The Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Author:Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni [Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-10-14T08:33:29+00:00

‘What do you want now?’ he said in a gruff voice. ‘Can’t you see that I have my hands full?’

Clearly, he had no idea who I was.

‘I am Sita, Lord Ram’s wife,’ I said. ‘Thank you for the dinner you cooked us last night. It was good to come home and eat some Koshalan food, after many years.’

His eyes widened and he joined his palms and bowed. ‘Queen Sita! Pardon me, it’s been so many years since I saw you last. You were a beautiful new bride, and I was just Sharav, a lowly kitchen assistant, peeling vegetables and washing pots. I still remember the wonderful feast that was prepared in this kitchen when you were welcomed into Ayodhya, though of course I wasn’t allowed to cook any of it! It broke all our hearts when the old king was tricked into banishing Lord Ram and Lakshman to the forest and you went with them. I’m sorry I couldn’t send a better meal to Queen Kaushalya’s rooms last night, but that was all I could manage to put together. You see, I’m the only one left here, and the treasurer hardly gives me any money to buy food. Says things are very tight since the wars and the famines.’

‘How about your pay?’ I asked.

Sharav shook his head. ‘That’s why the others left. There’s been no money to pay us for a while, and they have families to feed. But I stayed on. What would happen to the two old queens if I left? I thought. As it is, they don’t ask for anything, don’t seem to have any interest left in life. I cooked whatever I could forage for them, trusting that Lord Ram and you would return someday and things would get better.’

‘How about Queen Kaikeyi?’ I asked.

‘Haven’t seen her in years,’ the man said. ‘Lord Bharat—he was crazy with anger at her when he came back and found his father dead and his brother banished. He would have killed her if the holy sadhus who’d come to conduct the funeral hadn’t stopped him, saying it was a great sin for a man to kill his mother. He threw out that hunchback Manthara, who’d been the cause of all the trouble, and he imprisoned Kaikeyi in her apartments. None of us know what goes on in there . Once in a while we see a maid or two go to the market for food, but they don’t talk to us. Princess Urmila is another mystery. No one except her chief maid is allowed to enter her chambers , and she hasn’t asked me for any food for the princess, not once in fourteen years.’

I was troubled by all this bewildering news, especially the part about Urmila, but I had to focus on one thing at a time. I took off the heavy gold bangles Mandodari had given me in Lanka and held them out to Sharav. ‘Thank you for telling me what has been happening, Sharav. And thank you for your loyalty.

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