Madri's Sacrifice for Love

I walked through the heavenly skies, bouncing on the full soft clouds. My daily walk through the heavens always brought me peace. I had been doing this ever since I got to heaven. My husband, Pandu, never liked taking these walks with me, claiming it was not manly enough for him. My husband makes me laugh a lot; I spend most of my walk thinking and laughing about him.
As I leaped from cloud to cloud, I saw this beautiful girl coming in the opposite direction. I wondered what could have taken this girl's life at such a young age for her to be in heaven. I watched her as she came along; she was singing to herself. She seemed happy and that calmed me. I was tired of seeing young people in heaven being sulky over not being on earth and enjoying all the worldly pleasures. This girl seemed different and she made me curious to know who she was. I walked towards her, more like bounced because the clouds were super-saturated today, and introduced myself.

I said, "Hello, my name is Madri. What is your name?"
She replied, "My name is Latika."
I asked, "What a beautiful name! Where are you heading, Latika?"
At this moment, she seemed to appraise me to ensure I was not intending any harm. Once I had satisfied whatever standards she had in her sub-conscious, she answered my question.
"I was going to see the Northern Lights at the end of the cloud path. I heard the lights were really beautiful and I am curious to see them."
"Oh cool!" I said, "Do you mind if I come with you? I am just taking my daily walk and so I would not mind changing my course. Is it far off from here?"
Latika replied, "No, it is close; do not worry. You can come with me."

We walked in silence for the first two minutes, partly due to the beauty of the heavens but mostly due to awkwardness.
She surprised me with her attempt to break the ice. She asked, "I heard about you, Madri. Your life story is very famous. I have heard several versions; would you care to tell me your story? I totally understand if you do not want to."

I paused for a moment. I was shocked at her boldness and curiosity. She reminded me a lot of myself. I also thought about the way she had described my life. Me? Famous?I took a deep breath and looked at her. At this point I realized that I had scared Latika with my silence. Her face was filled with regret for asking me that question.

I put my hand on her shoulder and said, "My life has only one story that is worth telling, Latika. It is about the love I had for my husband, Pandu."
Latika got excited and laughed nervously, still unsure about what was going to happen. I began my story, somewhat at the middle where Pandu came into my life:

"Pandu and I got married and were totally in love. We had a great marriage, regardless of the hardships and sacrifices that come with a successful marriage. Pandu adored me and knew me like no one else did. I knew him too, like the back of my hand. As fate would have it, he came home one day very upset and distraught. I begged him to tell me why but he adamantly refused. I cooked him his favorite meal and used my special massage oils to relieve his stress..."

At this point, Latika giggled shyly which made me stop. I guess she was anticipating where the story would lead and how much I would tell her. I laughed with her and  continued the story.

"As I was saying, Pandu finally relented and told me that he had been cursed to die during intercourse. I was devastated but yet I had to be strong for Pandu. There was no point in both of us being sorrowful about it. Since then, our marriage changed. We had to find other ways to be close to each other. We would spend hours talking and getting know each other more as we grew older. We would take romantic getaways to the woods and the lakes. Also, we would discuss the welfare of our twins, Sahadeva and Nakula. These activities made us closer. One day, during one of our romantic getaways, Pandu lost control of his emotions and had sexual intercourse with me. He died that very instant. I was greatly depressed. You have to understand the trauma of having your husband die out of love for you. During his funeral, out of grief and my own weakness, I left my sons and jumped unto Panda's pyre. So here I am, spending eternity in heaven. I miss my sons but at least I still have Pandu and I will see my sons too at their due time."

Latika's eyes were moist with tears. She confessed, "I wish I had lived long enough to love the way you have loved! You have loved fully, giving your whole mind and heart to someone else. That is worth dying for, Madri. You are awesome!"

I smiled at what she said and we walked the rest of the journey in silence. The silence was good this time, not awkward. We saw the Northern Lights together and then walked back home.

Latika may not know it, but her words had a great impact on me. Her encouragement was very refreshing and they brought with them a wealth of peace that I have lacked since I entered heaven with Pandu, leaving my sons behind on Earth.


Madri and Pandu

Image Title: Pandu and Madri
Image Source:  Indian Net Zone

Author's Note: I started this story with several possibilities of how I could play out Madri's life. I felt the best way to organize my thoughts was to begin writing. The above story is the product of that decision. I wrote Madri's story to be different from Sita's story and from Kaikeyi's story. Although, I wanted it to also be a reflection, I tried to take Madri away from the heroine status and portray her as an everyday person. I introduced the character Latika because I felt there had to be a human audience to respond to a story like Madri's. My story takes on several assumptions. First of all, I assumed that the couple actually made it to heaven, which was never mentioned in the book. I also created my version of what I thought heaven was like. This is different from the other two stories because in those stories, Sita and Kaikeyi were still on earth. Finally, in this story, Madri's journey down memory lane was requested of her. She did not reminiscence on her own but to satisfy someone's curiosity. All three stories are the same in the way of a regret or life disappointment that needs soothing or reconciliation.

Bibliography
CoverPage
Introduction