SITA’S SISTER (38 page)

She heard rather than saw Bharat coming through the palace gates. Urmila frowned. Bharat had not shown his face since the last thirteen years; he had not even attended the puja on Ram’s birth anniversary that many years ago. Though that ritual had continued each year, Bharat was missed each time. He had said he would only return to Ayodhya with Ram. Whatever had made Bharat turn down his resolution to hurry up from Nandigram must be sufficiently urgent. She instinctively placed her brush down. He had headed straight to Kausalya’s chambers, she guessed correctly, where the three queens would be together. Urmila was still not sure whether Bharat knew about his mother’s misrepresentation—so painfully altruistic. She had assumed Shatrughna had revealed the truth to his brother as he met him every single day to keep him informed about the daily court matters. Surely he must have discussed such crucial news with him.

Urmila almost rushed into the room: she had not realized she had been running, her breath coming in short gasps. Bharat looked relieved to see her. She was meeting him after a span of more than a decade. He was painfully emaciated; his face appeared narrower. One look at him and Urmila knew something was terribly wrong.

‘I have called for the others too…’ he started.

Urmila looked around the heavily curtained chamber of Kausalya. The old queen was sitting upright in her lounge chair. The last thirteen years had especially not been too kind to her. Her hair had gone completely grey but was still thick, puffing up the silver crown as a heavy bouffant. Her face was wreathed in wrinkles, her skin clear and transparent like a dried parchment, her eyes dull, lighting up only at the mention of Ram. With her were Sumitra and Kaikeyi. As if by an inner cue, her two sisters entered the room, along with Shatrughna.

‘What is it, Bharat?’ asked Urmila impatiently. ‘It has to be urgent or you would not be here.’

‘I got to know from my spies just today that Sita has been kidnapped from their hut at Panchavati,’ began Bharat, failing to mince words. The words hit hard.

Urmila froze, the room slowly spinning around her. How could Sita come to any harm with Ram and Lakshman around? It was all amiss; it could not happen.

‘Both Ram and Lakshman were not at the hut—they had gone to chase a deer when Ravan, in the guise of a brahmin, snatched her away as she was giving him dakshina and took her to Lanka in his aerial chariot Pushpak,’ explained Bharat, his words coming in short starts. ‘Old Jatayu, the king of the eagles, and the protector of the three at Panchavati, tried hard to save her but was fatally wounded. Before dying, he managed to let Ram and Lakshman know that it had been Ravan who took Sita away in his flying chariot and showed them the direction in which he went. Ravan has her imprisoned there in the Ashok garden. Ram and Lakshman are presently taking the help of Sugriva, the vanar king of Kishkindha and his associate Hanuman. They intend to attack Lanka with the help of the vanara army.’

There was a brief, shocked silence, each assimilating the news with disbelief and alarm. ‘When did this happen?’ asked Sumitra, her voice steady.

‘In the summer,’ replied Bharat. ‘But we got to know only now. My informants knew they were at Panchavati but they lost trace of them when Ram and Lakshman were moving all through the jungles searching for Sita. It was much later that our spies got to know that Sita had been kidnapped,’ he added, the agitation evident on his worried face.

‘Should we not send our army too to help Ram?’ said Shatrughna. ‘If he is taking assistance from the vanara army, clearly he could do with more support.’

‘No,’ Bharat shook his head. ‘If he needed so, Ram would have sent us a message and since he has not for all these months, it means he has a certain plan which does not include us or the army of Kosala. No, we can do nothing but wait. And pray.’

‘How did it happen, Bharat?’ interrupted Urmila, abruptly cutting short the brothers’ discussion. Her thoughts were bewildered, her emotions in a turmoil, ‘How could anyone dare snatch Sita away with Ram and Lakshman with her? Lakshman used to watch over them even at night so how is that she was abducted in broad daylight?’

Bharat did not answer immediately, searching for words. ‘It is a long story,’ he started slowly. ‘It seems Sita caught sight of a silver-spotted golden deer near the hut and begged Ram to fetch it…’

‘A golden deer!’ exclaimed Urmila. ‘But there are no silver-spotted golden deers! There is no such animal!’

‘Exactly. It was part of the subterfuge. The deer was Mareecha the magician and Ravan’s uncle,’ said Bharat. ‘Ram obliged Sita’s wish and told Lakshman to remain at the hut till he returned with the deer. Ram chased the deer far into the woods and eventually killed it but before dying, the deer let out a human cry, and in the voice of Ram, screamed out for Sita and Lakshman. Hearing that cry, Sita assumed Ram was in danger and ordered Lakshman to go to his aid. Reluctantly, he left, and Ravan, disguised as a brahmin, having orchestrated this whole scheme, abducted the unprotected Sita in his chariot.’

Again there was a silence, the impact of his words resounding silently within the walls of the room. Urmila found the story too bizarre to believe.

‘But why did Soumitra leave her alone in the hut?’ asked Kausalya angrily. ‘He should have known better! Ram had told him to stay put and look after Sita. Why did he not heed his brother’s orders? That was irresponsible and careless of him!’

Urmila flushed, hurt to the quick at the accusation. She bit her lip to stop an angry retort.

‘No, Mother, Lakshman would never do that; he would have died protecting Sita,’ said Bharat sharply. ‘He would never disobey Ram’s orders nor would he have left Sita unprotected. Never! The fact that he did means this was all a clever trick, you cannot blame anyone.’

‘But how did Ravan get to know of them in the forest?’ asked Mandavi puzzled. ‘He is the king of Lanka but what was he doing at Panchavati in the Dandaka forest?’

‘That is another story,’ narrated Bharat. ‘For the past thirteen years in the Dandaka, Ram and Lakshman have been eliminating the demons who had been harassing the rishis during meditation and disrupting their yagna. The rakshas often killed these helpless rishis following the orders of Ravan’s brothers Khara and Dushan, stationed at Janasthan, near Panchavati, who had started this terror in the forest. One day their sister Surpanakha caught sight of Ram and fell in love with him and asked him to marry him. Ram refused, explaining he was married to Sita. She turned her attention to Lakshman,’ paused Bharat, throwing Urmila a look of acute embarrassment. Urmila looked thoughtful, not experiencing the stab of jealousy that would have otherwise left her in agony. She recalled her jealous tantrum the day before their wedding: she was not that girl anymore. Jealousy, she knew, always existed with desire. But it ceased to exist if there was trust. She had implicit faith in Lakshman.

Bharat continued with a red face. ‘She went up to him and begged Lakshman to marry her. He, too, politely refused. Spurned twice, the furious Surpanakha saw Sita as the deterrent in her way, and attempted to attack her. But Lakshman was quick, he snatched his sword and sliced off her nose…’

Urmila could not stop her gasp of horror—a woman trying to seduce her husband did not shock her as much as his violence.

Seeing her blanched face, Bharat gently reminded her, ‘Remember she was a demon, Urmila, and she was going to attack Sita. Ram killed Taraka, Lakshman mutilated Surpanakha’s face—they were acts of self-defence, not violence or disrespect. You will soon realize how this woman was solely responsible for Sita’s abduction,’ he added and continued, ‘More humiliated than hurt, Surpanakha ran to her brothers and sought revenge. The two brothers, as she had expected and wanted, charged with their army but were soon all killed by Ram. Defeated, Surpanakha fled to Lanka to her oldest brother Ravan and demanded he avenge her humiliation by the two brothers. Ravan swore to kill them but when he realized that they had managed to annihilate his brothers and their huge army at Janasthan, he knew he would have to use intrigue to humble Ram and Lakshman—through Sita. That is how he worked out that plan with his uncle Mareecha, who well knew of Ram’s prowess. He was the same demon who had dared to disturb Vishwamitra’s ashram where Ram and Lakshman had killed his mother Taraka and his brother Subahu so many years ago.’

Urmila heard the narration with a turbulence of emotions rising within her—panic, dread and undiluted rage.

‘And it is in this beastly world that my sister went and none of us stopped her,’ she said harshly. She turned to Kausalya. ‘You accused Lakshman of negligence, and the world too soon will follow and damn him for the same. But why was Sita allowed to go to this demon-infested forest? As her mother-in-law, as the mother who would look after her daughter, how did you allow it?’ she cried, the swamping waves of fear breaking into fury. ‘You cried for Ram but did you not think of this intrepid, young girl who readily agreed to accompany her husband into the worst of all dangers? I recall Ram dissuading her, pleading with her not to go with him. If you, too, had put in a word, it might have stopped her. But you were more devastated that Ram was leaving for the forest!’ her voice grew icicles. ‘The fact that Sita was with him, made you feel better that there was someone to look after him. She was the ideal, doting wife who was practising her dharma of following her husband, never mind the danger she would be vulnerable to. But, Mother, it was she who needed to be looked after—not Ram or Lakshman. They are warriors, not Sita!’

Urmila was beside herself with worry, the fear and anxiety rising up in her throat, choking her. She carried on, the anguished fear stark in her voice. ‘Lakshman had warned me that the forest was not a safe place for anyone and especially women and it was not his chauvinism speaking. I saw that crazed worry in his eyes—that anxiety for those you love. But didn’t any of you see that risk for Sita? She was just a girl in love, a bride, who was vehement about going with her husband. You are our elders whose mere word of caution can become a command, why didn’t any of you stop her? Oh why didn’t
I
stop her? I could have, I should have!’ she berated herself harshly.

Mandavi had never seen Urmila in such a state; she was almost berserk, her overwhelming worry for Sita and the mounting fear anticipating more misfortune stark in her stricken eyes. She held her cousin’s trembling hands; they were ice cold. ‘Calm down, Urmi. Why are you feeling guilty?’ she implored. ‘However much had you pleaded with her, Sita would not have listened to you. You know how adamant she can get. It was not your ignorance or lack of intervention.’

‘Then whose was it?’ demanded Urmila, implacable, not to be appeased. She continued to address Kausalya. ‘Just as Ram and Lakshman were inseparable, so were we, mother! Then why was I not allowed to go with her?’ she was shaking, whether in frustration or fury, Mandavi was not sure. ‘I have heard of how Lakshman, as a baby, used to cry when he was taken away from Ram and that’s why their cradles were always placed close to each other’s. So were ours, mother! I do not recall a moment without Sita; we were soulmates, not just sisters. It is my fault—I should have been more firm! Either I shouldn’t have allowed her to go or should have gone myself. But I was too selfish, I was deep in my own sorrow and I never thought about my sister’s wellbeing. All of us did that!’ she said, her eyes flashing. ‘We were so involved with our personal grief that we never realized how unsafe it would be for Sita. What must be she going through now?’ she swallowed convulsively.

The raw apprehension in her voice frightened Mandavi too. Urmila, standing cold and shaking, next to her, seemed close to a breakdown. ‘Who is there for her? Sita, alone, terrified, defenceless, at the mercy of that monster!’ she raged, the image of Ravan, firing her with a new terror. ‘Who will protect her against him? It has been six months since we got to know of this, how long is she to wait? She hopes with all her will, her faith and her love that Ram will rescue her, but when? Will she sustain till then? Will her will break eventually? What if she does something drastic to herself…tries to kill herself…we’ll never know! Oh, help her, please!’

Her panic was contagious. Her sisters were watching her with horror and alarm, helpless and deprived of their strength and power. Urmila had always been their support but the sight of her floundering in despair, paralysed them with the same fear. It was upto Sumitra who placed a firm, gentle hand on Urmila’s slight, shaking shoulders. ‘Calm down, Urmila. Don’t be so hard on yourself, or on the others. None of us could have stopped her. Ram tried, didn’t he? If she did not heed his words, she would not have listened to any of us here too. Nor you either.’

‘Urmi, you well know if Sita makes up her mind, nothing can move her!’ added Mandavi, pleading with her.

Urmila was too distraught to be moved by entreaty but even in her overwrought state, Urmila slowly realized what her sister and her mother-in-law were saying was true.

‘I should have been with her. I could have looked after her when the men were away…’ she said hollowly in an undimensional voice.

‘No. You would have been equally vulnerable,’ refuted Sumitra. ‘This was a wicked plan and everyone got fooled. Or how would the sensible, rational Ram go chasing a golden deer? You are right, Urmila, it is a fantastic notion—a silver-spotted golden deer does not exist, but yet Sita desired it. Again, this is so against their nature. And what could poor Soumitra have done—he must have been torn between his brother’s orders and his sister-in-law’s wild pleadings to help his brother whom she believed was in danger. It is all so grotesquely odd as if everyone had lost their minds and good sense to chase the absurd. No, dear, this was to be!’

‘No, we brought it upon ourselves! We should have just let the men go. Sita should not have been there at all!’ cried Urmila fiercely.

She turned wildly to Kaikeyi, sitting silently, all the while. ‘You know better, Ma! Was Sita a part of that prediction? It was to be Ram’s mission, not Sita’s trial!’ she cried. ‘Was she to be made a victim? Why was she dragged into this madness, this nightmare which just does not seem to end!’