From Core...

Dear Diary, Such an exciting day it was!!!! All the preparations were done. In the morning itself I helped him out with his court work quickly before Amar wakes up. Today we both decided to spend time with Amar the full day- from he opens his eyes till he closes them. Maybe we both were the ones who remembered that it is a special day in this palace. The palace was decorated as brides with flowers all over and red and yellow colored curtains according to his likes in the morning. All the food was made by us. It was a pleasant surprise to see Kunwar Pratap help in cooking or maybe his intention was different which could not understand. We both had planned to give Amar a surprise; after all it was his 10 th birthday. We also planned to see how much he wants the gift, for the latter we implemented an idea of riddle game. He did not know to read but we decided to leave Chand and Maan with him. All the family members had gone to the temple so as to pray for Amar on his birthday.

                                Karnataka, rich in its culture and practices was ruled by quite many kings and all these kings even though competed for land and territory, never forgave the love and devotion and worshiped almost the same god’s.  A common area of worship was Talkad. Mysore province was ruled by Sri Ranga Raya, representative of the Vijaynagara Empire. Sri Ranga Raya even though beng one of the finest kings of the Empire was afflicted with an incurable disease. His back was swollen and boil covered his spine, later was detected to be a kind of cancer. Sri Raya immediately died of this cancer leaving behind his kingdom and the heirless queen, Alamelamma. “ Alamelu…” Alamelamma “Heli raja” Tell me my lord “Alamelu nanna jeewana kadege barata eede… ” Alamelamma, my life is coming to an end “Raja inng matada bedi” My lord, please do not talk like this “Alamelu naanu satya ne heladu ” Alamelamma, I always speak the truth “Hanga idhare inge Chanmundes

Now we both regularly took off from our duties and spent time with Amar very often. Every such incident gave us happiness. Every single day he asks new questions. Every day we struggle to answer too. He questions are so weird but we have to answer. Today too he asked a question. Ma sa, Dhajiraj kya aap hume apke prem kata bata sakte hai?? Kya? Ji ma sa batayiye na Hum… nahi nahi, hum kaise Arey dhajiraj aap kaha baag ne ki sooch rahe hai?? Kahi nahi Toh aap hume kahani batayiye Hahaha Kya Dekho toh sahi dono baap- bete ek jaise hi hai. Kya matlab?? Kunwar Pratap bhi ise hi the jab hum inse mile the aur aap toh pura pura apne dhajiraj pe hi gaye hai. Accha?? Ji humne kaha na Toh ma sa aage ki kahani batayiye na Arey arey ab apke dhajiraj batayenge Dhajiraj batayiye. Jab hum mile the na yeh jo apki ma hai na bahot sharmati thi jaise aap the jab aap chote the. Accha, ab ma sa apki bari. Apke dhajiraj hai na bahot hi bade shurveer hai, hume tab p

Meanwhile Pratap was carried away from the war zone and Chetak died on spot with his fore legs held high showing his contribution and his pride. Pratap had no senses to cry since he was unconscious. Shakti in search of Pratap found him and took him back to the camp. He knew how his bhabhisa would feel seeing him so decided to cure Pratap and take him. Amar, Chand and Shakti stayed with him to cure him and the rest went back home but not near the settlement. The Mughals were deceived. They were not the winners nor were the Rajputs so happiness was high. Akbar decided to not meddle with the Rana; he now knew what would cost them. He rested in peace at his palace with his harem ladies. After few many days Pratap rode on his feet home. All had gathered to welcome him. Ajabde was eagerly waiting. As soon as he reached she rushed there to do the vijay tilak. “Rana ji, aap ko badayi ho…” “Apko bhi…” “Kaise hai aap??”” “Hum thik aur aap??” “Hum thik hai apke rahte hue” “Cha

The letter reached the settlement without any delay and Ajabde was more than happy to receive the letter. “Ranaji hum jante te ki aap humare liye hum sabke liye Chittor wapas jeetenge….hume aap par garv hai…” “Hum likhenge patra apke liye…” She wrote the letter and filled her heart with words on the letter. The war was causing issues but a single letter soothed her to core. The night went peacefully with calmness around but it also indicated disaster. The next morning rose with brightness and with new hope. All the warriors gathered in the arena for the fight. The Rajputs without plan reached the field but Mughals did bother to plan and decided to have Chetak killed to make Pratap depressed. The day began with all fighting vigorously and having the soldiers on either side dead but the real game began after the sun reaching the north. As planned Maan Sigh sat high above the elephant and aimed a spear on Chetak. The weapon directly reached Chetak and Chetak fell down but

Suddenly there was an increase in soldiers near Pratap’s own patch therefore Shaliwaan was left all alone again but Pratap kept an eye on him to save him when the he faced difficulty. Shaliwaan and his patch were completely surrounded and Ahmed Khan was in charge of it. He kept moving here and there around the arrangement while Shaliwaan fought bravely with soldiers. “Tum me itna bhi sahas nahi hai kya ki tum kud humse ladne nahi aa rahe ho??” “Shaliwaan hum aa rahe hai…” And Ahmed Khan came to attack. And fortunately or unfortunately Rana Pratap arrived at the spot. “Sainik!!!” And the soldier placed his shield above his head. Pratap came running. He placed his foot on the shield and there was he, the warrior of mother earth held high. Pratap ran and jumped over him and sliced Ahmed Khan into two symmetrical half. Ahmed Khan died on the spot and the sun set marking the end of the day. Everything that happened awestruck all the warriors, Akbar himself were shocked to he

The sunrise marked something important. All assembled in positions as the previous day except Rana Punja who took position next to Rana Pratap. Pratap was joined by the kings of various places. Mughals had by morning reached the cliff and now proceeded to the forest area. Forest was overpopulated now with soldiers and the Bhills. The skilled guerilla warfare warriors took place in hiding. Mughals thinking nothing was there moved slowly towards the maze. But as the Mughals reached the core of the forest, i.e they cannot run back or forth situation the Bhills attacked them. The second day witnessed Maan Singh leading the army. He believed that Pratap won’t attack them in the forest. He was very confident and so moved carelessly towards the maze. “Hukum apko nahi lagta ki agar hum poori sena ko jungle ke taraf se le jayenge toh humare sainik kam ho jayenge…” “Hum jante hai ki aap kya kehna chahte hai parantu hum yeh hi karenge kyu ki hum jante hai ki Pratap humpar peeche se wa

First Day- All were assembled in the war field. Akbar’s army was much bigger in numbers but Pratap’s army was bigger in strength as well as will to fight for motherland. This only reason made Pratap’s army stronger. Bhills headed by Rana Punja hid well behind rocks. Some blocked the narrow entrance with their shields and hid behind the shields. Rana Punja was one among them. To kill and reduce the numbers all the Bhills were ready with their spears and swords. Bloodshed was inevitable but it was necessary to avenge previous deaths of great warriors. All were prepared. The patch of the Mughal’s army moved slowly yet steadily towards the cliff top. Bhills noticed their steps. They knew that they have to destroy most of the army and let some into the forest. The army approached and wondered what they should do. They had never thought that such a strategy would be used but they had to cross. “Huzoor…Huzoor” “Kya hai??” “Woh Pratap ke admi…” “Kya Pratap ke admi??” “Wah