I boarded the train from Delhi to go to Himalayas. I entered my coupe in First Ac apprehensive about my co passenger.

After all though have had several experiences of travelling alone willingly or otherwise yet each time the apprehensions were always there just below the surface waiting to break in. he coupe was empty. It was nearing time for the train to depart and hence the other passenger should be arriving sometime soon. I purchased a copy of my favorite !omen"s #aga$ine and settled down near the !indow. After about couple of minutes another woman entered the coupe. %he looked very different from the so called &conventional woman'. all( %tately and carrying herself with a )ait that would border on Arrogance. *et her manners were impeccable. %he did wish me &A )ood +vening' as she was entering the coupe. Her thick long hair could be envy of any woman. ,ike me even she was travelling light. It was good though a bit apprehensive to have such a companion in the train. %he began the conversation asking me if I travelled alone fre-uently. !ell I said both *es and .o. I have travelled alone on a few occasions( yet never out of choice. %he looked at me deeply as though measuring me for my words and said well we women have to bear with all sort of travails. hen she asked me where my spouse was. his was the moment I was afraid of. How could I tell her that I had been humiliated by my spouse grossly. hence I had left him and chosen to walk away. here was no way I could lie. %o I merely ignored the -uestion( to be answered maybe at an opportune moment i.e.( once I knew this person better. It was a sufficiently long journey to familiari$e with each other. I asked her where she was going. %he just coolly said the final abode. And she was travelling alone as she too had sinned. .ow I knew her from periodicals that she was Draupadi./anchali the wife to Five Husbands. I asked her about her sin as she was so forthcoming about it. %he said that )ods have condemned her of the sin that she loved Arjun more than her other Four Husbands. Hence she had fallen from the grace of )od. %he was much agitated about the issue and asked me' 0ould I i.e. %ita( as another woman say how and why does a woman love one more than others. Is there must be a reason for a woman to love( to love more( to love less. An emotion borne out of logic can be anything but ,ove'. I said &I agree. ,ove is spontaneous. It is just a Flower of life. It blossoms unexpectedly. It is to be enjoyed and not analy$ed. Analy$ing it as a cause1effect relationship is demeaning love' %he said &!ell she fell in love with Arjun( at the %wayamvar itself. His resoluteness and conviction did cast a spell on her. He had won her by shooting the 2ird in its eye. he other brothers were mere beneficiaries of their mother"s blind wishes. %uddenly I could not stop my self. I asked what made her abide such strange &%3))+% I4.1DI0 A ' of her mother in law. %he said I had seen and gauged each of the five brothers as incomplete individuals. hough each was a great person yet

-uite incomplete. 4ne was good in intellect or Dharma yet .a5ve and impulsive. he second was only brawn no brains. Arjun the warrior her favorite too was devoid of much intellect. .akul was extremely pretty and little else( whereas %ahadev was an Intellectual yet not a man of action. %o when my #other in law"s strange wish dawned on me( I did not revolt( but was exulted by it. Felt triumphant that I would have the attention of Five such exceptional persons and in %um companionship of 4.+ 04#/,+ + #A.. %he told me well I do recogni$e you too. *ou are %ita the eternal victim. *ou have been the &unwilling yet 0hosen' victim of the war where as I i.e.( Draupadi was the provocateur of the war. *ou the %ita suffered silently( I Draupadi did not take the Humiliations lying down. #y long 3ntied resses were the provocateur of the #AHA2HA6A . I actively sought revenge to assuage my heart. *ou have suffered much greater injustices yet did not seek revenge. I suffered at the hands of enemies. he cause of your misery was largely your Husband. hough you were a 7ueen had very little time to enjoy it. Fourteen years of exile with 6am as a conse-uence of a Foolish #aid servant"s scheming was certainly not befitting of any 6oyalty. he 8ing who could not see through such scheming and surrender to it did not deserve to be a king. And again 6am did gain by that exile.He became famous as a warrior and benevolent by giving away the kingdom after defeating 6avan. 2ut what did I as %ita gain out of it. I was not necessarily re-uired to leave the /alace. *et I did to serve 6am. And what did I get in return. .4 gratitude(non what so ever. I was kidnapped by 6avan and held captive for nearly one year. his captivity was not as humiliating as the release. 0aptivity was of an +x %uitor( who having failed in his pursuits( had found an excuse and an opportunity and had made the best of it. *et he did not assault me physically or otherwise. he Humiliation that I had to face on 6elease was much bigger ragedy then the captivity. #y husband who was supposed to be an Icon of 9ustice doubted my 0hastity and wished an Agni /ariksha for me. 0an any Agni /ariksha be more convincing then the %ixth %ense: It was worse then the turpitude I had to suffer in the Hands of 6avan. hen again a second exile because of an intemperate washer man"s diatribe was the final nail on the coffin of the relationship. I had conceived after more then ;< years. *et my Husband to magnify his own greatness more or less divorced me. He was given to a false 8shatriya /ride( wherein women did not have an identity of their own. hey remained a subset of their spouse and their wishes and desires did not have any significance. .ow it was getting late and we went off to our respective 2erths to catch a sleep. Draupadi seemed to be falling asleep in no time. hough the sleep eluded me. I was wide awake. his dialogue had sensiti$ed me and made my memory bristle with thorns. !as a wife a prisoner to her husband: Did she have an existence outside her husband and family: .o( I did the right thing by walking out of his life and make him feel that I did ultimately had the right to live or leave according to my wishes. He was a glorified /urushottam.I do not believe that he was an Icon for a husband.

And then again what did I think of Draupadi. Here she was 2old( /ro active a /rovocateur. Her resses launched a thousand arrows. he more I thought of her( more she looked Iconic. An Icon of e-uality. %he was all that I could not even dare to. I wondered had our lives been reversed how she would have lived my life. As I chose to leave Ayodhya maybe she too would have followed the suit. *et for 6avana to kidnap her would have been a much more difficult task. /robably she would have accompanied ,akshaman to look for 6am and not sit comfortably in the cottage. #ost important of all the Agni /ariksha( well that I am sure she would had never condescended to . %he may had left 6am then and there or made him look like those fools who appeared dumb when she argued in the 0ourt of 8auravas during and after her &0heer Haran'. .o one could speak a word. *udhisthir was the worst example of a Husband at that moment. %he chastised him in the worst possible words. %he challenged his right to place her as a bet. %he was not his chattel. %imilarly she would have chastised 6am and made him apologies and1or would had Divorced him( instead of waiting and giving 6am an opportunity to Divorce her. %he was the first feminist. It was impossible to disrobe her. ,ord 8rishna was only a ruse= it was her inner strength that was paramount. %he was indeed &A).I )A62HA' born out of the womb of FI6+. !hereas I %ita was born of &+arth'the bearer of untold cruelties. rue to %hiva"s boon she was indeed a befitting wife to Five Husbands. he distinction between the two wombs i.e. &Fire' and the &+arth' explain the difference between #+ and Draupadi. .ow both of us have left our %/43%+% with our heads held high( and we go back to our origins to complete the circle. !ith this comforting thought I was able to close my eyes and pass away into the .+>+6,A.D.