The Invitation

There is a saying - 'Fortune favours the brave!' It has inspired generations of warriors - be it military, civil or otherwise to exceed expectations by outperforming over and above their own potential thereby proving themselves to be legends who changed history and by setting a new path for others to follow.

No species is immune to this and Ambapurians were no exception either. Crown Princess Mounika was a daredevil who went in search of trouble instead of waiting for it to come to her. Due to this adventurous nature of hers, she often chose to be part of the toughest missions, leading the imperial forces to victory, quelling the most stubborn rebellions and unrest. Though this put her life at great risk, she never backed down from a fight and the imperial forces adored her.

She looked at the invitation letter in her hands and pondered over the contents.

"An invitation to an adventure trip into areas prohibited for humans!" she was surprised. "Why did they send this to me? Is this how the government of these humans made its decision? By sending me into a mortal adventure instead of neutralising me themselves?" she knew how governments worked, how they neutralised threats that could be potential diplomatic disasters if not handled carefully.

A smile appeared on her face. "They don't know that I court mortal dangers! Or that I impressed the Emperor himself with my daring feats of valour!" she read the invitation further.

"To Chi. La. Sou. Kumari Mounika,*

Bharat Adventurers Organisation formally extends its invitation to the 37th Mrutyunjaya Adventure Tour. This tour is for those exceptionally skilled, daredevil adventurers who explore the unknown despite great danger to their own lives. The greatest adventurers from all over the universe are chosen for this tour.

However, this tour is undertaken under dangerous conditions and in dangerous places. Hence normal life forms are not eligible for this tour. The beings selected for this tour have special, unique abilities in them that help them to face unexpected dangers and escape them by using their brains, strength and other skills.

Since you possess those skills, you are hereby invited to present yourself at our head office situated at 50 kilometers distance from the Srisaila Kshethram . This tour will commence from there under the guidance and leadership of an able and experienced tour leader. The other members of the tour shall be introduced to each other there.

This tour shall commence at 0536 hours on the tenth day of writing and sending out this invitation.

May all be well.

Yours Sincerely,

AVS Chakravarthi, BAS*,

Bharat Adventure Tours Organisation,

Amaravathi Capital Region,

Andhra Pradesh State,

Bharat,

Earth.

(* Chi. La. Sou. is short for Chiranjeevi Lakshmi Soubhagyavathi - a traditional Telugu way of addressing an unmarried or married woman or a young girl in an invitation or a letter especially when written by an elder person. Kumari is a Telugu term equivalent to Ms in English. BAS is short for Bharat Administrative Services, an alternate to the present IAS - Indian Administrative Services.)

Mounika looked at the date on the invitation letter. She had only one more day to the designated place. She knew how governments got rid of unwanted persons without any diplomatic fallout. She knew the earth government was trying to get rid of her without officially rejecting her application to stay on earth.

It was a one-day journey by the earth's public transit system to the designated place from the facility she had been kept in. Since she had no choice and she had no intention of staying idle for too long, she chose to take the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation bus. The facilities provided were far from desirable when compared to those provided in the public transport services in her own empire, but she knew she had to make the best she could as she didn't have any choice in the matter.

This vehicle would stop at several places, picking up and dropping passengers, travelling at only 220 kilometers per hour. This is very convenient for the public travelling short distances or those who cannot afford the faster but costlier express service that clocked 400 kilometers per hour or the expensive air transport services.

However, though she was travelling slowly, Mounika was pleased to get a chance to observe the lifestyle of the humans. The lush green landscape, the farmers working in the fields, the excellent irrigation system, the trees that gave much needed shade to the tired workers or the passersby, the neatly maintained roads, impressed her.

The main road was peppered with bus shelters for passengers waiting for a bus, with each bus shelter sporting a tea and snacks stalls beside it, the hawkers busy round the clock, shorter taxis waiting for the passengers to alight from a bus, ready to take them to their home in the villages deep in the landscape away from the main roads.

The bus halted in the designated bus terminals on the route, and she was awed by the amenities provided at these terminals and by the amount of art, crafts and culture depicted through various means in each terminus that reflected its unique and diverse culture and heritage. Obviously, the people here were very proud of their culture and traditions and she felt a deep respect growing for the rulers of this planet.

"It's surprising that the rulers of this planet actually care about the wellbeing of their people and are actually making that effort keeping aside their differences of caste, creed, position, race, region, culture, race, religion etc. Perhaps that's why it has become imperative to continue diplomatic relations with this uncivilised, primitive species." she thought to herself.

Being heir to a vast, successful, wealthy and powerful galactic empire, Mounika had a very strong reason to look down on the humans. She had been brought up with the constant belief that the humans were primitive, barbaric, unreliable often quarrelling among themselves and causing harm to each other and that it was unnecessary to continue diplomatic relations with this primitive species since they could be overpowered easily. She had also wondered why the human temple run by a family of human archakas was allowed on their capital city. Archakas, as per her guru, were the section of human citizens whose duties were to follow a strict ascetic life, devoting themselves to worshipping their deity and to eat only vegetarian food.

As she continued to travel, she noticed that the food was quite delicious and was of the highest quality. The public appeared to very content with the facilities provided and there seemed to be an innate pride in each citizen. It was caused perhaps by the absence of war, or the security to life and property assured by a high standard of living. Kids running here and there playfully under the careful observation of their parents, toddlers throwing tantrums for toys, lactating mothers feeding their babies, youngsters listening to music through ear pods while they waited, students chatting away in small groups of their own as they waited for their bus, it all pointed to a lovely, heartwarming scene.

Another aspect that impressed Mounika was the absolute cleanliness. Every citizen appeared to use the dustbins, and she did not find anyone, even children, littering the compound. All this clashed with the impressions she had been fed with since childhood about the humans. Despite herself, she seemed to be more and more disillusioned yet impressed by what she saw. The fact that even her parents barely spoke about humans also made it difficult for her to accept that humans could be so well organised and almost as civilised as Ambapurians.

She knew all this experience would help her when she reclaimed her throne. When the bus she was travelling in finally entered the town she was to alight, she was surprised to see the gopuram of a temple that looked like an exact replica of the temple in her capital city. When she came alighted at the arrival block, she noticed a man clad in traditional white dhoti, white shirt and a white uttareeyam( a cloth that is placed on the shoulders, usually used for a lot of things like wiping hands or face, etc) waiting for her with a placard that had her name in large letters.

"Have you been waiting for us? (royal We used in the singular)" she asked. the man looked at her for a few seconds seeming to assess her and then nodded.

"Come with me." he replied and led her to an immaculate white vehicle with the earth government logo on it. She was amazed by the huge building that she had been dropped at and wondered what more adventures she would be facing from now. So far, she had not been tested at all, but she hoped things would be more exciting from now on and keep her from getting bored to death.