was her wish too...
his last wish is to embrace his death through her hands...She trembles in fear..the princess with a stone heart,
who had played with swords was frightened for the first time...
her saviour, her love was being killed in front of her own eyes ...
with her heart in her mouth she steps forward...
The world stops to exist...there are just the two of them..their hearts throbbing in unison...made for each other ...her tears over flow..her agony writ over her face...
she wanted to give voice to her love but she couldn't..
He is heart broken too...he was losing her...the woman he had dreamt of ...
he holds her to himself in a tight embrace..in those last moments he wanted to feel eternity... He holds her and kisses her...
she kisses him back...the world around them forgotten...
It felt like heaven till the moment lasted...the fingers were entwined...
the breaths were short..the hearts were beating a staccato rhythm...
then all went still... the drooping eyelids lifted in shock...
faint murmurings...louder...then they turned into gasps...
she could feel fingers digging into her back..
reaching her heart and stabbing in deep...shame poured over her ...
humiliation swept like lightning through her...She regretted that moment ...
frenzied she plunged a knife through Prithvi...Prithvi had committed a crime...
he had expressed his love for the princess openly...
It was a sin to love in Manyakhet...
There was acceptance for hatred and vengeance
but not for the finer human feelings...
So all hell broke loose on him...Mrinal lashed him brutally...
she sought revenge for her tainted image in the public's eyes...
she sought revenge for disclosing her well guarded secret to all...
she lashed and thrashed... Prithvi accepted her blows lovingly...he absorbed her fury to liberate her heart and soul of all her hatred ...
Between sobs and groans he mumbled love poems to convey his undying love for her ...
stating that her hatred was also a form of love...
Those poems further worked Mrinal into a frenzied state...
she became savage and inflicted more pain with more anger...
it hurt her but even with bloodied hands she continued...
She had lost sense of right and wrong...Sulochna could not bear the torture ...
she pointed out to Mrinal that
she was mistaken to believe she mattered for anybody...
It was only Prithvi who was devoted to her and
who valued her as a person...he would cherish her for life...Mrinal moves to the lanes of Manyakhet...
she is shocked to hear Prithvi ,even in his delirious state,
defending from the accusations of her own people...
who were unfairly maligning her ...
she is pained to realize that she had been wrong all through...
she had tortured the man who had always been supportive,
loving and devoted to her...An overwhelming moment...when Mrinal expresses her feelings...
her feelings of love ...repentance... She seeks Prithvi's forgiveness..
she wanted to undo those cruel moments...
she wanted to lay bare her soul to him..
She wants to unburden herself of the guilt that was lying heavy on her heart...
that had been eating her up since very long...
Prithvi welcomes his beloved with a tender smile and a warm hug...
Hushing her request to be heard fully he reassures her thatthey were together now and the bad times were over...
he had all that mattered within his arms... They were was at peace...
together discovering the magic of loving and being loved for eternity...GajKesari had a massive responsibility...
he had to lead his countrymen...against the tyrant Subuktigin..
to safe guard his motherland... a land overflowing with treasures..
Mrinal as his Commander -In-chief is by his side...
willing to support him...brave and fearless..
They express their love and faith ..for each other...
They decide to keep their love hidden from the world...till the war was over..As a leader GajKesari was fair and respectful towards all..
he had chosen Mrinal ,the only woman in his army,
as a Commander, for her skills and expertise in the battle field...
he had duelled with her so he knew her strengths...
The other kings ,with massive egos,
felt humiliated in being led by a woman..
Prithvi snubbed their rantings at once...
he pointed out that they were there to protect their respective kingdoms
but she was there just for her motherland...
Mrinal was overwhelmed ...her courage and skills were acknowledged ...Prithvi was a firm believer in rules...
he felt ethics made them different from their enemies...
Mrinal believed in using strategic actions against the unscrupulous Afghans...
Both experienced warriors...both held different views...
Prithvi held Mrinal in high esteem for her fearlessness and
superior warrior skills...he follows her suggestion...Mrinal feels a bit under the weather...she faints outside..
Prithvi brings her in...and lights a fire for her...
he rubs her hands and feet...and
blows onto them to provide some warmth to her frozen frame...
His gaze fixed on her face he caresses her so lovingly...
Next morning he pretends he didn't provide any aid to her...
He was able to hide his amusement well...
to let his beloved keep her pride intact ...Mrinal decides to use an age old trick to dig out some secrets of the enemy..
she adorns herself to enter their area...
Her looks most enticing and deadly..
Prithvi is seized with dread...He couldn't allow her to risk her life ...
he opposes her idea...she holds her chin up...stubborn as a mule...
ready to lay her life for her motherland... He just looks in awe...
wondering how she could be so alluring and yet so head strong...
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