"Children, Mahabharata is the story of the fight between dharma and adharma. It gives us very important values in life and teaches us many lessons. Each character through their experience teaches us how to lead our life. Remember, all these characters exist in ourselves. We must learn to understand the real message that Sage Vyasa wanted to convey." said Mrs Rita to her sixth-grade class.

Some of the students eagerly nodded in agreement. Even if they did not find most of the lessons interesting, these History lessons were close to their heart.

"The solution to almost every problem imaginable can be found in this great epic." the teacher continued. "Every character pays for their deeds. It also teaches us that even small insignificant events can lead to destruction. Karna's situation teaches us that we must not let friendship blind us and lead to our destruction. We must stay away from evil and not let it influence us. We must follow the example of the Pandavas and follow dharma."

A few of the students nodded again. But Nivitha begged to differ. She often felt that all of their deeds had reasons and circumstances are what makes one follow adharma.

Mrs Rita was a tall, thin woman who always wore a saree with beautiful patterns. Her hair was dark and long till her waist, often plaited. She wore a pair of glasses and taught the class with a smile. Her students loved her classes, because, while teaching history, she would relate the incidents to known stories and real-life lessons and teach them in such a way they'd all listen with great interest.

"Rita Ma'am, may I ask a doubt?" called the voice of Shivni.

"Yes, Shivni," said Mrs Rita.

"Ma'am, you had said that Mahabharata had occurred after the Aryan invasion, but when and how exactly did it happen? And what was the condition of south India at that time?"

"That's a very good question, Shivni. Kuru dynasty established their rule almost at 1200 BC. They were rulers during the period of the Iron age. They were part of the Janapadas and Mahajanapadas. With the rise of sixteen Mahajanapadas, most of the states were by more powerful neighbours, although some remained independent. The Kuru kingdom was the first state-level society of the Vedic period, corresponding to the beginning of the Iron Age in northwestern India, around 1200-800 BCE, as well as with the composition of the Atharvaveda. The Kuru state organised the Vedic hymns into collections and developed the orthodox srauta ritual to uphold the social order. When the Kuru kingdom declined, the centre of Vedic culture shifted to their eastern neighbours, the Panchala kingdom. So Mahabharat took place during this period. In south India, mainly at present Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Pandyas, Cheras and Cholas were the rulers about whom you will learn in following classes." said Mrs Rita.

"Ma'am, so does that mean the kingdoms we have read about in Mahabharata actually existed in history and are the Mahajanapadas and Janapadas?" asked Gopal.

"Yes, Gopal." answered the teacher.

"Then why aren't the things mentioned in Mahabharata mentioned in our history textbook and vice-versa?" asked Nivitha.

"That's because the ones who collected the information are different, Nivitha. The epic was said to be written by Vyasa and the things mentioned in history textbooks were recorded by historians based on their research. The versions of Mahabharat you see now, may not be exactly what Vyasa wrote. All these were discovered by historians after the periods and as the point of view differ, the things mentioned differ too." said Mrs Rita.

Nivitha agreed with her. She wondered whether the whole history would be different if it were written by some other people. She wondered whether the whole Mahabharata would be different if it were written in Duryodhana's or Karna's or Arjuna's or Krishna's point of view.

"What about England?" asked Sathvik.

"Recent genetic studies have suggested that Britain's Neolithic population was largely replaced by a population from North Continental Europe characterised by the Bell Beaker culture around 1200 BC, associated with the Yamnaya people from the Pontic-Caspian Steppe. This population lacked genetic affinity to other Bell Beaker populations, such as the Iberian Bell Beakers, but appeared to be an offshoot of the single grave people. It is currently unknown whether these Beaker peoples went on to develop Celtic languages, or whether later Celtic migrations introduced Celtic languages to Britain." said Mrs Rita and Sathvik nodded in agreement.

"Ok. Now that that is cleared, I want you all to get out your history books, turn to page fifty-four and read the chapter 'Kingdoms, Kings and Early Republics' quietly to yourselves," Mrs Rita instructed.

"Ma'am why aren't any of the South Indian states given in the map in pg: 57?" asked Gopal.

"There weren't any important mahajanapadas there," replied Mrs Rita.

"For homework," Mrs Rita said, "you are to read a summary of Mahabharat and research on the mahajanapadas and write a paper on it." Mrs Rita went to her desk, and the students began working on their assignment with the little class time remaining.

So that's the end of the first chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. If you have any suggestions or questions or comments feel free to tell them. Thank you.