"Mamma, can we go by train?" Rupa's elder one, Advika, asked. "We never travel by train," the 13-year-old pleaded.
"You will get bored," Rupa responded mechanically as she checked the flight cost and availability to Chennai from Delhi in December.
Rupa's younger son Vivek looked up from his book and said, "Mamma will get bored, she means."
It was the first thing she reached out for in the morning. No, that's not accurate. She did reach out for the health faucet, the toothbrush, the tap etc. first thing before she entered the kitchen. But on entering the kitchen... ok, that was the third thing. But it was part of the kitchen routine and the first set of things. The milk cooker, the milk packet and the scissors. It was such a silly thing to think about, but those scissors were always associated with the milk packet. Though she cut coriander with that and other grocery items that came packed in plastic covers, still, its primary and daily duty was to cut the milk packet.
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It was a draw and we couldn't continue like this. The war council sat glumly pondering on how to break out of this impasse. The king burst out with frustration, "If only we knew what rejuvenates them!"
I looked at him puzzled, only vaguely remembering that he had mentioned this before but not the details.
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Mother Earth, Shakti, made me sit in front of the Sacred Shell. She removed the platinum ring and placed it on my head with a chant under her breath. I felt transformed, energised. Something of the red aura of the Dait king the ring had absorbed in Mars started flowing through me, for I felt a sort of strength that I had never experienced before. Shakti continued without letting on whether she had noticed the change.
The Story So Far: The battle is not always fought on the battlefield. The mind matters. Should you be strong and unbending? Or just let go? Finding my unique power had not been enough to ward off the Daits when they attacked earth. What can?
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I had hoped for peace. I had hoped that when he saw his son was safe even when he was vulnerable and unattended, the Dait King would have had a change of heart and would have withdrawn. I had hoped we could be friends, for Prince Ajat and the Dait Prince were deeply interwoven in my mind and I could not love one and hate the other.
The Story So Far: The battle is not always fought in the battlefield. The mind matters. Should you be strong and unbending? Or just let go?
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I was given a hero's welcome by the soldiers resting in the camp set up in the palace grounds. The Rajguru rushed forward and embraced me with warmth and love. "Remarkable!" he mumbled. "You have really given us a shot in the arm. Your parents are anxious. Meet them first and then we will visit the sanctum sanctorum. There is something you can do which will end this menace forever," he whispered.
