Men
who get married to younger women often dwell in a world where suspicion reigns
supreme. They often regard strangers with distaste. Pazhuvetarayar felt the
same when he saw Parthibendran outside his tent and added to that he didn’t
like the way Nandini had come forward to talk to the Pallava Lord but he
couldn’t chide her too!
He
therefore replied to Nandini with a frosty smile, “Devi! There are many in this
world that we do not know and we have nothing to lose, if we don’t.”
Parthibendran
who had by then recovered his speech said, “Ayya!
While it is true that you have nothing to lose if you do not know me, the loss
is truly mine. Allow me to introduce myself to your wife. Devi! People call me Parthibendra Pallavan.”
“Oh!
I have heard about you,” said Nandini.
“Parthibendra!
Why did you omit all those titles that decorate your name? Since when did you
turn so humble! Nandini! He isn’t just Parthibendra Pallavan, he is the warrior
who won Vengai and Kalligam! He is the warrior who beheaded Veera Pandian!”
said Pazhuvetarayar with a derisive laugh.
Nandini’s
face darkened for a few seconds just as sudden clouds crowd on a clear blue
sky. She regained her composure soon enough and laughed.
“Ayya! These days so many people are claiming
the honour of beheading Veera Pandian that it is difficult to count,”
“Devi! Dhanadigari added those titles to
my name out of respect but in truth, the honour of slaying Veera Pandian rests
with Prince Aditya Karikalar!”
“Now
I wonder why you say that? Don’t you want, your share of honour in killing a
dead snake?” asked Pazhuvetarayar sarcastically.
“No,
My Lord! Aditya Karikalar did not kill a dead snake. When he slew Veera
Pandian, he was a live snake. When he drew his sword, a beautiful woman came in
front to beg for the King’s life. If it had been me, I would have thrown that
sword away and Veera Pandian might have escaped with his life,” said
Parthibendran in reply to Pazhuvetarayar though his eyes were directed towards
his wife.
Nandini
who realized the dangerous route the conversation was taking, immediately
turned towards her husband.
“Natha! Why are we talking about these
old stories? Kindly enquire about his business hereabouts!”
Pazhuvetarayar
immediately acceded and asked, “She is right. Let’s not discuss the old
stories. What are you doing here? When did you leave Kanchipuram? Where are you
bound?”
Parthibendran
who had forgotten the purpose of his visit, soon remembered it.
“Ayya! Forgive me. I have come with news
that would drown the Chola Kingdom in sorrow. Prince Arul Mozhi Varmar came
along with me in my ship and when we were stuck in the cyclone, he jumped into
the sea and has gone missing. We searched for him in the sea fruitlessly for an
entire day. I came here hoping that he might have ashore…”
Even
before he could finish his account, Pazhuvetarayar wailed, “What? What did you
say?” and fell down in a dead faint.
Parthibendran
sprang forward to hold him but Nandini pushed his hands away and sat down near
her husband. Cradling his head on her laps, she shouted, “Water! Water!”
A
handmaiden came running from the tent bearing a pitcher of water while soldiers
and onlookers crowded them around. Nandini with a glance bid them to move away
and sprinkled some water on her husband’s face and crooned lovingly, “Natha! Natha!”
 |
| Periya Pazhuvetarayar faints! |
After
a few minutes, Pazhuvetarayar opened his eyes and sat up immediately.
“Nandini!
Did my ears deceive me? What did this Pallavan say? Did he say that Ponniyin
Selvan was lost in the sea? I played with Arul Mozhi when he was but a wee
child. I used to tell him tales while he rode on my shoulders! I held him in
these very hands right from the time he was a babe! With these very hands, I
put the seal on the royal decree to imprison him! Woe to me! What will the
people of Chola Kingdom say about me and my clan?” wailed Pazhuvetarayar and
beat his hands on his head. No one had seen the old man ever so distressed in
their life, not even Nandini!
“Natha! Don’t distress yourself! The
Pallava lord did not complete his message. Let us hear him out and decide what
needs to be done,”
“Yes.
You are right! Parthibendra! You said that the Prince drowned in the sea. Is
that true? Or are you perhaps telling these tales out of some malicious intent?
Do not play around with me!” growled the old man.
 |
| Parthibendra Pallavan |
“Ayya! Forgive me! I did not say that the
Prince drowned and died. I cannot accept the fact that a storm can steal this
Kingdom of its most beloved Prince. When the cyclone was at its worst, the
Prince jumped from my ship into the sea. He might have escaped, if God willed
it! That’s why I came here hoping against hope that he might be alive and might
have come ashore…”
“He
jumped from the sea during the storm! Why? What possessed him to do such a
thing? Why did he come in your ship in the first place? What were you doing
when he did such an insane act?” questioned Pazhuvetarayar one after another.
Nandini
interjected saying, “Ask him to explain as to why he went to Elangai in the
first place?”
“Yes.
Tell me the truth or else you will never leave this place alive,”
“My
Lord! I am not in the habit of telling lies. If for some reason, lies are
called for even then, my tongue betrays me by telling the truth. We have been
hearing disturbing rumours about the King in Kanchipuram. We also heard that
the noble lords have gathered under the Pazhuvur Lord to conspire against the
Crown Prince Aditya Karikalan’s right to succession,”
“Lies!
Absolute lies!”
“I
too wish that they were but mere lies nonetheless this is what we heard! This
prompted noble Malaimaan to send me to Elangai so that I could bring back
Prince Arul Mozhi to the Kingdom….”
Starting
thus, Parthibendran recollected all the events that had occurred ever since he
boarded the ship to Elangai. After listening to him, Pazhuvetarayar wailed, “Oh
God! A great calamity has come to Chola Kingdom! And it came because of me. It
was ‘I’ who sent those ships to Elangai to imprison the Prince!”
“My
Lord! None of this is your fault. Even if you hadn’t sent those ships, the
Prince would have travelled in the Pallava Lord’s ship to Kanchi and would have
become prey to the storm. Pray, do not blame yourself for something that God
had destined!” said Nandini wisely and then suddenly leaned towards her husband
and whispered something in his ears.
Pazhuvetarayar’s
face gained some colour after he heard her words and said, “Yes! Yes you are
right! It didn’t occur to me at all!”
Next
he turned to Parthibendran and said, “Pallava! I am going to go to your ship
and inspect it. You will remain here under my guard, until then. Don’t try to
escape or else my soldiers will hunt you down. You belong to the brave clan of
mighty Pallavas and it would tarnish their fame if you were found wounded in
your back!”
“My
Lord! I have no intention of escaping from here. If I do decide to escape, none
of your soldiers can hope to wound me and certainly not even in the back.”
“My
lord! Don’t worry. I will take care of him. If he tries to escape, this dagger
of mine will find its mark. You go to his ship and inspect it carefully. Speak
to his sailors to verify his story.” Said Nandini with her hand clutching the
dagger that she had taken out of her waist.
“Devi!
I don’t want to burden you with this responsibility. You go inside the tent and
take rest or else go to Thyaga Vidagarayar’s house. Our soldiers can keep him
under watch until I return or else I could take him alone with me to inspect
the ship…”
“I
have no intention of accompanying you, My Lord. If I come with you, will
suspect me again of influencing my sailors. I will not budge from here until
you come,”
“My
Lord! I have no intention of going anywhere too. I will be here waiting for
you…” said Nandini and then leaned towards him to whisper in his ears again,
“This Pallava Lord might have come here to spy on you, who knows? I will stay
here to prevent such mischief. Moreover no one hereabouts should know the truth
about the Prince’s fate until you come back from the ship…”
Pazhuvetarayar
nodded his head and then took a boat to inspect Parthibendran’s ship that was
anchored at some distance. Nandini stood looking at the boat until it moved
away from the range of her eyes. She was also aware of the fact that
Parthibendran was unabashedly staring at her face. She turned towards him
expecting him to look away with embarrassment but the honeybee that has smelt
the nectar will seldom turn away!
Nandini
took the dagger back from her waist and said, “Don’t try to escape! You have been
warned!”
“Devi! Why are you trying to scare me off
with that dagger? How could a fish that has been ensnared in the fisherwoman’s
net escape? Where would it go? I am truly caught in the net that you had cast…”
“What
are you saying? Are you comparing me with a fisherwoman? If my lord were to
hear this…”
“I
am not worried about what he would think. But I did not mean to call you a
fisherwoman. I was referring to your beautiful eyes that casts an alluring
seductive net…”
“Chi! Chi! How dare you? Even if you had
called me a fisherwoman it was excusable but you dare to call me, a woman of
loose morals!”
“Forgive
me! That’s not what I meant when I spoke about your beautiful eyes. There is
nary a guile in them. The spider painstakingly makes a beautiful web as its
home. When the flies fly into it, one can hardly blame the spider for enticing
it inside…”
“So
you are comparing me to a nasty spider. Do I look so horrible to you?”
“No!
No! I should have compared you to the lamp. We light a lamp so that it relieves
us from the darkness but the house flies and other pests are attracted to its
beauty and they sacrifice their life at its altar…”
“A
small wind can take care of this lamp. We can even blow off the lamp and
extinguish it! That’s all the power that the lamp holds.”
“The
lamp might be extinguished but is there any power in this world to dim the full
moon’s light! The moon rises over the sea because of the natural order of
things in this world but why does the sea try to reach it with its endless
waves. Why does it constantly try to touch the moon with those scary waves?”
“I
have heard that the Pallava kings appreciated art and imagination very much,
today I have learned it to be true!”
“I
never believed it when I read about it in the Puranic tales and old stories but today I am willing to believe
it,”
“What
are you referring to?”
“I
have heard about who posses such unearthly beauty that they are able to enslave
all beings in the three worlds. Didn’t Mohini enchant the Auras, just when they were about to partake the nectar? Didn’t the Apsara Menaka entice Sage Vishwamitra
away from his austerities? Didn’t Kovalan fall prey to the beauty of courtesan
Madhavi? Didn’t King Dasaratha banish Rama to the forest just to please
Kaikeyi? Didn’t the glorious Kingdom of Rome lose its fame and glory when it bowed
its head before the beauty of Egypt’s queen…”
“Enough!
May I ask, why you are giving such examples to me?
“Devi! Can’t you guess why I am giving
these examples?”
“If
you are quoting these as an example for me, then you are making a huge
mistake,”
“I
doubt that. The women that I quoted as an example had as much power as you
have,”
“I
can prove that it is a lie with the help of your own words!”
“How
so?”
“I
sent my lord husband to the ship deliberately, so that I could speak to you
privately,”
“I
guessed your intent. That’s why I didn’t go with him,”
“A
little while ago, you said that a woman tried to save Veera Pandiyan and that
Aditya Karikalar didn’t accede to her request,”
“Yes
I did,”
“Do
you know who that woman was?”
“Yes.
She is right now the beloved wife of Periya Pazhuvetarayar!”
“If
I indeed were so enticing, wouldn’t I have saved the life of Veera Pandiyan?
Why did I fail there?”
“It
is true that Prince Aditya Karikalar didn’t accede to your request. His fury in
war is legendary. But it is also true that for the past three years, he has
been regretting his actions and is torturing himself for not granting your
wish,”
“How
is it that you know about this? Did he speak to you about it?”
“For
three years, he had locked this sorrow in the deepest recess of his heart. I
knew that he was troubled by something and begged him to reveal it to me. He
opened his heart ten days ago, before I journeyed to Elangai. Since then…”
“Since
then…”
“Since
then, I have been wanting to meet the Pazhuvur Queen,”
“You
said that if you had been in Aditya Karikalar’s position, you would have
acceded to my request and granted Veera Pandiyan his life,”
“Yes
I did,”
“Is
that true?”
“Absolutely!
You can test me if you want,”
“Ayya! I have a doubt. Can I tell you
about it?”
“My
ears are fortunate to hear anything that you care to say with your honeyed
voice,”
“I
think that you are testing me with your words. While you speak of the net that
I am casting around, you are trying to trap me in your net! You are trying to
gain my confidence so that you could learn all my secrets!”
Parthibendran
was flabbergasted to hear Nandini’s words. He had indeed begun the conversation
with intention of trapping her in a web of lies and to make her believe that he
was smitten with her beauty. But what began with a deceitful intent soon became
true for him and he became truly enamoured by her beauty. He was startled by
the fact that Nandini was perceptive enough to gleam the truth out of his lies.
Nonetheless, he tried to hide the fact from her and said, “Devi! If you truly believe that I have come here to spy on you, let
the Gods unleash thunder and lightening upon my head!”
“Ayyo! Do not say that!” wailed Nandini.
“That
messenger who came from your Prince, what was his name?”
“You
mean Vandiya Devan?”
“Yes.
He tried to spy on me very cleverly and if your account is true, it looks as if
the lightening did indeed fall upon his head,”
“Alas
Devi! The lightening fell upon the
ship and not on his head and that finally led to the Prince leaving the ship in
the heart of the storm!”
“Poor
Kundavai! Two people who were most dear to her heart are lost to her forever.
How unfortunate for her?”
“Devi! Who are these two people?”
“Didn’t
you know that Prince Arul Mozhi Varmar was most dear to Kundavai?”
“Yes
I do. But who is this other person who is dear to her?”
“Who
but that messenger that your Prince sent along,”
“You
mean Vandiya Devan?”
“Yes!”
“Chi! Chi! How could Princess Kundavai,
who is powerful enough to rule this kingdom spare a glance to that upstart and
vainglorious Vandiya Devan?”
“Nonetheless,
it is true. She was attracted to him and that’s why she sought to save him from
my husband’s soldiers, by sending him away to Elangai to fetch her brother. My
husband is berating himself for sending those ships to imprison the Prince but
in reality it is Kundavai who is responsible for the brother’s death. If she
had not sent Vandiya Devan to the Prince…”
“…then
the Prince wouldn’t have jumped into the sea during the storm.”
“When
my Lord husband comes back from the ship, I would be grateful if you could point
this out to him,”
“Devi! Is there anything else that I
could do for you, so as to earn your gratitude?”
“Ayya! I am but a helpless woman and
there are hundred ways to earn my gratitude,”
“If
you could tell me I would be much beholden to you. Aditya Karikalar got a
golden opportunity to earn your gratitude and he let it slip away and regretted
his actions for three years. I would never make such a mistake in my life,”
“Is
that true, ayya? Would you go to any
lengths to do the bidding of a woman?”
“No!
Yesterday, if someone had told me this, I would have laughed. But today, after
I saw you, I can’t help myself. Tell me something, anything! If I had hundred
lives, I would sacrifice them for you, just to do your bidding. I would
sacrifice a thousand kingdoms just to please you. Ask me to forgive my deadly
enemy and I would do it for you. Ask me to behead my dearest friend, and it
shall be done forthwith…”
As
Parthibendran went on listing the things that he was prepared to gain Nandini’s
gratitude, his body shook and his speech slurred, his lips trembled and his
breathe became hot! Parthibendran transformation will be a source of great
surprise for all the readers. But if someone had gone to him and said, “You
will become thus!” he wouldn’t have believed it. Later, after many years, he
would think back to this day and wonder how he could have acted thus!
This
kind of transformation is not limited to a person like Parthibendran. It
happens all the time, all around us. We haven’t unravelled the mysteries of the
human body yet and it would take many years before we unravel the mysteries of
the mind.
People
who commit acts of unspeakable evil, one day become devout and renounce their
old life. There are others who spend
their life immersed in devotion but irrevocably slip into evil ways.
Nandini
who heard Parthibendran’s declaration with a smug smile, interjected him and
said, “Enough Ayya! I would never ask
you to do anything so terrible as you just described. I would only request you
to do something that would make us both happy,”
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