At Guru Dharmagupta's Gurukul,
Dharmagupta welcomed all the students, "Congratulations to everyone who has made it here to this Gurukul. All of you who have made it here have that special and unique spark within you. It is because of that you are here today while the rest have left with their parents. It may take five, ten or fifteen years for you to graduate from this Gurukul. You are expected to stay here till I deem you fit for your particular station in life. Comforts and privileges will be very few here. All of you have to learn to be independent. I expect perfect discipline and compliance with the Gurukul rules and this way of life. You will be provided your basic amenities. No more, no less. If you squander or waste them, you won't be given more. We pride ourselves in our self-sufficiency. Apart from that, we serve the people of the surrounding villages whenever they need us. Any education is useless if it doesn't teach you to be a useful part of the community. You will be assigned your individual jobs and duties apart from your academic assignments as a student of the Gurukul. Get used to the Ashram and this new lifestyle for a few days. Then your education and schooling will start in right earnest. If at all any of you cannot adapt yourselves to this lifestyle, you are free to leave."
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At night,
All the new students were sitting around the bonfire socializing with their peers. Bhavani sat in a corner staring intricately at the fire burning in the center. She was the only girl student in the group. Not that she was either embarrassed, shy or gender-oriented.

Ever since she remembered life, she had spent her life among men. She never truly remembered a prim and proper woman whose example she could emulate. But then, if she had been like every other girl, she wouldn't have been here amidst all these boys, competing with them on equal terms for the sake of education.

This sort of education was her necessity. A few years down the line, if she had to survive and hold out on her own amidst her uncle and all the rebel soldiers at Udayagiri, this was the sort of training she needed. Nature had made her a girl, but necessity had forced her to be like a boy.

While she was thinking deeply along these lines, her thoughts were interrupted by the pleasant voice of Narasimha, "Why did you hold back at the last instant? From where I could see, you would have won if you did not slowdown."

Bhavani replied, "I didn't know why..... But I felt I would be happier to see you win the race than winning it myself!"

"Thank you!" Narasimha said. "I and Dilipa wouldn't have been here but for you....By the way, where are you from? Mahishmati? I remembered you specifically speaking about the heroes of Mahishmati....What were their names?...Amarendra Baahubali and Mahendra Baahubali....Do you know more about them?"

That was when Bhavani realized that she had blurted too much in her admiration for Narasimha. She had remarked in a highly unguarded manner about Amarendra Baahubali and Mahendra Baahubali. She had drawn attention and suspicion towards herself.

Narasimha didn't belong to Mahishmati at all. He was a merchant's son from Vaishali Nagar. So it wouldn't matter to him. But all the same, given her dangerous situation and that of the remaining rebels on Udayagiri, she couldn't afford to be careless or trust anyone just like that even if they were her peers at the Gurukul.

She replied in a highly guarded manner, "Oh those....those were just fictitious and imaginary folk tales and ballads that are popular among our people."

Narasimha greatly disappointed on hearing this, "So they aren't real?"

Bhavani braced herself to tell what she knew was a falsehood. A lie uttered to save many is greater than a truth that leads to destruction, "Yes....Amarendra Baahubali and Mahendra Baahubali are fiction....They never really existed."

Narasimha sighed. It was but a reiteration of all that he knew as the Prince of Mahishmati. He should have been happy that it only confirmed what he already knew. But it didn't. He didn't know why he felt sorry that it was ultimately a fiction. He didn't know why his heart wanted to believe that Amarendra Baahubali and Mahendra Baahubali were really true and did exist at one point of time.

Bhavani said within herself, "Sorry Narasimha. I cannot trust this integral part of my truth and my identity with you."
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A few days later,
The life of the students in the Gurukul began in right earnest. Everyone had been assigned their individual jobs. For the first month, Narasimha had been given to job of assisting Dharmagupta during his visits to the nearby villages for treating the patients.

Dilipa was posted on the Goshala duty or taking care of the cows and calves in the cow shed. Bhavani was supposed to help Sister Arundhathi in making preparations for the meals and maintaining general cleanliness in the Gurukul.

Narasimha inquired Dilipa whom he met on his way to join Dharmagupta for one of his ministering sessions with a patient in a nearby village, "How's life?"

"Not what I imagined it to be. My whole back is aching from bending down in the Goshala to clear the place of cow dung. God! Who would have known that the same cow gives both milk and cow dung! And these cows and calves give cow dung in such huge quantities", Dilipa fulminating about his apparently thankless job. "I am waiting for Bhavani. Once I give her this batch of cow dung that I have collected, I will head back to my dormitory. Where are you off to at this time in the evening?"

"What is Bhavani going to do with that stuff? Some beauty treatment or what?" Narasimha joked.

"Nothing of that sort. They will be dried in the sun to make cow-dung cakes which will be used while cooking" replied Bhavani who arrived just then and had apparently overheard a portion of the conversation between the two friends. "Similarly, it will also be mixed with water and used to clean and anoint the mud floors. It will serve as an antiseptic and keep germs and diseases away from the Gurukul premises."

Narasimha replied, "That's interesting to know. Now I have to get going. If I am late, Guru Dharmagupta will take me to task."

Dilipa clicked his tongue, "Your job is nice. You get to visit all the places with our Guru."

Bhavani remarked, "That job isn't as nice as you think Dilipa. The weather is becoming very cold these days."

Dilipa agreed, "That's true. People keep summoning Guru Dharmagupta at all hours from distant places. It must be difficult to assist him during such trips, isn't it?"

"It isn't, but neither is it too difficult. There are times when I have to wake up the whole night and then join all of you in the morning for our classes. There are yet other times when it is very very cold outside and we have to go to far off villages to treat patients. What I learnt from all this is that nothing in life comes easy or on a platter. You have to work for it. But I enjoy these outings with our Guru. He speaks quite a lot of things which we never discuss while in the Gurukul", Narasimha said.

Bhavani a bit thoughtfully, "Don't forget to wear your winter clothes. It is quite cold outside."

Dilipa too seconded it, "Yes, do as she says."

"I will", Narasimha replied as he ran off on his way.

While handing Bhavani the cow dung he had collected, Dilipa scratched his head and asked, "Do you care so much for Narasimha? Winter clothing and all....."

Bhavani vehemently nodded her head, "You're mistaken. I would have told that to anybody......"

Dilipa a bit incredulous, "You would have told that to anybody? Why? You never tell that to me?"

Bhavani said, "But you are always stuffed to the neck. Why would I tell you? And Narasima is so careless when it comes to himself. You know him, don't you?"

Dilipa agreed, "Yes that is there, but still....."
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The next morning,
Guru Dharmagupta explained, "The most important thing necessary to accomplish any great task is single-pointed determination and focus." He would have proceeded expounding upon this concept even further when he was stopped in his tracks by a discordant sound emanating from amidst his students.

Snore! Zzzzzzzzz! Snore!

Everybody turned back in surprise to find out who was the one who had been caught snooping. The students started whispering among themselves.

"Silence!" said Guru Dharmagupta in a loud voice to silence the apparent commotion among the students. He continued in a serious voice, "Narasimha....get up!"

Narasimha, blissfully ignorant of all this, slept on. Bhavani and Lohith tugged and shook him to wake him up from his beauty sleep. At last, he stood up in an unsteady manner rubbing his eyes before a furious Dharmagupta who said, "I didn't expect such an indiscipline from you, Narasimha."

"I am sorry, Master. I didn't mean to disrespect you. I have never woken up for the Brahmamuhurta before this at home. And we returned late yesterday night after the visit to the nearby village for treating the patient who was suffering from epileptic fits. My sleep was not complete...That's why..."

"Narasimha, you cannot tell in future to your enemies 'My sleep isn't complete. Let us postpone fighting till I finish my sleep!' Can you? As a punishment for this lapse, you will not sleep for the next forty-eight hours. You have to learn to control your body needs like sleep on the war field."
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