"What the hell did you just tweet!" she demanded. "Five villages for five sons? Peace is the only cause worth fighting for?" she scoffed! "What are you, a romantic now? And why the hell did you tag Krishna in your tweet? He's going to ignore and all his followers are going to troll you now! You deserve it". The questions came in a constant stream.
"Sit down, Draups, calm down", Kunti reasoned. "No I shall not calm down. And stop calling me by that ridiculous nickname, I told you to stop it 3 days into vanvaas. You've started it again!"
Silence.
"So, will you explain your tweet?" Draupadi demanded again.
"I don't know what is there to explain. Don't you want peace?"
"Yes, I want peace. Peace of bloody mind, which I will get when I see Bheema drinking Dushasana's blood. I will get it when I wash my hair in his blood and I see the limp bodies of Drona, Kripa, Bhishma, Karna and Duryodhana burnt. And here you're suggesting 5 villages while those tyrants rule! Who gave you that idea? It was Yudhishtira wasn't it? I've had enough of his Dharmic virtue signalling these days!" She began to cry in earnest. "I thought Arjuna at least loved me deeply, but he's reading too much philosophy these days as well. Constantly whines about how much he respects Drona and Bhishma as his gurus. Paaah! Gurus who sat and did nothing while his wife was molested. What's the point of being the best warrior in the world if you die without ever shooting a bullet in your life? I bet he's already dreaming about living in his little village as Duryodhana's slave while the whole world admires Karna no? Only poor Bheema is as angry as me, but he listens to Yudhishtira like an idiot. No one cares about my humiliation." Her tears overwhelmed her words and she could speak no more. She dissolved into tears, but only for a few seconds. She was a warrior herself - she gathered all her resolve and continued.
"What hurt me the most was, all day I was creating new accounts, making new bots on twitter, new pages on facebook. I was presenting our side as a grand rebellion against the entrenched rulers, a rule over the people versus a rule with the people. It was getting great engagement - people even changed their handle names in support of the "Kuru government in exile". How cool is that! All that hard-work undone by one tweet from you!"
"There's nothing to talk about. You're a traitor. Yudhishtira and Arjuna are big-headed idiots who think they're too smart. My only hope is Krishna. He saved me from Dushasana, he will save me from having to live in a random village for the rest of my life. He will know what to do". Kunti grimaced inside. "Ummm, Draupadi. I think you may have missed out on a bit of news." she said slowly.
"What news?" Draupadi demanded.
"So that tweet, it wasn't just a random idea of mine. It's our official truce offer and Krishna has gone as our messenger to Duryodhana's court. I was just putting it out there."
Draupadi's reaction was exactly what Kunti feared. It was a mixture of anger, a feeling of betrayal and utter helplessness. Stunned silence followed as Draupadi digested what she had just heard. The anger in her voice was no longer fiery, it had turned to ice. "Who. Suggested. This. Idea?" she hissed, enunciating every word clearly. Kunti's face fell, for she knew the answer would disappoint Draupadi. "Krishna gave Yudhishtira this idea. Yudhishtira was strongly in support of it, Arjuna said it's a good idea. Bheema got annoyed, but he consented as well. Nakula and Sahadeva, well, you know them. They were in their own world saying their own things, but in the end they agreed as well."
Draupadi had only thing on her mind. The whole world would think she was hysterical, but she was already planning well ahead on what could be done. She could demand from her father to call her brother and the entire Panchala army. Her online support would mean she could even get convince some motivated mercenaries and youngsters to join her camp. And of course, Bheema. She knew he was itching for a war with Duryodhana! They could slowly raise support and funds for an army. She muttered a goodbye to Kunti and got up.
"Draupadi wait!", Kunti called. "I understand how upset you are but think about the costs of war. Think about all the lives that will be saved, all the children who will grow up with both parents. We can avert so much destruction. The price paid for a life lost in incalculable. War must be averted at every cost whenever possible".
Draupadi stopped dead and turned around to face Kunti. A strange calm came over her. Every thought flowed in her mind with a sharp clarity. "Let us be clear about one thing, Amma. There never was peace. Those people have been at war with your sons for decades. Just because there aren't two armies assembled at a battlefield firing at each other, just because there is no shankhnaad echoing across the meadows, it does not mean there is no war. We have offered them the chance to reform their ways a million times. And a million times they have slapped away our hands that were extended in friendship. For how long must we endure humiliation and pain because we are of the same blood, because we were once one people? And for once, let everything not be about your sons. What about the one you accepted in your home as your daughter, me? I could have stayed back in Indraprastha under the protection of Bhishma or Drona or Kripa and lived like a queen. I chose to walk with your sons in my bare feet across jungle, grassland and desert. I have eaten berries for days, slept with an empty stomach for nights on end. War and kingdom were the games played by men, I have always been a mere pawn following them. But when the time came to assert power over the other, I was suddenly called to play. No one disrobed Bheema, no one dragged Sahadeva by his hair in front of a packed hall. All your sons vowed revenge on Duryodhana, but now they are like meek goats as soon as the possibility of comfort is offered to them. My suffering means nothing. When a discussion takes place and Krishna is called to be sent as our messenger, I am not informed, I am not called or consulted. From the first day, this has been a war, a war I didn't choose yet a war in which I suffer the most. So today, for the first time, I will at least have my say, if not my way." She stormed off towards the door, but paused before leaving the room. She had been weighing the cruelest words in her mind and decided to utter them.
"Oh one more thing, Amma. You lost Karna when you heartlessly flung him into the river, he will never rejoin you. He will fight against his brothers even if he knows the truth about who he is. So support your sons who grew up playing on your lap, drinking milk from your breast, not he who you condemned to the life of a vagabond, a life of misery and death at the hands of his own brother. He will not come back to you, quit pining already." Draupadi left without turning around to see the effect her words had. Moments ago, Kunti was gleefully imagining a life of peace, with 6 sons, 5 of them happily in their beautiful villages under the protection of their cousin, the sixth a king in his own right, serving her as well. Now she was a broken woman. She prayed for Krishna's well-being and success in his mission while also hoping Draupadi didn't truly mean her parting words.
Draupadi walked straight for Bhima's quarters when she bumped into Krishna returning from his mission. Krishna looked stoic, but the edge of his lips were curved upward in a slight smile. Draupadi walked on, pretending she didn't see him. Krishna understood exactly how she felt. With feigned resignation he sighed loudly, "Well, there will be a war after-all, Draupadi." Draupadi turned around and faced Krishna in shock before remembering Krishna's betrayal. But Krishna continued speaking, now playfully with sarcastic exaggeration. "Who imagined Duryodhana would be arrogant enough to turn down the offer of five villages, huh?" he demanded from no one in particular. "You know what he said? He said he wouldn't give the land equal to the prick of a needle."
His voice now turned playfully poignant and sad. "Well, when Yudishtira hears that even this most humble offer has been rejected, and so rudely, even he will agree that there has to be war. What a pity." Draupadi nearly burst out giggling. "Oh Krishna, you evil genius!" she exclaimed. She rushed to tell Bheema. Krishna did know what to do!