-"Never say Never"-

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Song : Har Har Gange..

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Dwapar yuga
Tritheya , Dharmasthali
A year later

It was a regular morning, warm sunlight hitting every little surface, igniting the bright side of the day. A new day sprouting out of the darkness, with sun rising from the horizon.

Along with the sun , there rose the ever glorious son of Suryadev- Karna from the wave foldings of Alakananda .

|| ॐ आदित्याय विदमहे दिवाकराय धीमहि तन्न: सूर्य: प्रचोदयात ||
The chant rang in his mind

The 5 year old's radiance could charm anyone , the kind and innocent smile projecting his dimples , a fair complexion that matched the sun rays , the blazing golden eyes and ever enchanting brilliance of this boy can make anyone's day better.

Karna offered his respect to the Sun god and clasped his hands in reverence, the sun god blessed him with his gentle and warm rays.
Many saints and priests at the river bank near the temple witnessed this daily occurance , it was divine. Many believed Karna to be the favourite devotee of the Sun god. As the nurturing father was always benevolent with his blessings, when it came to Karna.

Karna, the adherent devotee of Lord Shiva and Suryanarayana, swam to the depth of Alakananda and reached the shivaling that was drowned to the bottom of the river. He composed himself on the river bed with crossed legs and closed eyes, immersing in his daily meditation.

Yesterday Karna has asked his teacher a question,
If destiny was something
pre-determined then what are the possible effects our actions could bring on it?
For Karna , it was a very simple question that he stumbled upon during one of his meditations, yet the Pandit has given him an all knowing smile and has answered it after few moments of thought.

" Karna , every being has a purpose- 'pre-determined' if that's what you want to call it , but more accurately saying, - one's destiny is defined by one's own actions, with the situations provided to us we will possibly have a very few choices , important choices . And out of these choices , what we choose according to our morals, mentality and righteousness could be influenced by factors like society, people and expectations. yet the one who can see past this influences and could make the right choice will unfold his destiny more clearly and so, one's destiny is always upto him/her to an extend.
Pandit Bhaskara has told him.

So who determines the 'right choice' Gurudeva ?! A choice can be right according to me and wrong according to someone else, it's upto the eyes and not upto the sight , isn't it?!
So what makes something right and the other wrong"
Rama translated Karna's gestures to their teacher.

"Well , just remember that , whenever you make a choice, make sure nobody is intentionally hurt without their own fault . No innocent soul shall be hurt due to our decisions and actions."
Their teacher replied .

Karna was in his thoughts about this conversation, immersed in his deep meditation; he lost the track of time he has spent under water without breathing. He was adamant on his chant.. feeling a heat rise inside him he realised that he has been fine under water for way too long.

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He slowly rose from the waters of Alakananda to the surface and it was past the 3rd prahar of the day. He had already missed his first class ,
'how irresponsible!' he scolded himself.

Vaikarthana!
It was unmistakably Sage Paraha's voice.
He turned around to meet the paternal gaze of his Gurudeva. He is now sure that he was up for a scolding and lecturing session right after.
He climbed out of the water and wrapped an angavastram (an upper cloth garment) around him. And immediately caught both of his ears in a gesture that indicated 'sorry'. With that puppy eyes and cute dimples anyone would fall infront of that apology .
But Paraha has been immune to that over the years.

Why are you here yet?
Shouldn't you be at the temple premise for your morning session of Sanskrit?!
Paraha raised an eyebrow.

'I lost track of time , under water; sorry , will never repeat again.'
Karna gestured .

Well , to never repeat again , you gotta remember this incident forever!
So do one thing , go near the wall and stand facing it till noon , and don't turn around or do anything else , if I got to know you broke the rule , this punishment will continue till evening. Never miss your classes again. Now off you go..
Paraha said.

No matter how good of a teacher and a guide he is , the sage was strict when it came to Karna. Paraha was patient with little Karna's inexhaustible curiosity and would answer all his questions irrespective of time . But no mistakes from karna were gone unpunished so as to not have him repeat the same again.But new mistakes were always welcomed with new punishments.
And Karna knew it.

So he stood facing the wall near the river bank till noon . 'Now I missed all my classes. Nice!' he thought.
Thankfully the sun was easy on him.
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Karna.. karna..!!
It was Rama , who was in search of his friend . The classes were done for the day and Karna haven't attended any of them , and that was so unlike him.
Rama was worried for his friend, as his mute friend was nowhere to be found.
After their classes they both roamed around the locality and eventually will wander off to the forest in their free time. And Karna loved it to no extent, so he would never miss it.

Karna!!...
Rama called out again. This time he heard the sound of a clap.
It was Karna for sure.

Rama always wondered why his friend wouldn't talk ; Once Sage Paraha had taken Karna to a Vaidya , to find the reason behind Karna's silence. He found nothing profound , but the healer suggested that it might be induced by a trauma or precisely due to a sudden hit on his head and the consequential shock from it . So Rama decided to be his friend's aid , and he will always do it till his friend want him to.
He followed the clap sound to the river bank and saw Karna standing attached to the wall.

What are you doing there? This could be misunderstood heavily for something naughty , Karna!!
Rama cried , loud enough to cover the distance between them , the mischief in his tone so profound. Karna just turned his head around to give him a glare.Rama giggled .
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Tritheya ,
Streets of Dharmasthali
After noon

Both the boys were prancing carelessly through the streets of Dharmasthali after their lunch , when they came across an old man who had his chariot wheel stuck in between rocks that made the pathway of the ally.
Karna immediately went to help and Rama tagged along.
They together got the wheel out , but there were few maintenance that was necessary for the chariot to move further.
Karna and Rama asked for help from few , they weren't helpful as they didn't know how to fix a chariot. Now the old man will have to take the chariot to the Sutasamaj (colony of Suta ) to get it fixed , which is far enough from here for the old man to be troubled.
As they sat there , they heard someone.

Do you need some help regarding this chariot , it's wheel seem broken , my father could fix it .
A girl , who looked just as old as them offered help, and her speech had an adorable lisp. Karna smiled gently at her , and bowed to her inorder to convey his gratitude, which went unnoticed.

Thankyou very much, where can we find your father, is he here around?! If so ,can you guide us to him?
Rama asked politely.

Sure , he is just across this ally . And,
I am Vrishali; what is your name?!
Vrishali added cheerfully.

I am Rama and this is my friend Karna . We live here around.
Rama said. Vrishali looked at Karna and genuinely smiled at the radiant boy, but he instead didn't returned her smile .

when he noticed her blue cerulean orbs and charming smile something flashed in his memory. Like he knew her , like she was someone special. Her eyes held a wild storm and the untamed aura attracted him like gravity.
But he didn't expressed his inner turmoils ; instead, just stared at her intensely , for longer than necessary. His heart threatened to escape from his rib cage. His breathing grew heavier . Everything else faded out of his vision and no noise dared to disturbe the divine Vaikarthana.

Karna..
Rama's voice faded into his ears , when he felt his friend's hands on his shoulder, jolting him out of some trance . That's when he realised he has been staring at her intently, he immediately averted his gaze to the ground. His cheeks flushed for some unknown reason, his pale skin gaining lite shades of crimson . He felt an unusual fluttering in his heart. His eyes welled up without his concent. His breathing went uneven and rasp, he felt restless.. he got up and walked away from them to not embarrass himself further infront of Vrishali.

Vrishali..
His mind chanted. His lips traced those words , it made no sound but those words slipped through his lips easily , he did something he never even tried before - to utter something.

Vrishali was dumbfounded, she smiled at him and the boy named Karna just stared at her intimidatingly without uttering a word,
what was wrong with that boy , he is acting like a freak.
Vrishali's first impression on Karna went down the hill pretty easily. She frowned looking at the leaving figure of the boy named Karna.

I apologise behalf of my friend Kumari , he cannot speak , so he might have gotten nervous or something. Sorry.. but it would be great if you would like to help this uncle out of this situation.
Rama diverted the topic in the tensed atmosphere to not bring an unwanted stress on both his friend and the girl.
Vrishali's frown cleared and she smiled at Rama ;

It's okay , I understand. I will bring my father here.
Saying so , Vrishali asked permission from the elderly man and took off to find her father.
'Rama is polite , but the boy Karna, seems so arrogant. What an attitude!'
Vrishali's monologue went on about the mysterious boy who dared to ignore her.
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How dumb , how dumb , dumb , stupid, idiot , now how am I gonna face her...
Karna kept on cursing himself for behaving like a weirdo.
He then decided to go and apologise to her for his behaviour.
While he was walking back , he saw Rama in a distance , probably looking for him. Karna walked past the crowd once again to reach Rama , and he saw a man in his early 30's fixing the old man's chariot , Karna assumed it to be Vrishali's father.

Haa.. where were you ?! It was rude to just walk away while someone smile at you Karna!
Rama complained, the last part like a whisper.
Karna gestured an apology with a smile.
I think you should probably apologize to her , rather than me.
Rama added.
Karna nodded and walked upto her.
Suddenly Vrishali turned around with a fierce offended gaze , and that's it , the apology he prepared on the way , just deformed into a huge lump in Karna's throat that he swallowed heavily. Sweat embedded on his forehead and his palms became wet. He rubbed them on his dhoti on both sides and held his ears with those palms. A nervous smile crept over his features.

Vrishali's frown started melting into a calm demeanor, as she nodded at him.
Karna turned to the man fixing the chariot, and then at Rama.

That is Sathyasena Mahodaya , he is Vrishali's father. He volunteered to help.
Rama informed with a smile.
Karna joined his hands and expressed his gratitude. Sathyasena looked at Karna then shifted his focus to Rama , his face mirroring his confusion.

This is Karna, Rama's friend . He is mute so Rama helps him with the talking .
Vrishali stated, still not so pleasent with Karna.
Karna gave a not so genuine smile to Sathyasena . He was mute for sure , but he didn't really liked it when people called him 'mute'.

Vrishali...
Sathyasena warned his daughter to keep her tone in check.

Vrishali was lovely to the one she liked , and absolute menace to the one she disliked , and Sathyasena deduced that Vrishali wasn't so fond of Karna , instead she didn't liked the boy.

But Sathyasena found the boy to be really polite and respectful. Karna sat near Sathyasena while he worked on the chariot , to learn something about the work. And Sathyasena obliged to teach him what he was doing as he noticed the boy to be intrested in his work.
Karna was smart and quick on picking up small details. And he learned everything so fast , almost instantly as he was taught. Sathyasena was impressed, that at this age , the boy was so matured and intelligent. As Sathyasena praised Karna for that , Vrishali grew grumpier. Rama stifled a giggle at that.

Thankyou so much children, without your help , it would have been such a trouble for me.
The old man blessed all 4 of them before leaving. Karna and Rama thanked Sathyasena and Vrishali for the help . And the boys seeked his blessings as well. Vrishali's father was pleased with the boys and blessed them wholeheartedly.

Will you play with me tomorrow, I don't have many friends here, we recently shifted to Dharmasthali from the east.
Vrishali asked Rama.
Rama looked at both Sathyasena and Karna, upon seeing them smiling , he obliged.
Why not?! Let's meet by the Banyan tree near the Vaikarthana temple after lunch. All 3 can play there in the evening.
Rama said.

Sure.
Vrishali agreed.

Seems like you made some friends here.
Sathyasena said smiling to his daughter .
Take care children , we shall leave for now .
He said addressing Karna and Rama.
They both nodded their head in respect.
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Dusk was nearing , Rama's father was the priest at the Vaikarthana temple in Dharmasthali, and little Rama always tagged along with his father to the evening Pooja (worship) in the temple. And that was the end of the play time for both the boys. Karna would go for his Suryapuja and would return to revise the day's lessons with Paraha.

That day, as usual Rama went with his father. And Karna after his Suryapuja, sat at the banks of Alakananda watching her , as she rushed down the ranges to join with Bhagirathi to form river Ganga at the southern east of Tritheya. The sight was beautiful , clean water cascading down the mountain is as refreshing as a dewdrop gliding down the grass blade. Cool and gentle evening breeze caressed his skin leaving traces of goosebumps on him. Water sprayed constantly on the banks from the raging waves keeping them moist. He closed his eyes to feel her rhythm.
Waves splashing themselves on the hard rocks to loose themselves in the same river. Breeze carrying the moist and chillness of Alaknanda along with it to spread it far and wide . Temple bells rang in their own cadence at a distance, leaving a tranquility in the air. Peace .. that's what came into his mind.
Vrishali..
And this one particular name.

'She is graceful and bold , a little prideful and chaotic ; but it still suits her.'
He thought.
'I will make it upto her tomorrow'
He resolved.

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Dedicated to NiranjanaPradeep
A

nother family member 😁. Thankyou so much for the support and love 💞

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*This chapter is edited on 27/4/24*

Word count: 2510

How was Vrishali and Rama?!

Images used in this chapter is not mine , credit to the owners , I took it from Pinterest.

Happy reading 😁
Take care friends ❤️
HAR HAR MAHADEV

-SANVL 🖋️🪄