A Mauryan Adventure

by Subhadra Sen Gupta

  It was a very silent walk home. As they walked in, Kartik looked at their faces and asked anxiously, ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘I nearly lost my job today because of your precious sister,’ and Ganga told him what Madhura had done.

  Kartik was horrified. ‘Oh no Madhu!’ he stared at her, shocked. ‘Do you know you could have been punished by the king for putting his daughter’s life in danger?’

  ‘In danger?’ Madhura stared at him. ‘All we did was go to the market!’

  ‘You fool!’ She had never seen him so angry before. ‘There are spies from other kingdoms wandering around bazaars. There are thieves, pickpockets, evil men who kidnap girls. And they would love to kidnap a princess for a big ransom!’

  Finally Madhura understood what she had done, and buried her face in her mother’s lap. She wept and wept. After a while she felt her mother’s hand stroking her head and slowly calmed down. Raising a tear-streaked face, she said in a wobbly voice, ‘Oh Amma, I want to die!’

  ‘No, you don’t . . .’ her mother pulled her closer and wiped her tears. ‘Why don’t you think before you do anything? Why are you always planning naughty things? I know you miss your father and so do I. But we have to go on and we are poor. We have to work and be obedient.’

  Madhura sat up, sniffed and said, ‘From tomorrow I’ll be very obedient and a very good girl. I promise, Amma.’

  Kartik’s eyebrows shot upwards. ‘You, obedient? A good girl?’ As he and Ganga began to laugh, it finally made Madhura smile.

  Next morning Madhura got up before everyone else and brought water from the river, washed the clothes and cleaned the rooms. Kartik and Ganga exchanged smiles but said nothing. Then over breakfast of puffed rice and vegetables their mother said quietly, ‘I don’t like hiding anything from My Lady . . .’

  Madhura raised her head in panic, ‘Oh no, Amma!’

  ‘I have to tell her. If we hide it from her and then she finds out later, it would be much worse. I know My Lady; she is kind and forgiving but the one thing that makes her angry is when people lie to her. Also, she trusts me and has been a very good mistress; I can’t betray her trust.’

  Madhura was speechless with fright . . . My Lady Mahadevi finding out what she had done! How would she face her?

  ‘But how will Her Highness find out, Amma?’ Kartik protested. ‘Only you and Kani know what happened.’

  ‘I have seen that you can’t hide anything in the harem; everything comes out in the end. Someone may have seen or heard something and they will surely talk. And then I will be blamed for trying to protect my daughter. Kani is an old companion of My Lady and so she will get away, but not me.’ She shook her head, ‘We made a mistake yesterday. We should have gone to her immediately and begged for her forgiveness.’

  An hour later Madhura and her mother stood before Queen Mahadevi. Madhura had never been so nervous in her life.

  ‘My Lady, can I speak to you without fear?’ her mother asked.

  The queen, who had been embroidering an uttariya, looked up, ‘Of course Ganga. I’m listening.’

  Her mother’s voice was shaking a little as she began, ‘My daughter made a mistake yesterday. She took the princess out of the palace.’

  Queen Mahadevi’s eyes widened in surprise as the embroidery fell from her fingers, ‘Out of the palace?’

  ‘The princess wanted to see a market and so Madhu . . .’

  The queen studied Madhura’s bent head, ‘But there are guards at the gate, how did you get out?’

  Madhura cleared her throat and spoke with a quaver in her voice, ‘We covered our faces with uttariyas.’

  ‘They did not spot Sanghamitra? She wears silks and jewellery.’

  ‘Umm . . . actually she took them off and wore my clothes.’

  To her surprise the queen did not lose her temper but leaned forward, looking interested, ‘And where did you go?’

  The calm face, staring at her so kindly, gave Madhura the courage. ‘The princess wanted to eat vatakas, vegetable fries and chew paan at the market. And we watched these acrobats, so we got late and Kani caught us . . . oh!’ so saying Madhura fell at Mahadevi’s feet. ‘Forgive me, My Lady. I’ll never do anything like this again!’

  The queen turned to her mother, ‘Ganga, go and fetch Sanghamitra and Kani please,’ and her mother hurried out. Then her next question surprised Madhura even more, ‘Vegetable fries, was it?’

  ‘Yes. My princess said that she had never had vatakas or pakoras with tamarind chutney, and she bought copper bangles and then she wanted to buy jasmine garlands and it was getting very late but she did not want to leave and she would not listen to me . . .’ Madhura said in a rush and then stopped to take her breath.

  The queen smiled slightly, ‘She enjoyed herself, did she?’

  ‘Oh yes, My Lady! She was smiling all the time and she just wouldn’t come back. I had to drag her away.’

  Sanghamitra entered the room, followed by Kani and Ganga. She took one look at the scene and said, ‘Oh no! Madhu told you everything!’ The queen nodded. ‘Mother, it’s all my fault. I made her take me.’

  ‘I don’t think so, My Lady . . .’ Kani interrupted her. ‘It is that girl Madhura who is always finding ways to get my princess into trouble.’

  ‘Madhura is my friend and she only obeyed my orders,’ Sanghamitra said stubbornly as she and Kani stood glaring at each other.

  ‘Madhu starts everything, My Lady. Remember them climbing a tree . . .’

  ‘That was me! Madhu followed me!’

  ‘Quiet! Both of you.’ The queen’s sharp command made them come to a stop. ‘Sanghamitra, you are older and you should have known better. You chose to do this and you will be punished. You will stay in your room for the next week, no outings, no games, no music, and I am not giving you your allowance till I am sure you have understood your duties.’

  Sanghamitra bowed, ‘Yes Mother.’

  ‘Don’t you understand? I don’t want this to reach the ears of the Queen Mother. You are to be married soon. She would be angry with me for not being able to control my daughter. Do you want that?’

  The princess bowed her head and finally apologized, ‘I’m sorry. I promise I won’t do this again.’

  ‘Go to your room, and Kani, go with her.’ The two of them left.

  ‘Now it is my turn to be punished,’ thought Madhura, bracing herself. ‘I’m out of a job for sure and so is Amma.’

  ‘Now what do I do with you Madhura?’ sighed Queen Mahadevi tiredly.

  ‘Punish me, My Lady. I deserve to lose my job but please don’t punish my mother. She did not know what I was doing.’

  ‘If you want to work here, you have to learn to obey the rules of the palace.’ Madhura nodded. ‘I’m not going to punish your mother or Kani. If news of this escapade got out, even those poor guards at the gate would face punishment for not stopping you. Did you think of that? So many people would suffer because of two thoughtless girls?’

  Madhura stood there, her eyes wide in shock. She had never thought about so many people getting into trouble because of a trip to the market!

  ‘From now on you will work here in my chambers with your mother, so she can keep an eye on you all the time.’

  Madhura heaved a huge sigh of relief. ‘Yes, My Lady!’

  Finally Ganga smiled, ‘She is a handful, My Lady, but I will control her. She keeps threatening to run away.’

  ‘Run away? Where?’

  ‘My son Kartik is leaving again soon, and she wants to go with him. She hates it when he travels.’

  ‘Then why don’t you two go with him this time? Next week His Majesty and I are leaving on a pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya and I’ll take my children with me.’ She smiled slightly, ‘I think these two girls need to be separated for a while. They egg each other on . . .’ she sighed. ‘I understand how Sangha feels. Her life was so much simpler when we lived in Ujjaini. Even I get tired of the rules of this palace and she is just a child.’

  Mad
hura and her mother bowed before the queen. Madhura laid her head on her feet in gratitude, making the queen laugh, and they left the room, feeling very relieved. Coming outside, Madhura looked shiny eyes at her mother, ‘Amma, can we go with Bhai?’

  ‘I’ll have to ask Kartik.’

  Madhura gave a quick skip in happiness, her heart felt as light as a feather. Suddenly the dark clouds had parted and the sun was shining again in her world.

  That evening Kartik stood, hands on his hips, staring down at his grinning sister, ‘Here I thought the Queen would order the soldiers to take you away in chains, instead you get a holiday?’

  ‘You have to take Amma and me with you. You can’t say no, Bhai! It is Her Highness Queen Mahadevi’s orders!’

  Their mother looked anxiously at Kartik, ‘Do you think you could? It wouldn’t disturb your work, would it?’

  ‘What work? All he does is sell cloth and pottery.’

  Ignoring her, Kartik said to Ganga, ‘No Amma, it won’t. During the trip I will go away sometimes for a few days but you two can stay with the others in the caravan.’ He

  scratched his chin, ‘Actually it will be good because I can eat your cooking even on the road.’

  Next day Madhura went to say goodbye to Sanghamitra. ‘Once we are all back in Pataliputra I’ll ask Mother to let you be my companion again,’ said the princess. ‘Not now. She’s still very angry with me.’

  ‘We were very stupid, My Princess. So many people could have been punished for no fault of their own.’

  ‘Yes, we were very thoughtless. Come back safely,’ Sanghamitra hugged her. ‘You have to beat me at chaturanga, remember?’

  Walking home Madhura was floating on air. Sure, she would miss the princess, but oh joy, she was going travelling with Kartik!

  4

  A Caravan to Vidisha

  A long row of bullock carts was making its way lazily along a broad road between villages, fields and forests. This was a caravan of traders taking goods from Pataliputra to the sea ports on the west coast, and they were travelling on the famous highway called Dakshinapatha, the southern road. The carts were piled with bales of textiles, bags of rice and spices, big round cakes of brown sugar, boxes of precious stones for jewellery, packets of incense, metal, wood ware and pottery. Once the carts reached the seaside, the goods would be loaded on ships that would sail to exotic lands like Persia, Arabia and Egypt, then move over land across the deserts of North Africa to arrive in the markets of Rome.

  Madhura, Kartik and their mother were travelling in this caravan, and they were learning to live on the move. Their day began at dawn when they packed up their things, and the rest of the day was spent sitting in the bullock cart as it creaked and swayed, bumping along the stony highway, listening to the call of the cart drivers as they talked to the bullocks. Kartik had two carts, one he was driving himself, and the other had a driver called Dhanu. All the goods that he planned to sell at Ujjaini were packed in the first cart and the second one carried their bundles of clothes, sacks of rice and vegetables, bundles of wood and jars of oil. It was like a house on the move.

  The other traders were on a much longer journey and many had brought their families with them. Soon Madhura and her mother had made friends with the women and children, and she would play with them when they stopped for rest in the evening. Dhanu had brought along his wife, a young girl called Lakshmi, and she and Madhura soon became friends. They all ate together, and as it was still quite cold, they slept wrapped in cotton quilts around a fire at night. Whenever they could find a roadside shelter they slept in the thatched huts, but there were days when they spent the night by the side of the road, under a tree.

  As they left Pataliputra, Madhura sat next to Kartik looking about her in a fever of excitement. Everything was so new and wonderful! ‘Oooh look at those peacocks! Aren’t the villages pretty . . . what are those long-legged birds Bhai, standing in the pond? They are not swans, or ducks, are they?’

  Kartik grinned, ‘Spoken like a true city girl. Those are herons. Since when do swans have long legs?’

  ‘Everything is so open and green . . . Ohhh look at that cloud!’

  Within a week Madhura had become used to the villages with their huddle of thatched huts, the shady groves of mango trees and banana plants, the still ponds, their water shining silver in the sun. She watched the farmers ploughing their fields, the women carrying water in earthen pots, washing clothes, and the children playing in the fields. Then she realized that every village had a high earthen wall around it.

  ‘Why do they have walls?’ she asked. ‘Are they afraid of highway robbers?’

  Dhanu, the young cart driver, shook his head, ‘Our farmers are very poor; they have nothing worth robbing.’

  ‘Nothing?’

  ‘I come from a village near Pataliputra. When I was growing up we had two sets of clothes, some earthen pots and pans in the kitchen and woven reed mats to sleep on. Our wealth is in our cattle, while highway robbers are looking for silver and gold. These walls are against the wild animals in the forest.’

  ‘Tigers? Elephants?’ breathed Lakshmi. ‘Yes, and also leopards, foxes, hyenas . . .’

  ‘We’ll be going through the forests, too?’ Madhura asked a bit nervously. ‘The tigers won’t like that!’

  Dhanu laughed, ‘Oh, the animals stay away from the road because there are too many people around. Still it is better to move during daytime.’

  A fortnight later the road dipped into a forest and the landscape changed. The tall, leafy trees seemed to crowd in on both sides of the highway and the sunlight filtered in through the leaves, making the path a dappled patch of light and shadows. They could hear the flutter of wings and call of birds, as squirrels ran up and down the tree trunks. Sometimes they would even catch the flash of a herd of deer watching them from the undergrowth with their large, liquid eyes, and then startled by any noise they would vanish in the gloom.

  Ganga, Madhura and Lakshmi would occasionally get off the cart and walk along it, picking berries and wild fruits. The air smelled of earth and wet leaves. The girls were a bit disappointed that they did not catch a glimpse of a tiger, but once at sunset as they were coming out of a patch of forest they saw a herd of elephants in the distance by the bank of a river. They were bathing by spraying water through their trunks, and two baby elephants were rolling around in the mud.

  ‘Oh, I wish I could have a baby elephant as a pet!’ Madhura exclaimed.

  ‘Do you know how much an elephants eats?’ Dhanu laughed. ‘One herd can clear out a whole banana grove in a few hours. A whole bunch of bananas is just one bite for them!’

  ‘The king has so many elephants. The princess rides on one.’

  ‘The king is very, very rich.’

  One day as they creaked along, Madhura sat brooding. She had thought Kartik led such an exciting life, always on the move, seeing new places, meeting new people while she worked all the time at the palace. But this life in a caravan wasn’t all that exciting really. After the first few days of looking out at villages and fields, it had become sort of familiar. And she still had to fetch water, wash the clothes and help her mother with the cooking.

  To her surprise, Madhura was beginning to feel a bit bored. She sat wondering what was happening in Pataliputra. Had the princess gone to Bodh Gaya? She missed playing with Ranju and chatting with Sanghamitra, and it wasn’t very comfortable spending hours in the swaying cart bumping along the road. Maybe I’d rather be a princess’ maid than a trader, she thought. The palace is an exciting place, so many things happen there every day.

  As they got closer to Vidisha, one night they stopped at a large inn by the side of the road that had small rooms around an open courtyard. Her mother built a fire and began to cook, while Madhura cleaned the rice and Lakshmi helped by grinding the spices. Dhanu was busy caring for the bullocks, giving them a wash in the pond and then feeding them.

  Kartik was oddly restless, standing at the door and staring at the g
ate of the inn. Soon he wandered out. He came back a few minutes later and said from the door, ‘Amma, there’ll be one more for dinner.’

  Madhura turned to see a man standing behind Kartik and her eyes widened—it was the fat man who had given the cloth bundle to Kartik at Pataliputra! Now Kartik introduced the man, ‘Amma, this is my friend Tilaka. He works in Vidisha and is going there. So he’ll travel with us.’

  Tilaka bowed to their mother, ‘You have a very clever son, Ganga Ma. You can be sure he will go far.’

  Ganga smiled, ‘I know. If we had the money to educate him, his father used to say, Kartik could have become an official at the palace.’

  ‘I’m sure he will one day.’ Kartik shrugged at Tilaka’s words. ‘His Majesty trusts him greatly.’

  Madhura was about to ask Tilaka what he meant, but then decided to keep quiet. She was now becoming very puzzled by the conversation. It was the way the adults often spoke around her, believing that she was too young to understand anything. But she was not a child any more; she was twelve! This was the second time she had heard that Kartik worked for the king, but then what did he do? What could he possibly do when he spent all his time travelling along the roads of the kingdom?

  Tilaka was an amusing guest as he told stories about his many adventures. How once a horse ran away with him and he had to jump off to save himself and landed in a muddy pond. Then he was teasing Kartik about a girl who lived in Ujjaini. ‘Our Kartik is quite a hero, Ganga Ma. There is this singer in Ujjaini called Kamalika, who sings twice as well when Kartik is in the room.’

  Ganga gave her son a slit-eyed look, ‘A singer, is she?’

  ‘Ah Amma! Don’t take Tilaka seriously please. He’s always making up stories.’

  ‘Maybe when we get to Ujjaini we can meet her?’

  Kartik shrugged and then said, ‘Actually Amma we have to stop at Vidisha first as both Tilaka and I have work there. So we’ll let the rest of the caravan go on as we’ll be staying there for a few days. You two will stay with us. We’ll join the caravan at Ujjaini later.’