Who was the greatest warrior in Kurukshetra?

Mahabharata describes so many great warriors like Arjun, Bhima, Karan, Bhishma Pitama, Drona etc etc.

But there is one unsung hero who was supposedly the greatest warrior in the epic who could have ended the war in 1 minute. 

It was before the war of Mahabharata had begun when Barbarik grandson of Bhima and son of Ghatotkach expressed his desire to participate in the war to his mother. His mother asked him which side he wanted to fight for, to which he replied "I will fight only for whichever side is weaker. Right now Kauravas have bigger army than Pandavas so I will fight from Pandavas side." Promising this to his mother he marched towards war camps.

When Krishna heard about Barbarik, he went to meet him. He asked Barbarik, "what do you think if you were to fight alone in how many days you can finish this war?" to this he replied "I can finish this war in 1 minute." Krishna was amazed with his reply and asked him how he plans to do this?

Barbarik explained he has three arrows which he has received from Lord Shiva as boon. Special power of this arrows were that:

1. First arrow would mark all the target that he wanted to destroy.

2. Second arrow would mark all the target he wanted to save.

3. Third arrow would destroy the marked target or save the marked target destroying everything else.

Krishna asked him to show how it works, he asked Barbarik to treat all leaves on a near by Banyan tree as enemy and make a hole on all the leaves. Barbarik immediately pulled his arrow and started invoking his power through meditation, in the meantime Krishna pluck a leave from tree and placed it under his foot.

Barbarik marked all the leaves on tree with his first arrow, marked all other things that he wanted to save and then released third arrow to make hole on leaves, thats when third arrow started hovering near Krishna's foot. Krishna asked Barbarik, why arrow is hovering near his foot to which he replied there must be a leaf under your foot. Krishna lift his foot and arrow pierced hole in that leaf.

Krishna was impressed with his powers and asked him whose side he was planning to fight. He told him about his promise that he would fight from weaker side. Krishna immediately realized that if he participated in the war then on first day he will kill everyone on Kaurava side making them weaker and then he will be forced to join Kaurava next day. Thus he will keep oscillating between the two sides until everyone is killed except himself.

He explained it to Barbarik and asked him to sacrifice his head to avoid the consequences of his powerful arrows. Barbarik agreed but expressed his desire to witness the war. Krishna promised him that even after his head is severed from his body his head will remain in a conscious state and that it would be placed on a hilltop overlooking entire battlefield so that he can witness the war.

After the war was over, one fine day Pandavas started arguing who was the greatest warrior in Kurukshetra? They then decided to approach Barbarik and ask him who was the greatest warrior as he was a neutral witness of the entire war. To this Barbarik replied " I saw only Sudarshan Chakra of Lord Krishna killing unrighteous kings on both sides, it was Krishna and only Krishna on the battlefield."

Enchanting Tamilnadu......

Recently I got an opportunity to visit south India, particularly Tamilnadu. I am sharing few glimpses of the trip here.

Our first destination was Madurai. We reached there early morning and went for quick darshan at meenakshi temple.

                                                            Meenakshi Temple

Meenakshi Temple (North Gate)

As per hindu mythology lord Shiva in the form of Sundareshwar came here to marry daughter of king Pandaya Maladwaj, Meenakshi. Goddess Meenakshi is considered to be incarnation of Parvati. This is the most famous tempe in Madurai. Apart from this temple, it is also famous of Silk and Cotton hand woven sarees.

After having lunch we headed for Rameshwaram. 

                                                                    Pamban Bridge

It is a small Island which is connected with mainland by Pamban bridge. It is an engineering marvel in itself. 

Rameshwaram Temple

Rameshwaram is one of the 12 jyotirling. It is said that this jyotirling was established by Lord Shri Ram himself. That is the reason why it is named "Rameshwaram"

Ram Padam Temple

This temple is famous for footprints of lord Ram. It is also said that Hanuman took his flight for Lanka from this spot. It is highest spot in Rameshwaram. One can view entire city from this spot.

Panchmukhi Hanuman Temple

During the war between Lord Rama and Ravana, Ravana took help of Ahiravana, the king of Pathala. Lord Hanuman in order to protect Lord Rama and Lakshman formed a fortress with his tail. Ahiravana took the form of Vibhishana the noble brother of Ravana and took Lord Ram and Lakshman to Pathala loka.

Hanuman entered pathala loka in search of Rama and Lakshmana, He found that life of Ahiravana was hidden in the five lamps which were placed in different directions. He could be killed only by extinguishing all five lamps the same time. To accomplish this Hanuman had to take the form of Panchamukha Hanuman. This form of Hanuman has five faces. Hayagriva, Narasimha, Garuda and Varaha are the four other faces along with Hanuman's face. Hanuman using the five faces in different directions blows air to extinguish the lamps there by killing Ahiravana.

One can find floating stones of Ram setu in this temple

                                        


                                     Kothandarswamy Temple

This temple is dedicated to lord Ram, this is the place where Vibhishan(Ravan's brother) surrendered himself to Ram.                        


                                                    Dhanushkodi

After Rama won the war and crowned a new king of Lanka, Vibhishana asked Rama to destroy the bridge. According to the Hindu story, Rama then broke the bridge with one end of his bow. Hence, the name Dhanushkodi or 'end of the bow' (dhanush meaning 'bow' and kodi meaning 'end'). 

Mini Trucks take people to Land's End through deep sand and shallows using planks put under wheels by local kids.
The sea from Land's End, Dhanushkodi,Sri Lanka is about 15 kilometers from here.

This was our last spot in Rameshwaram then we headed to Kanyakumari which is 294 KM away.

Kanyakumari:

                           Kanyakumari Teertham

Kanyakumari is famous for its spectacular sunrise and sunset. Unique thing about this place is that one can see sunrise and sunset from the same spot. We reached this spot at around 5.45 am to my surprise it was already crowded with tourists, all eagerly waiting for sunrise. I must say that wait was worth. It was the most beautiful thing that I ever witnessed.

                                        Kanyakumari Devi Temple

After watching sunrise we headed towards Kanyakumari temple. This is one of the rare temples in India where Devi (Mother Goddess) is worshipped as a child. The temple here is a Shakti Peetha, one of the holiest shrines.

                                            Swami Vivekanand Rock

The Swami vivekanand memorial stands on one of two rocks located about 200 metres away from main land. To reach here we had to travel in a streamer, it takes about 2-3 mins to reach this memorial rock. Memorial was built in 1970 in honour of Swami Vivekananda who is said to have attained enlightenment on the rock. According to local legends, it was on this rock that Goddess Kumari performed austerity. One can see the foot print of goddess as well. A meditation hall (Dhyana Mandapam) is also attached to the memorial for visitors to meditate. 

                                        Suchindram Hanuman Temple

Then we visited this magnificent Hanuman temple. This temple has 18 feet tall idol of Hanuman. Suchindram temple is unique in the whole of India in that it is dedicated to three different deities represented by one image in the sanctum and is called Sthanumalayan (Sthanu-Shiva; Maal-Vishnu and Ayan-Brahma).

From there we headed towards Trivandrum.

Tiruvananthpuram 

Our first halt in Trivandrum was Padmanabhswamy temple. We reached there quite late at night by the time temple was closed. So we decided to stay back and visit temple next morning.

                                         Padmanabhswamy Temple

                                                              Ananth Shayana

I was very excited to visit this temple being a Vishnu devotee. Reason for my excitement was that I had never been to any vishnu temple where deity is reclining on serpent Anantha or Adi Sesha. Here, this serpent has five hoods facing inwards, signifying contemplation. The Lord's right hand is placed over a Shiva lingam. Sridevi-Lakshmi, the Goddess of Prosperity and Bhudevi the Goddess of Earth, two consorts of Vishnu are by his side. Brahma emerges on a lotus, which emanates from the navel of the Lord. That is why the name Padma(Lotus)Nabh(Navel). This temple gained fame after a spectacular treasure of worth 1 lakh crore rupees was discovered from temple. There are 6 vaults in the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple that were marked from A to B. Among them the vault A and B were not opened for past 150 years. Vault A was opened in 2011 by Supreme court's order but team failed to open vault B. (I will write a post dedicated to Sree Padmanabhaswamy soon which will be more detailed one).

All delighted after wonder experience at Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple we headed towards Kovalam beach.

                            Kovalam Beach

Kovalam beach is situated by Arabian sea in Trivandrum. Kovalam means grove of coconut trees and true to its name it offers endless sight of coconut trees. Beach is very clean and well maintained. It is attraction for lot of foreign tourists.

With this our enchanting trip to south India came to a joyful end. 

Breaking Stage And Breaking Stereotype!!!

It was just the beginning of summer holidays. Each day was getting hotter and hotter. She loved spending holidays with her grandparents in a small village surrounded by beautiful greenery. Most importantly she loved the fact that she could play games with her cousins and neighbors all day long without worrying about school or studies. Bed-time stories from her grandmother being the best part of her summer vacations. Like every year she visited her grandparents. So this warm evening, her cousins decided to play football. When her cousins and their neighbors started forming team no one was ready to take her in team. She wanted to play with them but they just shooed her away saying "this is not GIRL'S game, you will not understand a bit of it; go and play with your Barbie." That was the first time ever a 7 year old faced gender stereotype ever in her life and she was about to face it for the rest of her life. At this age she wasn't aware that girls' game and boys' game were different. She could not understand why she should not play football even though she wants to, puzzled she went back home.

                                                           ****************
She ran to her mother, and asked "Why can't I play Football? Why it is a boys sport?"
Her mother, rather surprised, said "What nonsense! Who is feeding such crap into your mind?"
She narrated entire scene to her mother.

"Come with me I will show something" said her mother.

Her mother pulled out a sports magazine and showed her picture of a beautiful lady and asked her "Do you know who she is?" She looked at the picture and replied "No"

Her mother explained her "She is Mayanti Langer, an Indian TV sports journalist she has hosted many sports event. She hosted 2010 FIFA World cup broadcasted on ESPN. She not only understands Football really well but she has also played it. She has not restricted her to one sport. She hosts common wealth games and Cricket matches too."

"If she would have paid heed to such comments then she would not have achieved what she has achieved today."

"Don't let anyone tell you what you can and what you can't do because you are a girl. You are strong and you are important. Don't let others define your personality"

                                                           ****************
Every year, the 11th grade students would throw a farewell party to both, the 10th and 12th grade students. It used to be painstakingly huge affair. It used to be a month of fun that included outdoor sport, fashion show, some dance performances and skit. She was very excited as she had always been good at dancing. She choreographed a dance performance. She and her team practiced hard. Team decided that she would be performing in center as a lead dancer. Few days before the event while they were rehearsing, her teacher walked in and watched the dance silently. Students reached out to teacher for her feedback after dance. "Everything looks good" teacher said, "Good job, just one suggestion though" team continued to listen carefully. "I think your current lead dancer is not doing great job."

She was devastated to listen to this. No one had ever told her that her dance was not good, she locked herself up in the washroom and started crying,that was when she heard her teacher talking to someone. She wiped her tears and moved closer to listen carefully.

"I agree she is a fantastic dancer and she is doing well no doubt but lead dancer should not be a fat girl. You are more appealing, more presentable, people like to see skinny-fair skinned face at center stage."

These words stabbed her million times over and over again. She was never hurt so much. Not even when her friends teased her by calling "Golu"(One who is round from all side). She was so broken that she decided to quit dancing.

She went home really really upset. This was just so unfair, literally. Thinking this, she turned on T.V and flopped herself on couch. That was when she saw a fat lady dancing like pro on "Jhalak Dikhla Jaa", she was none other than "Bharti Singh"an eminent stand up comedian. She astonished everyone with her lifts and 180 degree splits which others find challenging even to attempt.

Bharti tickled bones of entire nation when she did her first stand up comedy on "Great Indian laughter challenge". Those were the days when we watched only male contestants on comedy shows. She changed the Indian scenario of stand up comedy. In this male governed field, Bharti became India's most popular comedian.

She smiled while watching Bharti's dance performance and thinking how she has shown the world that size doesn't matter. She told herself I will no more blame my genes(those secret fatty deposits blueprinted in my DNA). She thought, people judge you based on your appearance and they will continue to do so. It's what they do. While one might not change their perspective...what we can change is our perspective for ourselves. How to do that? By not viewing ourselves with a convex lens.

                                                             **************
10 years later:

"I can't dance" said one of her student in her dance academy. "Who told you that?" she said.

"Look at me I am so fatty, I can't even move my belly"

"Never think that you can't dance because you are fat or you can't do certain thing because you are a girl"

"Look at me and look at those trophies I won in dance competitions" she said.

She continued " Don't judge  yourself or others based on their body type. Change your convex lens...change your perspective"

Intezaar Aur Sahi

“Suhana safar aur yeh mausam hasin” was the song playing in my car while I was driving back home. Coincidentally “mausam” outside was exactly same as described in the song. It was raining heavily, so heavily that it blurred my view on windscreen.  My wiper continuously wiped my screen but still visibility was too less. All of sudden I saw a man in front of my car. I applied brakes immediately.  I experienced a sudden jerk.

“Riya, get up now we are getting late for office.” It was my roommate waking me up. I woke up and sat on bed still thinking about my dream.  Why this same dream keeps haunting me every now and then? I kept wondering while brushing my teeth.  What happens next? I don’t know, every time I wake up before I can see what happens next.  Does it mean something? I asked my roommate Pooja. “Don’t be silly, it’s just a dream“She replied.  We both got dressed and left for office.

I reached office and saw a handsome young man sitting diagonal to me in my cube.  As I entered  my cube he smiled at me. I smiled back at him. “Hey I am Madhav, I joined here today” he said to me.  We had a small chat and got back to work. I felt that he was geeky, boring guy.

Few days passed by, we started talking to each other more; we started going for lunch and coffee breaks together. It was then I realized that he had a very interesting and charming personality. It was a Friday evening and rest of my friends were planning  to go for movie after office.  I saw Madhav sitting alone at his desk while others were busy goofing around and planning movie. I walked to his desk and asked him if he would like to join us for movie. He asked me “Are you going?” I said “Yes”. He immediately replied “Of course I would join you guys”     

That evening, while watching movie I caught Madhav looking at me many times from corner of his eyes. I noticed it because even I was looking at him to check if he is looking at me. Whenever our eyes would meet we would just smile and pretend as if we are watching movie.

After Movie was over, Madhav offered to drop me home, I couldn’t say no.  As soon as we reached my apartment, I asked him if he would like to come upstairs for coffee. He agreed. He was sitting in living room watching TV while I went in kitchen to make coffee. All of sudden, power went off and there was black out. I screamed “Madhav what happened to lights”. He replied “stay calm and light some candles.” I lit a candle and placed it on dining table. Madhav came over and helped me with coffee. “Here we are having candle light Coffee“I said to him. He burst into laughter. I could see his eyes twinkling in candle light. His smile looked more charming. There was a long awkward silence between us.

After sometime Madhav said “Listen I want to tell you something” My palm started sweating, my heart beat started racing.  I said “Yes tell me what it is?” His voice was shaking, he cleared his throat and said “Umm” and power came back, fan turned on blowing off the candle, TV turned on breaking the perfect silence.  He looked around and said “Oh good power is back; so I think I should take off now it’s too late”

I said “You were saying something” He replied “No, Nothing important, Bye”

I shut my door behind him thinking, probably I know what you wanted to say. But I want to hear it from you, so I will wait for it.

.....................................................To be continued.............................................

Shakuni

“Bhaanje” calls out a man dressed in black, white beard and moustache covering his face, rubbing a dice in his hands and limping while he walks. Yeah! That’s none other than the wicked maternal uncle of Duryodhan. He was mastermind behind the Kurukshetra war and one of the most intelligent one after Krishna in the greatest epic Mahabharata.

Shakuni was also known as Saubala. His father Subala was king of Gandhara. He had 100 sons and one daughter, Gandhari. Shakuni was the 100^th son of Subala so he was named Saubala (Sau-100).  Gandhari had some issue in her astrological chart. Scholars predicted that her first husband would die early so her family married her to a goat and killed the goat. When Dhritharashtra came to know about it he was furious and imprisoned all the family members of Shakuni.

He would feed them only handful of rice which was not sufficient for the entire family. So they decided that they will let the youngest one that is Shakuni to eat all the rice so that atleast he can survive and take revenge later. When his father died in prison he took his father’s thigh bone and created a magical dice out of it that is why it would listen to Shakuni’s command. He also purposely broke his leg, so that every time he would limp that would remind him of his revenge. He not only survived but also won the trust of all Kuru family specially Duryodhan.

He slowly poisoned Duryodhan’s mind with wickedness and masterminded the Kurukshetra war.  He had no personal rivalry with Pandavas. His target was always Karauvas. He purposely planned the dice game and defeated Pandavas, he knew Pandavas can easily defeat Kauravas and this would complete his revenge.

P.S : Written it on request of my friend "Shobhana Patchai" here you go girl....enjoy it.....

Never Start A Work With Fear And Hesitation

She was livid when she saw the job advertisement posted by TELCO company. It read “Campus interview to be held on Friday. ONLY FOR MEN”

She was good in her academics. She stood first in her class always and she was gold medalist. In spite of proving herself to be best in every aspect, she could not sit for this campus interview round. Why? She was furious and she wanted to make sure she got what she deserved.

She ran immediately to her room and picked up a postcard and wrote to company’s chairperson complaining about “men only” gender bias at TELCO. She posted that card next day and totally forgot about it.

Days after days passed. She was busy preparing for her other exams and interviews. One fine day while she was busy preparing for Electrical Engineering subject; someone knocked her door. She opened the door and saw a postman holding a postcard in his hand which was for her. She signed the documents and received it.
To her shock it was reply to her postcard which she sent few weeks back to Telco’s chairperson, Mr. Tata. He was so impressed with her postcard that she was granted a special interview and was hired immediately.
After this incident TELCO started recruiting girls’ candidate too.

She became the first female engineer hired at India's largest auto manufacturer TELCO. She worked there as Development Engineer in Pune and then worked in Mumbai.

While she was in Pune she met a guy through her common friend who was also training in TELCO. They gradually fell in love and married each other. She served TELCO for about 8 years. After which she had to resign because her husband wanted to start his own company. She was not that willing to leave the company, but she had no choice.

One day when she was approaching near the stairs at Bombay house, she noticed Mr.Tata was just reaching the stairs. He seemed to be thinking about something and walking up the stairs. She thought it was the right time to speak to him and inform him about her resignation. Mr.Tata saw her and asked in a low gentle tone "How are you Madam?” She replied "Sir, I am leaving Telco". Mr.Tata asked "Is it? Where are you joining?”. She replied "Sir, I am leaving to Pune. My husband is starting a new company and hence I have to accompany him.” Mr.Tata replied - "Oh, that’s great. So what shall you do after achieving success?”. She replied in a low tone "Sir, we are not sure whether we may achieve big or not."
Mr. Tata immediately corrected her words and said "Never start a work with fear and hesitation. My best wishes to you" and climbed the stairs slowly. That was the last time she met the tycoon Tata.

While doing any work, we should be alert, set our mind on it, should have good knowledge about it but should never have fear and hesitation. If we start any work saying, "No, it may not work" then it may definitely not work. The fear in heart hampers the growth of success from any work. Great achievers never bow down when met with a failure, instead move forward without fear towards success.

She kept those words of Mr. Tata in her mind always and after few years became the chairperson of the Infosys foundation and a member of public health care initiatives of the Gates foundation. She is also a social worker and author. She is none other than “SUDHA MURTHY”

Nothing......But Love!!!

After packing her bags, she rested her head slowly on her mother’s lap and closed her eyes. She felt warmth, comfort and protected. Her mother moved her hand all over her head. “Amma, I will miss you all a lot.” she said looking at her mother.
Her mother looked at her for few seconds then picked up her pillow and blanket and said “Take this with you, whenever you feel homesick, rest your head on this pillow, you’ll feel that it’s my lap.”A tear rolled down her eyes.
She heard someone calling her name "Shruti, Inge Vaa" (Shruti come here). It was her father. She immediately went to see him.
"Have you finished packing yet?" asked her father.
"Yes, Appa" she replied.
“Let me see” he said and started checking her baggage. Within no time she saw her father re-arranging her stuffs in her baggage.
“Now, it’s done, Shruti” said her father. She just kept looking at her father, knowing he is the best and she would miss him the most.
Her father had lot of expectations from Shruti, he wanted to see her travel and achieve greatest heights in her career.
She was excited to start her career at the same time the very thought of staying away from family was killing her from within. She had grabbed a good offer from one of the reputed IT Company in Bangalore. Owing to this job she had to move from Chennai.

                                                           ************
October 7th 2006:
She landed in Bangalore with lots of dreams and aspirations; somehow she knew this place will change her life forever. She arrived with her relatives (her sister, brother in law, their kid and Shruti’s close friend Sukanya) two days prior to her joining date so that she can find some decent place to live. Shruti and her relatives reached South End Road, place where she was supposed to work. As soon as she stepped out of her car, she saw a gentleman waiting there for them. He was wearing blue striped shirt. He was tall with killer smile. His moustache was long and thin curling up at each end like a storybook magician. His hair was neatly combed; he had deep black eyes that could make any girl's heart skip a beat. Their eyes met for the very first time. She looked at him, she felt something for the very first time, she didn't know what it was, but it was good. She found him very caring and responsible guy.
Her brother in law introduced them "Shruti, meet Prashanth” he said
“Prashanth is my cousin brother, he works here for quite a sometime now, he knows places in Bangalore very well, he can help us find something” he added.
Prashanth turned to Shruti and said "Hi...You resemble manni (Bhabi)" (He meant She was like her sister who was his Bhabi)
Shruti smiled and replied "You are the first one to ever say this Prashanth"
Prashanth thought Shruti must be a very adamant girl.
"Come I’ll show you your workplace." said Prashanth.
Prashanth walked her through huge glass buildings, showed her beautiful office campus. Shruti was too excited to see all this. She kept looking at those huge buildings where she was supposed to place baby steps of her career. They kept roaming entire evening visiting different places. By now Shruti noticed that Prashanth was glued to his cell phone all the time and she jumped to a conclusion that he must be committed to some girl. Shruti went to her relatives place and Prashanth went to his room bidding good bye to each other.

As planned, Next morning Shruti and her relatives (her sister, brother in law, their kid and Shruti’s close friend) set out for hunting a good place for Shruti to stay. It had been raining heavily that morning making it difficult for them to search a decent place for Shruti. They decided to halt at Nandhini hotel to have some Idlis. After having Idlis and hot filter coffee, they moved towards their car that was when Shruti saw a familiar looking guy on his bike with his friend. He was looking smart in black shirt, completely drenched in rain. Shruti’s brother in law saw him and said “Hey Prashanth, why don’t you join us in looking for a decent place for Shruti?”
“Sure” he said and joined them. They kept looking for different places but couldn’t get any. It was late in the evening, still nothing was finalized. Shruti’s sister panicked. She didn’t want to leave back to Chennai next morning unless Shruti get a good place to live.
Seeing Shruti’s sister tensed, Prashanth said “Bhabhi we are there, we will find something by tonight…don’t worry!” Prashanth called few of his friends, used his contacts and somehow Shruti got a very good PG. Shruti was really impressed with Prashanth since he took so much pain for her. By now Shruti and Prashanth exchanged each other’s numbers. Shruti’s brother in law asked her to call Prashanth anytime without any hesitation.
Next day, Shruti packed her stuffs and moved to PG from relative’s place. Her brother in law and sister went back to Chennai. After returning from first day of work, she wanted to comfortably sleep with her Amma’s pillow that was when she realized that she forgot it at her relative’s place. Her brother in law insisted her to ask Prashanth to get her stuff from that relative’s place but Shruti was reluctant to disturb Prashanth thinking he must be busy with his girl. Since there was no other way to get her stuff back, she finally picked up her phone to call Prashanth but before she could call, her relatives came over and returned her stuffs. Shruti heaved a sigh of relief that she didn’t have to disturb a committed couple (Prashanth and his Gf as imagined by Shruti).

                                                    *************
Days after days passed, Shruti and Prashanth talked to each other once in a while.
Gradually, they started sending forward texts to each other. Prashanth would always try to make Shruti comfortable. The more she got to know him; more she realized he was very caring, understanding and mature man. One day while Shruti was just sitting watching TV, her phone buzzed for message, it was a forward from Prashanth. It read:

“Three Questions for you. Please reply.

1) What do you want to do if you have only one day left?
Ans=

2) One thing that you like in me?
Ans=

3) what is one thing you expect from me?
Ans=  ”

Without thinking much Shruti innocently replied:

1) What do you want to do if you have only one day left?
Ans= I would spend it with my dear father 

2) One thing that you like in me?
Ans= your caring nature.

3) what is one thing you expect from me?
Ans= I need you in my life…. Forever!!!”  (She meant as a friend but words played its game)

When Shruti told about this text to her close friend Sukanya, she started laughing and said “I knew you will fall for this guy…who will not for such a smart guy…and the way you looked at him the first day, I was sure you will fall for him.”
Sukanya’s words made her think for a while, Shruti knew it for the first time that she has developed liking for this guy.

As time passed, Things went well between Shruti and Prashanth. Their forward messages had now converted into long phone conversations. Prashanth would patiently listen to all Shruti’s bakbak(non-stop talks). They started sharing everything with each other from friends to crushes and all. One day Shruti was casually narrating stories about how so many boys have proposed her while many were gearing up to stop her from getting married. Prashanth patiently listened to her and said calmly “your marriage might happen at least 3-4 years from now…it is long way to go….why are you worried about it now...I am there don’t worry about it, I will handle all these guys and you can happily get married.” Shruti was shocked to hear this. She felt instant warmth. She knew this guy understands her. Shruti was very close to her Appa, Prashanth would protect her, support her, and comfort her exactly like him. But Shruti still had no idea what was going in Prashanth’s mind. She still didn't know whether this guy was actually committed or not.

                                                       ************

Gradually, they started travelling to their home that is Chennai and back to Bangalore together. Once they were travelling back to Bangalore, Prashanth was on upper berth and Shruti was on the side lower. When Prashanth got down in the middle of night to check which station they have reached, he noticed that Shruti was awake. He came and sat next to her and asked “You are still awake? What’s the matter?”
“I can’t sleep in trains, passengers keep roaming around so I kind of get uncomfortable” replied Shruti.
“I am there, don’t worry about anything, you go to sleep I will sit here and make sure you are safe” said Prashanth. He sat at the tip of the berth whole night while Shruti slept peacefully feeling protected by someone who cared about her exactly like her Appa.
Next morning, Shruti told Prashanth “Thank you so much for last night, you are so caring” She teasingly said “hmm so your girlfriend must be lucky to have you ;)”
Prashanth smiled and said “You can directly ask me if I have a girl friend….well the salary I get is not sufficient for me...why will I dig my own grave by finding a GF and spending my hard earned money on her?”
Shruti was dumbstruck hearing this reply; she heaved a sigh of relief. Shruti couldn’t sleep that night, she kept laughing in her room thinking about what he said that morning.

                                                       ************
16th Nov 2006:
Shruti knew that Prashanth was single; she knew she wanted Prashanth in her life but she didn’t know what Prashanth wanted. So she texted him saying “If I mean something to you, come to meet me else ignore this message”. He replied immediately “I will try to come.” It was around 7 pm when Shruti saw him standing in front of her wearing the same shirt he wore the very first time they had met. He looked directly into her eyes. Shruti was wearing a black salwaar-kameez and a white cashmere cardigan. Her hair fell loosely around her face gracing the features so very unique to only her. Her eyes were wide and full of wonderment and purity. Her beautiful smile could charm anyone.
“Let’s go to that nearby park” he said finally taking off his eyes from Shruti.
Shruti nodded in reply. That evening they kept walking in the park without uttering a single word. Only noise that could be heard was that of Shruti’s bangles jingling every time they hit Prashanth’s hand by mistake. It is said that meaningful silence is better than useless words. At around 9 PM, breaking the silence Shruti said “It’s getting too late; we should go back now”
Prashanth nodded in agreement. They walked back to her PG. He stood in front of huge gate of her PG and finally said “You wanted me to meet, I am here, what does it mean??” Shruti just smiled at him, he smiled back and then both kept looking at each other without uttering a single word. They say when eyes do the talking no words are required. Their hearts knew what they meant for each other.

                                                       **************
16th Jan 2007:
Everything was going well in Shruti and Prashanth’s life until a dreadful thing happened in Shruti’s life. Shruti lost her beloved father on this unfortunate day. She lost the most lovable person of her life. She was completely devastated. Prashanth immediately reached Shruti’s house in Chennai to console her. He looked at Shruti, She looked depressed and heartbroken. He couldn’t see her this way.

After completing all formalities, they were returning Bangalore. Prashanth knew how uncomfortable Shruti was in trains so he booked bus tickets. Shruti sat in the corner seat while he sat next to her. Shruti was still depressed she needed a shoulder to cry, so she rested her head on his shoulder and cried a lot. He didn’t touch her head, he let her cry, and he didn’t even soothe her. She looked up to see him, she saw tears rolling downing his cheeks. He was crying. He was crying for her. He was crying because he could not fight with god to save her father. Prashanth had lost his own father when he was very young, he knew the pain of losing father. He had his own pain in his heart and seeing her going through same added his pain. He lifted her head, wiped her tears with his hand and said “I know I can’t replace your dad but I can support you in everything, I will take care of you as my child.” Shruti looked at him and felt as if her dad was talking. She realized he had his own pain of losing father so she decided that she will never cry again in front of him again.

                           ****************

Things were getting bad back in Chennai at Shruti’s home. Her mom was not keeping well. She wanted her to be back in Chennai since there was no one to take care of her. Going back to Chennai meant she would have to be away from Prashanth. She stood at such a turning point of life’s road where one road was leading towards Prashanth while other towards her mother. Prashanth himself told her to choose the path which was leading towards her mother. He said “If we are destined to be together this road will anyways take you to me only.” She did the same. She chose to be with her Amma.

Next day, she requested her vertical head to give her transfer to Chennai. Certainly, he was not happy with her request. He said “If you take transfer, forget about onsite or promotion for next 2-3 years.” She was quite clear with what she wanted. She knew it was her Appa’s dream to see her travel or see her getting good promotions but she felt it was important to take care of the person who was alive rather than fulfilling a person’s wish who was not around. So she said “I want transfer to Chennai.”
He opened his lower drawer and pulled out the promotion list, it had her name listed on it. He showed it to her and stroked-out her name from the list. She walked out of her boss’s cabin knowing she will shine wherever she will go. She was just happy to move to Chennai for her mom.

The day before she was to leave for Chennai, she met him; they sat and talked a lot about them, life and their future. Prashanth told her “we both like each other but don’t tell your mom that you want to marry me, she will think you took such important decision on your own because you don’t trust her that she can give you a good life after dad”

She listened carefully and said “what if she makes me marry someone else?”

“If we are meant to be together, we will be; else I will remain your best friend forever” he said.

“Anyways, thank god now I don’t have to ride my bike all the way from EC to south end road or make rasam for you anymore” his eyes became wet saying this. He controlled his tears and smiled at her. She could read his eyes and knew how broken he was from within.

Next morning he dropped her at Bangalore airport. She entered the gate with her luggage. He stood there behind the gate watching her. She turned back to see him, he nodded his head and said “I will join you there soon.” She smiled and went in airport lobby. As she kept walking towards security checks she felt as if she has left a part of her soul with him. She boarded in her flight; she sat on a window seat and closed her eyes. A Slideshow of memories started in her mind. She came to Bangalore with lots of dreams and now she was leaving this place with millions of memories and a hope that someday she will be with love of her life.

                                                       **************
Few months later, her mom started putting pressure on her for marriage. She would avoid this topic under one pretext or the other. But no matter how hard one tries, nobody can avoid this topic for long. So one fine day, her mom confronted her and told her that she has found a suitable match for her. She said that guy is from a very nice family, has a good job and is well settled. She said that she wants her to consider this profile. Shruti was shattered. She missed Prashanth a lot. She never thought of any other guy but Prashanth. She wanted to be with him but she couldn’t say anything to her mom. She cried a lot that night. She called Prashanth, who had moved to Chennai too. He patiently listened to her and then said “Have patience, our love will take care of everything.” His words gave her lot of strength to handle the pressure at home.

It was a Saturday morning. She woke up late and sat in front of T.V with brush in her mouth until her mom yelled at her to hurry up for breakfast. She had Dosas with peanut chutney for breakfast. As she gobbled the last Dosa, her mom told her that she had kept an envelope on dining table; she wanted her to open it and see the photograph of the guy she was talking about the other day. She remained seated there for while, she started sweating, her heart beat increased. With shaky hands she finally picked up the envelope and pulled out the photograph. She looked at the photograph for a while and then looked at her mom.

                                                        ****************
After Three years:
She held the tickets in her hand and examined them carefully. It had her name on it. It was her ticket to New York. Yes! She finally got an opportunity to fulfill her Appa’s dream of travelling. She was going onsite for 2 months.
After packing her bags, she sat on sofa and took a deep breath then a three year old boy came running towards her, hugged her and rested his head on her lap and closed his eyes. She lifted his head slowly and placed a kiss on his forehead. He looked at her and said “Amma, come back soon, I’ll miss you.”
“I will miss you too my son” she said.

She heard someone calling her name "Shruti, Inge Vaa" (Shruti come here). She immediately went to see.
"Have you finished packing yet?" asked Prashanth
"Yes" she replied.
“Let me see” he said and started checking her baggage. Within no time she saw him re-arranging her stuffs in her baggage exactly like her Appa.
“Now, it’s done, Shruti” he said. She looked at him and had tears in her eyes. She felt as if her Appa was still around her.

                                                        ***************
Present day:
Prashanth was sitting at his desk doing his work. It was quite late in the night; he and his entire team had stayed back for an important project delivery. After completing their work, they were about to leave for home when Prashanth realized that his team member “Sandy” had also stayed back for work who was the only female member in the team so he went to Sandy’s desk and asked her “How are you planning to go home?”
“Let me see I will call cab” she said.
“I can drop you, it’s too late. Don’t go alone” he said. Sandy agreed.
“Wait for 5 mins. I have to drop a mail then we can go” he said. Sandy wrapped up everything and went to Prashanth’s desk while he was busy drafting a mail. She looked around his desk and noticed a cute photograph. After Prashanth was done with his work, She asked him “Is this your family?” pointing at that picture. He picked up that photograph and said “Yes, That’s my 3 year old son.” He pointed at Shruti and said “and that’s my daughter” Sandy got puzzled. Prashanth laughed and said “I mean she is my wife but I take care of her as my kid” Both of them smiled and left for home.

Leadership lessons from Mahabharata

"What is found here may be found elsewhere but what is not found here will not be found elsewhere" this is rightly said about Mahabharata. I feel that it is true indeed. It is a treasure house of knowledge and wisdom, only if we try to interpret lesson from every event mentioned in it. One can see Mahabharata as perfect example of how winning is done if you have right leader on your side. Otherwise how was it possible for the Pandavas to win, who rolled on battlefield with 7 armies against the Kauravas with 11 armies. How Pandavas won against world's best warrior, Bheesma, teacher who taught them how to hold bow and arrow and arguable the best archer of all time, Karan. There has got to be something special about this side. One can analyse the events mentioned in it to see what made Pandavas win against all odds.

With war being declared between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, Kings from across aryavrata came with their armies and joined either Pandavas or Kauravas like tributaries of river. Among them was a king Shalya, maternal uncle of Nakul and Sahadev. On his way to kurukshetra, he was treated with all good food and tents to rest, not only for him but for his soldiers too. He was happy with the arrangements done.

"My nephews have made pleasant arrangement for us" he said assuming the arrangement was done by the Pandavas. But he was actually tricked by the Kauravas. These arrangements were made purposely to trick him on Kauravas side. Having partaken of the Kauravas' hospitality he was forced to fight against the Pandavas. Disappointed Shalya reached out to Krishna for advice.

"I have created problem for my own nephews, already they have less armies on their side and my support is gone too" cried Shalya.

"This is a great opportunity. You can still help your nephews" said Krishna

"How?" asked puzzled Shalya

" Karan has asked you to serve as his charioteer to match Arjun's charioteer, right?" asked Krishna.

" Yes." He said.

Krishna smiled and said "Do so, without argument and when you ride out into battlefield make Karan insecure by praising Arjun. Insecure people are terrible performer."

Shalya did the same. He kept praising Arjun and made Karan insecure to an extent that he forgot how to use his most powerful weapon.

This is perhaps great example of psychological game, a case of making opponent nervous before the action. It also portrays the problem solving ability of a great leader (Krishna).
Krishna successfully utilized Shalya for the benefit of his team even when he wasn't in his team and wasn't even fighting. On the contrary, Kauravas tricked Shalya and created problem for themselves. This probably show case how a good leader seeks opportunity in every difficulty while others sees difficulty in every opportunity.

Armies of the Pandavas and the Kauravas stood facing each other. Then suddenly, Arjun asked Krishna to drive chariot between the two armies. He looked at both the armies. He saw his own brothers, uncles, nephews were standing in both armies. He lost his desire to fight. He dropped his bow and said:

"Oh Madhusan, how shall I fight with Bheesma and Drona who are worthy of worship?"

"Oh Parth, Don't be a coward, you are a warrior it is your duty to fight this battle" said Krishna

"My heart is overpowered by the taint of weakness. My mind is bewildered about my duty. I ask you. Tell me decisively what is good for me. I am your disciple. I do not see what will drive away this sorrow which dries up my senses."

" I will not fight" said Arjun and became silent.

Then Krishna explained Arjun something which is now known as "The Bhagavad Gita" comprising of 18 chapters and 700 verses. Krishna's song changed Arjun's perspective. He became more enlightened, stronger, motivated and emotionally stable.

This is perhaps one great example where a leader motivates his team member who has lost track, who has forgotten what he is capable of doing and wants to run away from his duties.  More often than not people go ahead and do wonders, once motivated. Krishna not only motivates Arjun but guides him to choose the right path no matter what price he has to pay. What impresses me about Krishna is that without touching any weapon he guided the Pandavas to victory. Isn't it a sign of great leader, one who never does actual execution but makes sure his team does it in correct way and on time?

It was ninth night of legendary blood bath. War had been inconclusive till now. Pandavas knew without defeating Bheesma it was impossible to win this war. So Pandavas held a meeting to find a way to defeat Beeshma.

"It's impossible to kill him, he has boon given by his father to decide the time of his death" said Yudhistir.

"We cannot kill him but we can immobilize him" said Krishna.

"But he is invincible" said tensed Arjun.

"What if we make him lower his bow" said Krishna with a smile.

"But he will never do that unless we get a woman in front of him and as per rule no woman can enter battlefield" said Bheem.

"What about someone who is neither man nor woman or both?" said Krishna.

"You mean Shikhandi? My elder brother?" said Dhristadhyumna.

Krishna smiled.

Shikhandi was born as a female but later acquired manhood with the help of Yaksha. Shikhandi was actually Amba in his previous life who had pledged to become the cause of Bheesma's death because Bheesma abducted Amba for his brother but his brother didn't marry her since Amba was in love with someone else. But Amba's lover rejected her later saying she was soiled by Bheesma's abduction. So Amba wanted revenge from Bheesma. Shikhandi participated in war and became the cause of Bheesma's fall. Karma's bi*** I tell you. You cannot escape it.

Shikhandi was perhaps first ever example of sex change operation mentioned in our mythology. When rest of the world thought that a person like Shikhandi can be of no use in a war, then Krishna alone realized his/her importance and made him/her play most vital role in the war. This is what I call is perfect example of resource utilization. Krishna teaches us, how to use the weakest link of the chain to build a strong team that wins the battle of  life. Choose the right man for right job. 

Pandavas gathering at ninth night for making plan to defeat Bheesma implies they had team spirit. For them, it was one goal and one team. They had Krishna as their counselor. They had Arjun as commander. Dhritadhymna as commander in chief. More than that they all were part of decision making process. It was a common war for all his team members. While Kauravas had almost no team spirit. All were fighting their own battle. Bheesma was bonded by his vow to protect Hastinapur. Drona was bonded because of his son Ashwathama while Kripa owed allegiance to throne. Shalya was anyways cheated to be on Kauravas side. Karna had his own reasons to prove himself better than Arjun. Most importantly none of them would gel with each other. Even though each one of them were very powerful individually but weak as a group. Teamwork succeeds where Individual effort fails.

Mahabharat also throws light on women empowerment. Pandavas followed matriarchal structure. They were raised by Kunti and whatever she said was Dharma for them. Draupadi always had her say in whatever they did.Both Kunti and Draupadi were always part of major decision making process for Pandavas. On the other hand, Kauravas followed patriarchal structure. None of them ever had their wives in any decision making process, even Gandhari was treated to inner chambers. No one listened to her. 

Teams need to women to balance masculine aggression, ego and dominance with feminine harmony. Women are set of rear wheel essential to keep the vehicle moving.

Family tree of characters in Mahabharata!!

Most Complicated Family Tree: Resolved!!! Well, Not really. I have just made an attempt to come up with the family tree of Kuru dynasty but whenever I feel that it's complete and correct now, I am proved wrong, something is always missing there. Uffff, This family tree is as complicated as the story itself.

Reason why I felt that I should come up with this family tree is that whenever there is a discussion on certain topic of Mahabharata, more often than not I see people(including me) getting confused with who is who in the epic. So why not map all the characters down for better understanding. 

Now that was one big task for me because unlike other royal families and stories where there is a king and a queen, they have talented son who rules the kingdom after them, Kuru family has got lots of twists and turns in the tale as to who is gonna be the next king which eventually lead to the war.

So going back in time long long ago, there used to be constant fight between Devas and Asuras for Swarga(Paradise). Everyone knows, the one with enough merits (Punya) gets into Swarga. So to maintain their merits and defeat Asuras, Devas had appointed Brihaspati, god of Jupiter, to perform yagna. Devas kept Brihaspati so occupied with yagna that his wife Tara felt so neglected by her husband that one fine day she eloped with a handsome hunk moon-god, Chandra.

When Brihaspati learned about his wife Tara, he became so furious that he threatened Indra, king of Devas that "I will resign from my roles and responsibilities of performing yagna for Devas, If you don't bring my wife back." Indra knew that if he wants to remain in business he will have to convince Tara to return to Brihaspati. Tara returned, not alone but with Chandra's child in her womb. When Brihaspati heard about this child he lost his temper and cursed the unborn child to be born of neutral gender, neither male nor female. This child was called Budh (god of planet Mercury).

As we keep hearing always, "Everything happens for a reason", so was Brishaspati's curse. One day Budh met a woman named "Ila" and instantly fell in love and married her. Actually Ila was a man, once upon a time he accidentally entered a forest which was under a spell casted by lord Shiva which would transform every
male into female. He prayed to lord Shiva to restore his manhood but it was not possible to undo it, so lord Shiva modified his spell such that he would be a man when moon waxes and a woman when moon wanes. Budh was neither man nor woman while Ila was both man and woman, thus they were perfect for each other.

                                               

Together, Budh and Ila produced many children, known as "Chanravanshi", descendants of moon.One of the descendant of moon, Pururava, was a handsome prince who happened to meet Uravashi an Apsara, a river-nymph. Pururava had never seen such a beauty in his entire life. Without much ado, he ceased the opportunity and proposed her. Uravashi agreed but with few conditions. Pururava was so much in love with Urvashi that he agreed to those conditions and both got married and had many children. Indra couldn't bear the fact that his beloved Apsara, Uravashi was spending too much time on earth so he tricked Pururava and managed to get her back in Indralok. Pururava was heartbroken when Uravashi left.
 
                                                 

Yayati was another Chandravanshi,  who once rescued Devyani, daughter of Shukra, guru of Asuras from the well she had been pushed by Sarmishtha, daughter of king of Asuras. Later on Yayati married Devyani while Sarmishtha accompanied them as maid in Yayati's kingdom. But punishment turned out to be blessing for Sarmishtha when Yayati fell in love with her and married her. Now Yayati had two wivies Devyani and Sarmishtha. He had one son from each. Yadu, born of Devyani and Puru, born of Sarmishtha. Everything was going well until Yayati was cursed to become old and impotent. The curse could be softened only if one of his sons accepted the curse on his behalf. Yadu denied but Puru accepted it. Enraged Yayati enlarged upon the punishment to his eldest son Yadu, "Neither you nor your descendants will ever be kings". The unlucky Yadu left the kingdom and settled in Mathura where his lineage flourished. Yadu's descendants are now known as Yadav, of which I am one. Yadavas since then are king makers but never kings.
                                       

Once a king Kaushik was performing ascetic practices called tapasya. Indra was not happy to see this, knowing if Kaushik succeeds he will replace him, so he sent an Apsara, Menaka. Menaka managed to attract Kaushik and union of two was a girl child. Both abandoned the child in forest. Rishi Kanva found this girl and named her Shakuntala. Rishi Kanva raised Shakuntala as his own daughter, she grew up to be a very beautiful and cultured woman.

One fine day, King Dushyant, son of Puru saw Shakuntala in forest and fell in love with her. Dushyant and Shakuntala got married secretly and had a son who was named Bharat. Yeah! The same King Bharat after whom our country has derived name "Bhaarat". Parallelly, Yadu had a son Devmidha.

Bharat grew up to a great king. He had many wives and sons from them. But Bharat was somehow not happy with any of his sons and felt none of them was worthy of his throne. So finally Bharat decicded to adopt a son, Vitatha, who was talented enough to be his heir. Just like Shakuntala, Vitatha was abandoned by his parents. Vitatha was outcome of Brihaspati and Mamata, when Brihaspati had forced himself on Mamata in the moment of lust. Throughout the epic children suffer due to faults of their parents (Shakuntala, Vitatha, Yadu, Puru and Karan)
Generations later Kuru became the king, founder of the Kuru dynasty. Due to his performance of sacrifice and asceticism at the site, the place was known as Kurukshetra, named after Kuru. Kuru's son was Pratipa.
                                                   

In the meantime, Devmidha, Yadu's son married two woman, one from royal family and other from cowherd family. He had sons from each. Son from royal wife was Sursena while the other one was Parjanya.
Sursena's children were Vasudeva and Kunti while Parjanya's son was Nanda (Krishna's foster father). Vasudeva had three children Balaram, Krishna and Subhadra. Now that makes sense why Vasudeva decided to keep Krishna with Nanda of all the people out there. (I know these characters are not from Kuru family but still some of them played crucial role in the epic like Kunti and Krishna)
                                               

Now coming back to Kuru family, Pratipa's son was Shantanu. Shantanu fell in love with Ganga. He proposed her "Be my wife", he said. "I will" said Ganga,"provided you promise me that you will never question any of my act" Shantanu was so blinded in love that he agreed. Both got married. Ganga was pregnant with Shantanu's first child. As soon as child was born Ganga drowned him in river. She did the same to seven of Shantanu's son and he could not do anything but watch helplessly because he promised Ganga that he would never question her. But he couldn't stop himself eighth time and finally he broke his silence "Stop you merciless lady, Let him live" he said. Ganga stopped and said "Honey, You broke your promise, now I cant stay with you just like Urvashi left Pururava once. The seven children whom I killed were 8 vasus who were cursed to be reborn as mortals and I helped them to keep their stay as short as possible but alas 8th vasu have to stay longer." Saying so Ganga left. Child was named "Devarata".
After few years Shantanu happened to fall in love again with a woman named Satyavati. Again he proposed Satyavati "Be my wife",  he said. "I will" said Satyavati, "Provided you promise me that only my children would be your heir." Shantanu disagreed this time he knew that Devarata was already his prince. He went into depression for not being able to get Satyavati. When Devarata learnt about this, he took the vow that he will never marry and he will renounce the claim of throne so that Satyavati's conditon is satisfied and Shantanu can marry her. Everyone was so stunned by this act of Devarata that he was renamed as "Bheeshma."

Well, Satyavati already had a son with sage Parashara(without loosing virginity, now that's astonishing isn't it?) before getting married to Shantanu. The son was raised by Parashara. He was named Krishna Dwaipayana. Later on he was renamed as Ved Vyas, the compiler of vedas. (Also the author of Mahabharata).

Now, Shantanu and Satyavati had two sons Chitrangada and Vichitraveer. Chitrangada died before marriage. Vichitraveer was supposedly weakling. Bheeshma got him two wives Ambika and Ambalika. But Vichitraveer died before he could father any children. This way Kuru bloodline came to an end. Technically, Bheeshma was last true Kuru. But Satyavati was determined to have her children on throne. She called upon her son Vyas and requested him to make two widows pregnant by the law of Niyog. He agreed. He first went to Ambika. She was so scared to see Vyas that she closed her eyes when he touched her. The child thus born of union was blind. He was Dhritarashtra. He then went Ambalika, she turned pale on seeing him, child thus born was weak called Pandu. Satyavati was clearly not happy with the fact that both the children were not fit. So she insisted Vyas to visit Ambika again. But Ambika tricked Vyas this time. She sent a maid instead. This child was healthy and wise. He was named Vidur.
                                                 

Finally the most awaited generation comes into picture. The ones who actually fight in the war. Dhritarashtra married Gandhari while Pandu married Kunti first but since Pandu was not able to father a child on Kunti, he was married to Madri. After his second marriage, Pandu was cursed by a sage that he will die as soon as he touches a woman.When Kunti learnt about this, She revealed that she had magical mantra by which she can summon any Devas and have a son from them instantly. Kunti managed to have three sons:

1. Yudhistir from Yama also known as Dharma.

2. Bhim from Vayu (wind-god)

3. Arjun from Indra (king of Devas)

Kunti shared her mantra with Madri. Madri invoked Ashwin twins lords of morning and evening. They gave Madri Nakula and Sahadeva

Gandhari was really not happy to hear that Kunti had become mother before her. Gandhari had conceived much before but her pregnancy continued for two years. She was impatient now and asked her maids to strike her belly and result was a ball of flesh. On Vyas's advice flesh was cut into 101 pieces and kept in pots of Ghee. Thus were born hundred sons and one daughter.

                                               

Now, Everyone knows that five Pandavas married Draupadi and each had one son with her. Apart from Draupadi each had other wives too but I don't think that should be mentioned here. But Yes I would like to mention Arjun's second wife Subhadra whose son was Abhimanyu who married Uttara and they had a son Parikshit who ruled Hastinapur after Yudhistir. Duryodhan had a son Lakshman who was killed by Abhimanyu in Kurukshetra.

                                           

Phew! This is how probably Kuru family tree looks like. I feel still many of them are missing from this tree.

                                                   

Disclaimer:

I came up with this lineage based on extensive reading of epic over the years and stories narrated by my dearest father. I managed to get the root of the lineage from "Jaya: An Illustrated retelling of Mahabharata" written by Devdutt Pattnaik and last but not the least "Mahabharat" TV serial by B.R.Chopra.
I have tried my best to describe the stories known to me but these stories have many versions so it is possible that one may read or hear a different version. Also, Each generations had many sons, wives, daughters and extra affairs but I have mentioned only the most relevant ones.