The Innocent Childhood

The Earth was divided into many big and small kingdoms at the time when the journey of Gandhari's soul had started for this life as Gandhari - the daughter of the King of Gandhaar. 

Gandhaar was a small and beautiful kingdom, located at the base of the mighty Himalayas. It was well known for its scenic beauty and its robust, war friendly, well trained horses. Most of the citizens of this small country were involved in the horse trading business. The per capita income was good and the citizens were happy in general.

King Subal was a cool headed, diplomatic, and fair king, who treated his subjects like family. He loved his wife, Sudharma, very much, and had many sons with her over the years. In his kingdom, women had equal rights to men. They were not treated like a possession or a commodity, unlike many of the kingdoms in the world. The women were free to choose their career, their education path, and even their life partners. The same applied to men as well. Jobs opportunities were plenty, roads were good, clean drinking water was available in every home all day, and education was free for children. 

For the King wanted now was a daughter. He had prayed hard for a daughter since the day he had married Sudharma, but had only been blessed with sons. The queen was expecting a child again, and the king was desperately praying for a daughter. 

"What if it's a son again?" Sudharma teased the king. He drew his brows together in mock anger and said "It had better not." This caused Sudharma to laugh out loud. He loved to hear her laugh. 

After a few months, the queen gave birth - this time, a girl. The king's happiness knew no bounds. He organised a big puja ceremony and an even bigger feast in honour of the occasion. Amongst all the pomp and show, the naming ceremony was organised for the baby. All her brothers wanted to name her. So did the Queen as well as the King. Finally, the family settled upon a draw system. Each one of them were given a petal of a small lotus flower, upon which each put in the names they wanted her to be called, and then all the petals was collected in a large bowl. The bowl was then bought in front of the Kulguru, the priest of the royal family, and he was requested to pick one up. Amused, he complied, picked up one petal, and gave it to the nearby servant to read out loud.

"Gandhari" he read loudly.

"Yesssss" laughed King Subal. It was he who had chosen this name for her. "That's so not fair"grumbled Prince Shakuni, Subal's eldest son.

"And why is it not fair?" asked King Subal. 

"Because I wanted to name her!" He whined, like the 10year old he was. 

"That isn't how 'fairness' works. Fairness means everyone should have equal opportunity. Anyone's names could have been choosen from the bowl. That IS fair. Isn't it?" King Subal smiled.  Shakuni nooded gloomily, "Yes father."

"Oh, look! She smiles at your voice." Sudharma told Shakuni, showing him the baby, now smiling in her sleep. "She must really like you. Looks like you are her favourite brother." Shakuni swelled with pride. "Sleep on dear sister," he said, "and never you worry about anything. I will always be there to protect you."

Years passed. 

The little baby blossomed into a beautiful teenaged girl. She was well versed in the scriptures and quite handy in the daily chores around the household. She was a friendly young girl, and also quite religious. She had learnt the art of warfare, and was very good with swords and knife throwing. 

However, the years had not been kind to Sudharma. She had always been a delicate flower, and the numerous childbirths had taken a toll on her body. With each passing year, she had become more and more weak, so that now she barely had enough strength to be able to get up from her bed. King Subal still loved her to the skies and beyond, and was beside himself with worry about her failing health. He had looked up all the healers in his kingdom for a cure, but to no avail. Now, he had sent out messengers to nearby kingdoms, looking for a good physician or healer.

Meanwhile, Gandhari had taken over all the usual Royal as well as household tasks of Sudharma. As it turned out, she quite skillful at that too. Princess Arshi, wife of Shakuni, was her closest friend and confidant. Together, they took care of all of Sudharma's responsibilities.