Time travel to Mahabharata

Chapter 6: Meet with Dronacharya

     "Why the cover putri?" , Asked kripi as she sat on the floor with bhagirathi massaging her feet.

"To not attract any attention mata.Im travelling alone, so i don't really want any trouble", said bhagi as she continued massaging kripi's feet.

"Mata!!", Came a voice from outside

"Ashwaath", cried kripi happily.

Ashwatthama came forward with tears in his eyes "forgive me mata, what I said was very wrong . I shouldn't have done any of that. All you wanted was to make me happy and i disrespected you. Please punish me mata".

"Putra... ", Said kripi as she bought ashwatthama in her embrace.

"I forgive you. I'm happy you came back. ",Said kripi as she started to cry.

"Offo , always crying. I should name you the crying - duo ", said bhagi disturbing the sweet moment.

"Aap!!", Said ashwatthama as he looked towards the voice

"You know her, ashwatthama?", Asked kripi

"Yes maa, they were the one who told me I was wrong. I was running away but they stopped me. They are my mitr , maa. I didn't know that she was a she though", smiled ashwatthama.

" Putri, don't wear cover in your home . Remove that right now", ordered kripi.

Bhagi smiled and removed the cover from her face.

" She's your putri mata? ", Asked ashwatthama

" Yes, putr . She's my putri gati",said kripi as she looked at the little girl

" Oh, so she's my jiji? "Ashwatthama asked innocently.

" No-” started kripi

"Ashwatthama, I'am your friend first. You can call me jiji or you can call me gati or mitr. Its on you" smiled bhagi .

" Oh ok. I'll call you jiji or mitr , then", said ashwatthama happily.

" Mattaaaaa, I'm hungry", pouted bhagi to mata kripi.

Kripi's eyes widened and she gasped " Oh my god, why haven't I thought of it. You travelled so far and I didn't even offer you something to eat. Wait here , I'll cook something for you".

Kripi said and moved towards the makeshift kitchen in her Hut. As she looked through she couldn't find anything to make to eat. There was  some rice but that was also a day old, some rotis that were harder than a wooden plank. She didn't know what to feed her putri. Gati's first visit to their house and she didn't even have anything to feed her.   As she thought this, tears clouded her vision. Suddenly she felt two hands wipe her tears.

"Matey, why the tears now?", Asked bhagi looking worried

"You, you have come here first time and I don't even have anything to feed you other than this this shookhi rotis and a day old rice", cried kripi.

"Mata, this is better than any amount of food you get in palaces, do you know why?" Asked bhagi

Kripi shook her head no

"Because,it'll be made by your hand mata. Even this sookhi roti will taste like heaven if you feed me mataey", said bhagi as she wiped her mother kripi's tears.

"Now , come and feed us please. We are eager to eat by your hand. My Anuj and I. And I have also bought you this matey"

Said bhagi as she lifted the cloth of the milk .

Kripi's eyes widened "no no, putri. We can't accept- "

"That's enough mata, if you call me putri promise me you'll never reject my any gifts from now on. Promise me",said bhagi as she pouted a bit

Kripi smiled and promised her.

Kripi heated the rice and roti's and brought them towards the lot.

"Let's eat " said kripi as she gestured both the kids to eat

Ashwatthama and bhagi looked towards each other and then mata kripi and opened their mouth wide.

"Aaaaaaaaa feed us matey"

Kripi chuckled and started feeding them rotis with some milk.

After some time. Drona comes back from panchal. He was insulted by King drupad whom he considered his friend. He swore revenge on drupad. He will make his son , king of panchal. For this he had talked with kripacharya, who had appointed him as a teacher for the 105 kaurav and pandav brothers. He was eager to start his first step to teaching and first step to revenge.

When he came back he was fuming, he was still reeling from the insults of drupad.

"Aswatthama!" Shouted dron as soon as he crossed the threshold.

As he entered he saw a different scene. His son and a figure with black cloth covering were sitting side by side but the stranger had their head on his wife's lap.

As soon as he shouted they all became alert and stood up.

The black figure came forward "pranam guru dron".

"Pranam! Who are you? And what is your purpose for coming here? " Asked dron.

" Pitashree, yeh hamare mitr hai.", Said aswatthama.

Seeing him, dron remembered his insults and became angry again " aswatthama, from tomorrow I'll start you're training to be the best warrior in aryavart. You'll be the king of panchal. I'll train you so. Tomorrow we'll leave for hastinapur, and you'll study with the princes in the ashram . Pack your bags !! ".

" Ji pitashree " bowed ashwatthama. He had tears in his eyes. Kripi was also sad. She knew one day her son would leave her but this early and that too without any warning was not something she expected.
She went inside to help him pack and console him .

" And you, state your business!! " , Said dron as he sat in the make shift cot.

" Guru, I'm Jay, I'm here to learn shastra and shastra from you. Please accept me as your student", said bhagi as she she bowed . She didn't want to disclose her true identity of being a girl and she didn't lie she just told him her other name.

" Are you a prince? Kshatriya?? Who is your father ? What works does he do?! " Asked dron as he looked at the person.

" Guruji, they are irrelevant questions. My skills are the ones that will matter. My gotr and jat are unimportant ", said bhagu as humbly as she could.

" What is important and not I'll decide. Tell me your background or Leave!! " Roared dron.

" Guru dron, I'm not a Prince , I'm a sut. My father is a charioteer in hastinapur. " Said bhagi.

" A. SUT!! How dare you enter my house. Leave
Immediately, weaponry is for kshatriya and Brahmin only. Go and work with your father in cleaning stables and riding a chariot. Go away I won't be your teacher", roared dron as he stood up.

" But... B... " Stuttered bhagi.

" LEAVE NOW!!", shouted dron.

" Ji" bowed bhagu and started to leave.

As she was leaving she turned around and said " guru dron, I promise you. I'll be the best in entire aryavart. Despite being a sut I promise you, whole aryavart will see the flood of change when a sut will raise a weapon and guide them . I promise you. Panipat."

And she left . As she was leaving she thought " sorry maata , and Anuj i couldn't say bye. I promise I'll come back to you Maata! "

She left the village.

After hearing anger of dron both kripi and ashwatthama came out.
" Where is my putri? "
" Wher is jiji? "

" Jiji?! , So she was a girl. A girl, that too sut wanting to learn weapons. What a joke!! . She's not your putri kripi and nor your jiji aswatthama, forget her and focus on shifting. We'll leave for hastinapur first thing in the morning " said dron as he went to sleep.

" Mata, jiji ? " , Asked aswatthama as tears welled in his eyes.

" Don't worry, i know she'll come back." Said kripi as she looked outside.

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Thank you so much for reading ❤️. I hope you enjoy the story. 🙏🏻