"What's the matter, princess Sita?"
"You look different today, king
Raavan."
"Do I?" He chuckled.
"Yes. You normally do not grin that wide.
You are usually very solemn. But today you look happy."
"You are quite astute for your size. I am
indeed very happy today."
"Why?"
"My little sister, Suryasakhi, is coming
over. She will stay in Mithila for a few days and then we will leave together,
for Lanka."
"You're leaving, king Raavan?" Urmi
looked as though she would cry. I wasn't feeling much better. We had grown fond
of the Lankan king. Everyday, once his day's work was done, Urmi and I would
both hang on to his hands and play with him.
If we got the pleading look right, we could get
him to do anything. He would play with us, tell us stories. Once he even became
a horse for us. We did get a scolding from father for bothering the royal
guest, though. When the raw mangoes appeared in the gardens, we would get him
to throw us up high so we could pick some. Finally, he had to teach me to use
my arrows to get at the topmost mangoes.
"Oh don't be sad little ones! You knew I
would have to leave one day. I am a guest!"
"But that doesn't make it feel any
better!"
"Hey! I didn't know you kids liked me so
much! What do you say we go to the gardens and pick some mangoes?"
"Mango season is over."
"What! No mangoes! Now what excuse can I
use to throw you up like this!"
With that he picked me up and threw me up high.
I squealed with delight. "Me too! Me too!"
Urmi tugged at his sleeve.
It was a fantastic evening.
-----------------
When king Raavan's sister arrived, I was with
Shreeman. He was teaching us tables. I
had already memorised till the table for nine. When we heard that the Lankan
princess had arrived, we hurriedly took Shreeman's leave and ran to the
entrance to receive our guest.
Princess Suryasakhi was just getting off her
chariot as we reached the palace gates. She was tall, slim and very graceful.
She wore a black and silver sari and lots of silver bangles, interspersed with
diamonds. Her hair was tied in a plait that reached her waist and there too,
small diamonds shone like stars in the night-sky, with her face the moon. She
had used kohl to line her eyes. How old was she, and how old would I have to be
before father allows me to use kohl? As she walked, she brought to us the music
of her bangles and her anklets. I looked at her mesmerised. She was that
beautiful.
She did a formal namaskar to father. King Raavan
introduced her ”King Janak, meet my little sister Suryasakhi. Suryasakhi, meet
King Janak and his lovely daughters, Sita and Urmila.”
We greeted each other with a namaskar.
"Suryasakhi, it seems, missed me so much
that she came all the way from Lanka to meet me!" King Raavan laughed,
giving his sister a gentle push.
"Keep dreaming, big brother. I was just
annoyed that you would hop off like this, just one day before I am due to come
back home after my studies at the ashram. You tell me, princesses,"she
turned to us,"how would you like it if you had been gone from home for 4
years and when you returned, you found that your big brother hadn't even
bothered to wait for you to reach home before running off on this wild goose
chase? What were you searching for, really?"
"A teacher, little one. You got the benefit
of ashram studies. Shouldn't I wish to be as knowledgeable as my little sister
when she comes back?"
"Don't try to butter me up, big
brother!" Suryasakhi said, but she did look a little mollified.
"Did you find one?"
"Of course! King Janak has kindly agreed to
teach me what I need to know."
"To be fair, you didn't need much
instruction, king Raavan." Father said, turning to princess
Suryasakhi,"You brother is a very wise man."
Suryasakhi bowed her head with her namaskar this
time. "Thank you for being my brother's teacher, King Janak"
Father inclined his head. "The gift of
knowledge is probably the only gift where the giver and the receiver benefit
equally."
I wondered about that. How had teaching me
benefited Shreeman? Or, how had teaching me archery benefited father? I should
ask them when I get the chance.
--------------
Princess Suryasakhi, Urmi and I had a lot of fun
during her stay. Urmi taught us more of her village's games and we played all
day long and late into the evening. We climbed on the trees in the orchard and
sat on the thick branches talking about random things. Sakhi told us how her
city is surrounded by 'sea'. 'Sea' was like a giant-sized river and the city of
Lanka was surrounded by water on all sides. It was incomprehensible to us how a
city larger than ours could possibly fit between the two banks of a river!
"You must have a lot of fun. You could
probably swim all day long in such a big river."
"Not really. The waves are too strong to
swim far. If you stray farther than a few meters into the water, the sea will
claim you for her own and you will never be heard from again."
"So you use boats to cross the sea?"
"Ships.
They are much bigger than boats."
"Wow! It must be amazing to live in a place
like Lanka."
"It is. Every morning we sit in the topmost
balcony of the palace and watch the sunrise. When the rays of the sun hit the
golden rooftops, the entire city glistens like the city of gold that it
is."
"What! You literally mean the houses are
made of gold?"
"No silly! An entire house made of gold
would be too uncomfortable! Only the roofs are covered with gold."
"Wow! I can't even imagine living in a
place like that."
"Of course you can't. You live in Mithila.
How can Mithila compare in grandeur to Lanka!"
She probably said it in jest, but it hurt me to
think that Mithila was not as rich and as grand as Lanka, that we couldn't have
golden rooftops, that someone would put down my city the way she had just done.
Sakhi was lying with her back on the thick
branch and her left leg dangling. She was staring up into the thick foliage at
the small bits of sky that peeped through, oblivious that I had been piqued.
Good, it gave me time to reset my face.
"Well, Mithila might not be as grand as
Lanka, but it is our home and King Janak is the wisest and kindest king ever!
Thanks to him, no one is needy even if they are poorer than the rest. Can you
say the same for the poor in your city?" Urmila piped in.
How I loved that
little girl! She had defended our city like a champion. And how and when did
she get so worldly-wise?!
--------------
To be fair to Suryasakhi, Lanka was indeed like
a dazzling jewel in the sea. Hundreds of golden rooftops reflected the golden
sun and from far, the effect was as if the entire city was on fire.
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