The Boy From Pataliputra

by Rahul Mitra

  Aditya and his entire camp were present at the venue since mid-morning. One by one, other competitors arrived and the atmosphere started getting tense. The sleek and magnificent beasts, their rich trappings, and the confidence and assurance of the riders, overawed the ragged bunch of students. Only Aditya and Charaka appeared to be calm.

  But it was the arrival of the reigning champion, and his magnificient black stallion that caused the greatest stir. With its glossy black coat and its muscular bearing, the horse stood at least half-a-foot taller than Ashvaghosha. It was all fired up for the race and the servants handling it were having a tough time. Sumukha himself was a picture of confidence, as he talked and laughed, surrounded by a crowd of friends and admirers.

  Meanwhile, Charaka and Aditya were busy in last minute discussions. Soldiers milled about, as groups of people started trickling into the grounds, weary and elated after the morning’s celebrations.

  Tanku and his ragged extended family came in and created quite a scene. High on mahua, they shouted slogans and Tanku insisted on trying to pick up Aditya on his shoulders. People around them sniggered and Aditya was particularly mortified to see Sumukha and his friends making fun of their party. Tanku was finally pacified and led away by Rishabha, but the crowd around the participants kept growing.

  Many of the young monks of the vihara on the opposite side of the Tamra Nala had become fast friends with Ashvaghosha and his rider. Naughty young kids dressed in saffron and maroon robes crowded around Ashvaghosha, patting the horse and offering it lumps of sarkara. The head monk came over to bless them.

  Scores of people were hugging Aditya; Radha tied a sacred thread around his wrist, and Aditya touched Pandi’s feet, seeking his blessings. As more and more students from the University started coming up to meet them, Charaka ordered Aditya to go off alone with Ashvaghosha, and get him warmed up.

  Aditya mounted the horse and took him for a light run. His eyes scanned the crowds for Devika. Mahinda and Navinda had come with their families, and they waved to him as did Tanku and his retinue, but Devika was nowhere to be seen.

  By now, the ground was bursting with people and some had even climbed onto the trees to get an uninterrupted view. A lively chatter filled the air as people called out to each other and friends made bets among themselves. It was widely accepted that Sumukha, from the noble family of the Vardhanas, would win once again.

  The royal family arrived, accompanied by the beating of drums and cymbals. They were greeted with cheers from the audience. The soldiers took up their positions next to the pavilion, and all along the boundary ropes. The horses were called up to the starting line. The race was about to begin.

  A problem now became apparent. There were twenty-one horses in the fray, and not enough space for all of them to stand side-by-side between the two poles which marked the starting line. The chief priest read out the rules and one by one, the soldiers led the horses of the nobles and entrants from the King’s army, to the front. Three rows of horses packed in tightly behind one another, and Aditya found himself crowded together with other commoners, students, and foreigners in the third and last line.

  Standing in the audience, Charaka frowned. This was an unexpected complication. Aditya was at a terrible disadvantage. Not only did he risk getting entangled in any accidents that took place up ahead, he would also, inevitably find the road in front of him blocked. At some point, he would have to fight his way through the crowd of horses running in front of him, and it was likely to be a complicated and risky manoeuvre.

  Charaka knew that in races like these, accidents were far too common. If a horse rubbed up against another when running at top speed, it could be dislodged from its trajectory and go crashing into another horse, or into the crowd. Alternatively, one or both of the riders could be unhorsed and run over by the rush of steeds coming up behind them. Riders, who had taken the lead, would often try to block the way of horses gaining on them, and if the rider of the trailing horse was not skilful, he risked running straight into the horse in front. The forelegs of the trailing horse would then clip the hindlegs of the leading horse and both would go crashing to the ground. Aditya, being in the rear, would face all of these risks.

  There was an additional dilemma. Charaka had given special training to Ashvaghosha to burst clear of his competitors at the very first signal, and now he stood with his muscles all coiled and ready to spring. But that could only lead to an accident now.

  He motioned frantically in Aditya’s direction. Aditya nodded that he understood, he should stay clear of the others, untill the field spread out a little.

  It meant that he would be conceding an early lead to his rivals.

  ***

  The horses shook their manes and stamped about. They had all been primed to run like the wind—and were hardwired to compete. Now standing crushed together in a dense mass of bodies, they were getting increasingly nervous and agitated. Sumukha’s horse, in particular, was raising hell. It snorted and neighed, bit at the horses standing next There were five false starts. Five times the more excitable horses bounded out of line, and five times they were caught and cajoled back by the soldiers minding the starting line. Finally, the horses in the front row were all in one line.

  The constant buzz of the audience now quieted down to a murmur. The head priest shouted out the command and the horses exploded out of the starting line, like arrows shot into the wind. The audience burst into a roar, a throat-burning, frenzied cheering that seemed to shake the very heavens.

  Within seconds, the scene became more defined. One of the larger horses in the middle of the pack had inexplicably leaned towards its left, sending its two neighbours barreling towards the audience even as the riders frantically struggled to bring them back on course. Sumukha’s horse had snatched an early lead. Individual horses were strung out behind him, while a large, indistinguishable mass of horses dominated the centre. Struggling at the rear was another knot of five horses, with Aditya and Ashvaghosha caught in between.

  A huge cheer went up in the nobles’ section, while shouts and curses erupted in the commoners’ sections. Tanku cursed loudly, spitting in exasperation. He had placed huge bets on Ashvaghosha, based partly on Rishabha’s enthusiastic stories. He caught hold of Sameera’s arm and shouted at him in the vernacular, colourful language of Takshashila.

  “You husband of a female ghost, didn’t you mangy mosquitoes feed the horse properly?”

  Ashvaghosha was trapped, hemmed in-between two horses with a horse in front, blocking his way. The horses, all of them running at a terrific speed, now shoved and jostled against each other and the sound of hoofbeats reverberated in the air as the riders maneuvered for position, trying to break away from the pack. Under his feet, Aditya could feel Ashvaghosha’s muscles pulsating with life. The horse was running in perfect rhythm and all they needed, was an opening. It finally came when the rider to his right made a move. Going on the inside of the track, the horse slowly overtook the one in front. Aditya and Ashvaghosha now dropped into the free lane behind him, trailing the horse as it manoeuvred its way out of the crowd.

  Once they had overtaken the pack, a gentle tug on the reins towards the left, and they were back on the outside, racing away from the horse they had just been following. Individual horses were now strung out in front of them with clear, wide spaces between them, all the way till a point where a mass of horses blocked the view. It was time to accelerate.

  Aditya now slapped Ashvaghosha on the haunches.

  “Come on, son, NOW!”

  It was as if man and beast were one. Ashvaghosha erupted into a terrifying burst of speed that had been programmed into him. His hooves slammed into the ground with tremendous force, his forelegs yawned out as he reached into the air and his muscles rippled under his shiny tan skin, spreading from his haunches to his shoulders with each step. He was gobbling up the racetrack.

  Spectators concentrating on the rear saw a small, muscular, brown horse overtake five horses, almost before t
hey could register what was happening. One moment, it would be behind a horse and the very next moment, they would be running shoulder to shoulder, one horse obscuring the other. Then, in the blink of an eye, it could be seen pulling away from its pursuer. Ashvaghosha overtook five horses, one after the other, and reached the centre where another tight knot of horses was running together, covering the entire racetrack and blocking the way ahead.

  In the commoner’s section, Rishabha was jumping up and down in a dense crowd of people. He was hoarse and his throat was dry from all the shouting. He looked at Charaka, who was standing pressed up against him. Charaka’s eyes were bulging out of his face and the veins in his head were popping out, as he silently mouthed something towards Aditya. Standing where he was, things were not looking too good. Sumukha had just passed the one kos mark, while Aditya was trapped almost a third of a kos behind him. The crowd of horses all running at top speed, looked just like an accident waiting to happen. Even if Aditya could make it safely through that obstacle, would he be able to catch up with the leaders?

  Meanwhile, Aditya was getting increasingly frustrated. He couldn’t see through the crowd in front and he had no idea how many horses were ahead of him. Out of the corners of his eyes, he could see that a number of horses had already passed the one-kos mark. By the time he crossed it, he was still trailing behind this mass of horses that completely blocked his way.

  Standing up in the toe-loop saddle, his body draped almost around the horse’s neck, he finally saw an opening among the dense mass of bodies in front. There was a space for him to enter into the chakravyuh, but he had already decided against it. He was about to perform a very risky manoeuvre.

  Aditya dropped towards the left, coming up close behind the horses riding on the outer end of the pack. They were dangerously close to the audience here. He kept on their tail and waited. The horses in front, dipped almost imperceptibly towards the right, the narrow opening between the horses and the ropes, cordoning off the audience, widened by just a shade and he decided to take the plunge. His feet dug into the sides of the horse, an unspoken signal passed between man and beast, and Ashvaghosha flung himself into the gap. They had to pass through, before it narrowed again.

  Terrified screams emerged from that section of the crowd as people on the outside pushed back. Aditya’s feet grazed against the rope as everyone’s attention was transfixed on this section of the race. An elegant, brown horse shot through the narrow gap between the horses and the audience on the outside of the tracks, and emerged clear ahead of the group that had been blocking its way. It was all over in an instant.

  A huge roar went up from the commoner’s section. Every horse in front of Aditya belonged either to the noblemen, or to the army, and now a commoner had emerged to challenge them. Every eye was on Ashvaghosha. Tanku cursed with excitement, the twins hugged each other, Rishabha jumped up and down in joy, and Charaka suddenly grew animated. He had just noticed something, and for the first time he smiled and started jabbering incoherently, shouting into Radha’s and Rishabha’s ears.

  “They are standing up, they are up! Did you see it? Ashva’s ears are up!”

  Ashvaghosha’s ears were standing straight up! He was running well within himself—the best was yet to come.

  There were only five horses in front of them now, and the lead horse was less than a third of a kos ahead of him. As they thundered past the two-kos mark, Aditya leaned against the horse’s ear, shouting out with all his might.

  “Come on, son! Give me all you’ve got!”

  He loosened the rein still further. The horse gratefully took it up, straining forward eagerly. One kos to go!

  Up ahead, another little drama was playing itself out. Sumukha’s horse was in the lead, but a magnificent chestnut horse was literally snapping at its heels. The rider now decided to go for the final burst, and his horse slowly started gaining on Sumukha. With every step, it inched closer, untill finally, the two horses were running neck to neck. Murmurs of anticipation ran through the audience, for it looked like the winner of the race was about to be decided.

  Sumukha was carrying a thin, flexible strip of bamboo and he now lashed his horse with it, spurring it into paroxysms of excitement. The two horses thundered towards the finish line, their riders screaming, shouting, cursing, and whipping their mounts. Each horse was giving its utmost. Their ears were pinned straight back, the gumsbared, and their teeth showing through with the effort.

  What happened next, happened very quickly. Sumukha lashed out at his rival with the cane, lashing him across the arms. He swung the cane again as the other grabbed at his dhoti, trying to dislodge him. Bouncing on the back of their mounts, the two were locked together in furious combat, as they hurtled through the air.

  Again and again and again, Sumukha lashed out with his cane. Finally, his rival got a hold of it and pulled, trying to get the cane out of his hands. Sumukha let it go and in one unfortunate moment, the contender lost his balance toppling over to the other side, right in front of the onrushing hooves of a horse that was bearing down on them from behind.

  It was Ashvaghosha. With barely seconds to react, Aditya knew he would not be able to change course. He pulled at the reins and shouted at Ashwa to jump.

  It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Four hundred kilos of smooth muscle, the crushing force of four hooves sailed over the unfortunate man lying dazed on the ground, and landed clear on the other side. Hundreds of throats seemed to exhale simultaneously and a gigantic ‘ooh’ arose from the crowd.

  Aditya didn’t even have time to look back to see if the man had been saved. Ashvaghosha was now almost level with Sumukha’s horse. But the horse had lost its momentum in the fight, and in an instant, Ashvaghosha had pulled ahead of it.

  Aditya released the full length of the reins, urging his horse forward into a final all-out effort. Ashvaghosha’s head reached forward, his legs ate up the ground and everything he had learnt in the practice sessions for pacing, now kicked into action. Sumukha tried to spur his horse forward, thrashing and beating it, but the poor beast was already spent and now Sumukha watched unbelievingly, as Aditya and Ashvaghosha pulled away from him with ease. They streamed across the finish line with a comfortable lead.

  A huge uproar now rent the air. The people in the commoners’ section had gone wild for it was the first time a commoner had beaten the nobles. Fat old merchants jumped up and down, monks sprinted towards the finish line, and young and old shouted themselves hoarse. People broke through the ropes and a huge crowd invaded the track, surging towards the finish line, eager to get a glimpse of their champion. The king and his family were on their feet.

  The King, who was peering animatedly at the crowds, now turned towards the captain of the guards.

  “I want this boy in our household guards,” he whispered.

  to it, and repeatedly bounded out of line.

  A New Opportunity

  Aditya squatted in the shade of the ruined vihara, his eyes fixed on the gate that led into the complex. It was an ancient building, broken down in places, filled with dust and rubble, and run over by stunted, thorny bushes. An entire community had once lived here and the cool, stone walls of the building had once reverberated to the chanting and prayers of hundreds of monks. Jagged and broken down in places, they now bore silent testimony to all that had passed.

  A profound peace, the silence of centuries, hung in the air and the shrill cries of peacocks coming from the grove of thorn trees at the back were the only sounds that disturbed the quiet. It was an extremely hot day and a dry, listless wind had started to blow. In spite of the heat, Aditya was completely at peace. He loved this place.

  Presently, there came the sound of hoofbeats and Aditya jumped to his feet. Beyond the boundary wall of the enclosure, he could see her riding up. Devika had arrived!

  With a big smile on his face, he waved frantically towards her.

  “Hey . . .”

  She nodded back. Tethering her horse, she made her wa
y across the paved surface, over to where he was standing.

  “You ass, you’re going to get me into so much trouble,” she said conspiratorially, her words tumbling out of her mouth at frenetic pace, even as she giggled with excitement. “This is FAAAR,” she breathed, “what did you call me here for?”

  “Hoohooo haahaahaahaaa, I called you here so we could be alone, my dearest,” said Aditya, “and then . . .” Aditya whispered conspiratorially even as he reached out to grab her arm.

  “Oh, keep quiet,” she started giggling as she slapped his hand away. “donkey!”

  Aditya was grinning, she was grinning; time and distance, and the rest of the world had ceased to exist.

  “Come, I’ll show you something,” he said as he held out his hand to her.

  She slipped her hand into his and he felt an electrifying thrill pass through his entire body. How strange this woman, who would offer him her hand in an instant, who would talk to him for hours and hours, who would laugh at all his jokes, and yet would never admit that she loved him. How strange this relationship, he thought to himself, as he led her towards the main prayer hall of the vihara.

  It was a long, rectangular, multi-pillared hall. On one side, the wall had fallen in and beams of sunlight illuminated the cool, cavernous interiors. The floor was overgrown with wild grass and weeds, and a huge pile of rubble lay towards the left. Deep into the hall, shrouded by the gloom was a gigantic statute of Shakyamuni, the features conveying a sense of peace and serenity among the ruins.