Amrapali
Chapter 1
“Dear Child, I will leave you here, knowing very well that all that you learnt in the last twelve years from me would help you to live with out my presence at your side. This world is full of strife and adversities. You are a god given child and when you were born , the wise men of Vaishali had predicted that you will be well respected and will carve a niche for yourself in the history of this land. Your parents had left you in my care as their life was shattered by an ambitious king. As per promise given to them , I have brought you up.It is time for you to make up your own life. This great city of Vaishali will give you the shelter and security that , due to advancing age I am unable to give any more. So forgive me if you can and let me go on my way. Be true to yourself and this city. Never fear .Spread word of love among the people you meet. Let all good things happen to you.”
The young girl smiled at the old man and hugged him for one last time. Then she held his hands together and said ‘Thank you sir. You have prepared me well for this situation. I will now manage my life myself and make the prophesy of those wise men come true. You go peacefully now. Thank you again.
The old man left and the girl found herself alone. She looked around her for the first time. She was in a very beautiful garden , the plants were very tastefully laid out. Flower beds were demarcated with brickwork and as she looked , she saw a variety of flowers , with a bewildering range of colours.Huge trees surrounded the garden throwing wide circle of shade. Green lawn stretched in front in an undulating landscape that made the place look pretty. She was standing under a mango tree. She could see tiny raw green mangoes. She thought very soon these mangoes will ripe and people will come and pluck them and take them out. Their life will soon come to an end.The girl thought her present stage in life was very similar to that of young green mango Small, tender with an enchanting intoxicating smell..She too would ripe into a beautiful lady for some one to pluck and carry her away, she hoped. Till that happens she decided she will stay in this garden.
She then went on to make herself comfortable and familiar with the lay out of the garden. She heard a cuckoo, hiding somewhere in the overhead green leaves, make out a sweet note which thrilled her no end. Delighted, she called out and the bird responded to her huge surprise. She clapped her hands in glee and jumped a few steps. The bird flew out of his hiding place, circled above her head and then disappeared.
She walked around the garden. In that warm afternoon there were not any visitors in the garden , she was almost all alone , she thought. She saw some deers in the distance and many rabbits in the burrows among the bushes. She ran along the flower beds enjoying the riot of colours and the sublime scent. She stopped at the bush of queen red rose where the roses were in full bloom. She plucked one and put it in her hair . She saw a pond near by and ran to it . Sitting on the parapet wall that ran along the bank , she looked at her image in the still water. A round pretty face with larger black eyes stared back at her. “I have company.’ She said and laughed aloud. The ring of her laughter went round the garden in a series of waves reflected by trees
Madhav , the gardener working in a far secluded corner heard the laughter and looked in surprise. He saw a young girl of 16 or 17 years dancing under a mango tree close to the pond. ’who is this uncommonly pretty girl?.Is she the Vana devata that people always talk about. Where did she descend from?’.He had not heard any one walking in .To satisfy his curiosity he walked up to her and she too turned and stared at him wondering where he came from. ’WHO ARE YOU?”she asked beating him to the question. The way she put it, it was not really a question but a reaction to his sudden and un expected appearance close to her.”I am the gardener here. what are you doing here. who are you and how did you gain entry?”
“How many questions, ”she said softly ’I am afraid I can not answer any. I just happen to be here. I do not know who I am. All I know is presently I am standing in the shade of a lovely mango tree and that I love mangoes. You can call me Amba. Do you like that name? I just thought it for myself.”
The docile gardener said ’who am I to like or dislike your name. You must have a name, parents or somebody. You just can not happen to be here.”
‘As I said earlier, I can not answer any of your questions. You simply must allow me to stay here.”
My dear girl. You know how life is. You need food to stay alive. You need water to drink and clean up. you need to dress. You need a place to sleep. You think you will get all that in this garden?
“why not?.I can find all that I need to live. These tall leafy trees give me the shelter I need. They give me fruits for my food. There is a pond with all the water I need. There are birds to keep me company. I also see many deers and lot of rabbits I can befriend. I am sure I will be able to manage as long as you do not drive me away”
She talked very easily. There was a note of assertiveness in all that she said.
It appeared as though she was giving a regal command and not an explanation. The gardener, used to commands by nobles of Vaishali recognised the regal bearing she had displayed. Only great queens and ladies of noble birth talk like this and his natural servile instincts surfaced and he mellowed. ’Young lady, that is not possible. come evening , this place will be full of people and an unescorted beautiful young lady will become an object of attraction and curiosity that nobles may not approve. I have to report about you.’
The girl smiled at him and said ,”please do so, immediately. Your superiors will find a way for me. I am told that the nobles of Vaishali are very kind. They will not harass a lonely girl. Please tell them that I said that.”
‘I will do that right away. In the meantime do you need anything to eat?’ he asked with lot of concern.’ I do not see you carrying anything. You can share my food if you do not mind.’
She was happy to hear that .She said, ’you are very observant and most kind. If you have any food to spare, I will take it. If you are going to starve yourselves by giving away what you kept for yourself, I would not like that.’
She was like a proud queen keeping her dignity even when reduced to penury. The gardener obeyed as though he was used to taking orders from her. He went to the nearest house in the Nobles settlement and reported ” Sir, there is an young lady in the garden who wishes to stay there. I have told her that would not be allowed. She wont listen to me . She says she has faith in the sentiments of nobles who would not harass a lonely girl. What should I do sir?”
The Noble found it strange that a vagrant girl could talk so much. He asked the gardener what she looked like..The gardener went on saying ” Sir, she looks like a goddess. She talks like a queen. Her voice will put a cuckoo to shame. The swans in the pond possibly learnt to glide that way after seeing her walk. She is enchanting, sir”
The Noble laughed ’man, you have fallen in love with her already. She is probably a stranger. Did you find out anything at all about her?.’
“That is the strangest thing ,Sir. She does not seem to know anything about herself..She does not who she is.”
The noble consulted his friends and soon all of them were marching to the garden. There they saw her sitting on the parapet wall overlooking the pond surveying the bunch of pink Lotuses and white water lilies floating in the water. With one hand in the water she was sweeping the surface and turned to see a team of nobles walking towards her. They all looked at her.
Moon like face with shining dark eyes that seemed to bore into you. Her lips small red and opened a little revealing set of pearly white teeth, a mouth seemingly ready to say something they would listen to and obey with out a question. Her bearing gave an impression that she had no worry. Her skin spotless and ivory white. She had long black hair that fell at her back like a cascade of river.
The nobles looked transfixed. They had never seen a beauty like this one. In wonder and thrill their mouths opened to say wow.
The girl with a gay abandon laughed, the laughter putting all of them at ease instantly
“It is not considered very polite to stare at a young girl this way. Do you have anything to tell me?”Her beautifully arched eyebrow lifted up in a question.
They could not bring themselves to respond.
“The gentle gardener must have already told you about me. I would like to stay here.”
The Nobles talked among themselves in low tones. Then their spokesman said ”we can not allow a lonely girl to live here. You have to move into some house. You have to marry some one if you don’t have any one to care for you.”
‘I will marry her now’ said one eager noble.
“Not when I am alive” said another in a challenging tone. Very soon they became a bunch of hot overbearing quarrelsome lot clamouring for her hand. They came very close to blows jostling one another to reach her and take her hand.
She found it very amusing. She calmed them down like the legendary Mohini and said smartly, ”Do not quarrel this way. I shall not belong to anybody. I am here to serve people of this city, the nobles and others. So nobody takes me home. I shall stay here in this spacious garden. You may please make suitable arrangement for my stay here.”
The nobles were not sure in what way she could serve them. She said softly ”you are all hot and tense , off your normal cheerful mood. Let me help you to relax .”Then she began to sing an ancient Vaishali song that was normally sung in houses where a marriage has just taken place and the bride was all set to go out with her bridegroom to his house. The song conveyed happiness about the marriage, pain of separation from the parents who had brought up the bride so lovingly till this date and the house where she had grown up. The song climbed to higher tempo at the hope for lasting love and happiness in the new house in the company of one whom she had chosen as life partner. Nobles who heard that song found their own moods change, tensions eased and hope sprang in every heart. As she sang she moved about reaching every one of the nobles, touching their hands softly, putting her own face close to their tense faces and with some young hopefuls she also danced few steps .When she finished the song every one experienced a strange sense of fulfilment and all animosity had vapourised in the face of sublime love she displayed towards all of them. They clapped their hands in joy filled gratitude. If this was the way she was going to take care of them, nobody seemed to have any objection to her presence in the garden. An elderly noble took her face in his hands and said with feeling ”my dear girl, we were all blind with our ego and behaved foolishly to acquire you .You have shown you will care for all of us in your own way. We accept you as one of us and will build a place for you in this very garden. It will be a place unique in conception and use, it will be a place where love and concern will dominate and understanding will envelope warmly any one who visits your place The walls will vibrate with your sublime music and floors will resonate your fleeting dancing steps. Moods will change as per season outside, reflecting friendship, dignity and sense of give and take with no physical domination of any one.”
Amba hugged the elderly noble and said, ‘That was said very well sir, thank you. Here let me lay the first brick for the building” As she said these words she picked up a stray brick and placed at a site she thought was most suitable for the pavilion that she will live in once it is constructed. She continued, “This is the highest point in the landscape, dominating the garden. The flower beds in front with the lotus filled pond to one side and the tall trees in the back ground will make this place perfectly harmonious with the garden green. This house will have doors that will not close on any one. People visiting this place will carry back the warmth of love and care that I will provide..Their tension filled mind will find a release in this house and the vibration of exotic music and dancing will fill them with a contentment they never experience anywhere else. This will be a very special house indeed.”
For the nobles and town people this was a new concept. They had heard of courtesans and devadasis but what Amba had suggested was something different and they wondered if it would turn into an abode of sophisticated courtesan for carnal pleasures. They hoped it would not be so because the bearing of Amba was such that baser thoughts seemed to have no place in any ones mind.
Over next few months the building came up majestically with Amba supervising the construction and every one contributing. The place looked as though it belonged there. When the day for moving in came, the whole town rejoiced and they felt that Amba was the best thing that ever happened to the ancient city. When ever people talked about the city of Vaishali , they also spoke about Amrapali and the two went together occupying every ones mind. They all gained some thing from her. For young boys and girls it was a place of learning art and music , for the elderly it was a place of reminiscing and for the youth and nobles it was a place of meeting , decisions and leisure.
For all the ladies of Vaishali it was a place where they learnt about equality of genders, their rights and duties apart from the impact they made in their homes bringing in harmony of purpose and thought.
Apart from displaying her vast knowledge in art, music and dance She also proved how accomplished she was in fields of philosophy, grammar and logic. She could win her arguments with out hurting her opponents ego. She won over her detractors by her magnanimity..Nobody felt they had lost to her.