"I am Yudhishthir. These are my brothers Bheem, Nakul, Arjun and Sahadev. She is our wife Draupadi."

Aranya paled as her doubts turned true. They are the legendary Pandavas and Draupadi. Time travel is real. But how is it possible? She stares at nothing in particular trying to gather her thoughts and make sense of what happened. Observing her inner turmoil, Hridansh takes it upon himself to answer Arjun's query about never knowing a kingdom named Karnataka. "Rajkumar Arjun, we do not have kingdoms anymore. Karnataka was formed many centuries after your time. Forgive me, but there is no easy or sugar coated way to tell you this. The Indraprasth and Hastinapur as you know it, ceased to exist about 5000 years ago."

It is the Pandavas and Draupadi who are frozen in shock now. They knew they probably travelled to a different time but they hadn't expected to travel 5000 years in future. A pang of uneasiness hit Yudhishthir as he realised something terrifying. He had asked Devi Kali to take him to a place where people strive for equality. It took 5000 years since then for people to find courage and support to fight against any kind of discrimination. Why did it take so long? What horrors had earth witnessed in the meanwhile? He has to find out the root cause of this and try his best to amend it once he returns to Indraprasth.

An uncomfortable silence spread in the living room as both the parties tried to digest the information they received. A plethora of thoughts ran at an unparalleled speed in each person's mind muddling their senses. A sudden rumble cut through the silence effectively breaking the chain of thoughts. Another louder growl followed suit as if competing with the former one. The culprits namely Hridansh and Bheem, failing to hide both their embarrassments and hunger, let out a sheepish smile. With a light hearted chuckle Aranya asks everyone to freshen up while she arranges their dinner.

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Happiness flooded through Aranya as she sleepily checked her phone and realized it is Saturday. Lazily she made her way to the living room and did a double take on seeing six people sitting there completely dressed. The previous day's events crash down on her and she passes a weary smile at them. The antique clock hanging nearby shows the time to be 8:00 a.m. Confused on seeing them ready for the day, she switches on Google Home and asks "Good morning! Did you all have a good sleep? Why are you up and ready so early in the morning?"

Draupadi and her husbands were shocked to find the living room void of their hosts when they walked in after getting ready for the day. Worry was slowly starting accumulate in the atmosphere. It wasn't until a prahar that they saw Aranya walking in, in her night clothes. Her query only added another brick to their block of surprises. Why is she referring to the time as early morning? Hasn't one-third of the second prahar passed? They voiced their queries "Good morning Aranya. We had a good sleep. Thank you for asking. Are you and Hridansh doing well? We were worried on not seeing you both here at Brahma muhurat."

Realisation dawned upon Aranya at the word Brahma muhurat. During her teenage, whenever she woke up late, her grandmother used to mock her talking about how in the olden days people woke up at 4:00 a.m. With a smile she replies,"Yes. We are doing well. He will be joining us in a few minutes. People here do not usually wake up at Brahma muhurat unless it is for something urgent. There are a lot of things we have to talk about, including this language barrier. But prior to that, can I get you all anything to eat or drink? I suggest you try a delicious beverage of Kaliyug called coffee." Upon receiving their acceptance, she starts to make the drink.

***********************

The tantalizing aroma of the brewed deliciousness wafts through the dining area as everyone gathered around to have a taste of the delectable coffee. With a mug of the steaming hot beverage in their hands and a mini Google Home in the center, the eight prepared themselves for the conversation ahead. Hridansh started, "We need to look for a way to get you all home. Do you have any idea on how you might have reached Kaliyug?"

Yudhishtir replied "We have not reached here on accident. We have prayed and asked Mata Kali to send us here. You do not have to take the trouble to find our way home. Mata Kali has given us the means to return." The couple's confused expressions make Arjun explain the reasoning behind their Travel Across Yugas. Yudhishtir continues after his younger brother. "Thank you for your kindness and for offering us shelter. Is there any way we can repay the help? Also, I know this is a bit too much but can you please help us in understanding your way of living?"

Dharmaraj's humbleness shocked the couple. Although they have heard tales of his glory, watching him not show even the slightest of pride for being a king, pleasantly surprised them. Hridansh replied, "Please do not talk of repaying us. You being here with us is our greatest honor. We will gladly do our best to help you understand all that you want to know about our culture." Aranya continues, "I agree with Hridansh. It is our absolute pleasure to be your hosts. Fortunately, there are a lot of means for you to understand about our ways in detail. We can start exploring them when you wish to."

"Thank you for accepting to help us. I have a couple of questions. Which language is it that you speak now? Is that the language spoken in the present day Aryavart?" asked Sahadev. Arjun added to the list of questions, "You said it is a great honor for you to have us here. Why is it so? Do you know about us?"

Hridansh replied, "We are speaking in English right now. In the present day India, we speak multiple languages. However, the official language of our union is Hindi whose script is similar to that of Sanskrit's." Pointing to Google Home, he continues, "With the help of that, Aranya and I will teach you our language."

Aranya answers Arjun's query, "Almost everyone in our country has either heard or read your story at some point." Turning towards Yudhishtir she continues, "Maharaj Yudhishtir, your journey towards the throne of Hastinapur is explained as one of the great epics and many life lessons are taught based on it. You have mentioned being the king of Indraprasth. In your future, you will be the king of Hastinapur. I will not delve into any other detail as it is better for you to go through your life not having any prior knowledge about your future."

Silence spread over the dining area as Draupadi and her husbands tried to process all the information they received. Yudhishtir did not know how to take the knowledge of ascending the throne of Hastinapur. He knew he would never willingly raise weapons against his family and his cousin will not easily let go of the throne. He could not think of a scenario that does not result in war. He shook out of his thoughts planning to deal with the situation when it arises. Bheem takes a sip of the forgotten refreshment and exclaims, "Absolutely delicious!!! What is this drink? Aranya, you have to teach me how to make this. You said we are in the southern part of Aryavart. I haven't tried any southern dishes yet. I heard they are flavorsome."

With a hearty laugh Aranya speaks, "Of course! I have heard a lot about your fondness for food." With a teasing smile she adds, "Be it cooking or eating. You are considered to be one of the best cooks. I will help you with making a coffee if you let me in on few of your culinary secrets." Hridansh shakes his head fondly and says, "It looks like she found a cooking companion. Now, I can be free of her random rants about various recipes and techniques."

Nakul jumps at the opportunity to tease his elder brother, "Not just you Hridansh. We will also be free of Bhrata Bheem's talks. Bhrata Arjun, let's celebrate our independen-" Nakul is cut off by Bheem conking his head. Arjun, however, catches the chance and says, "I must warn you Aranya. There is a reason Bhrata Bheem is famous for his penchant for food. You will have to cook a lot for him." Sharing a good-humored laughter, the bunch continues attacking each other with light-hearted jokes.

****************************************

"Ahh! That is one gratifying lunch! Thank you for letting me linger around the kitchen when you're cooking Aranya" says Bheem gleefully looking like a child who is given candy. "Linger around? You nearly drove the poor girl insane with your ceaseless questions every five minutes." exclaimed Arjun feeling bad for his host. Aranya let out a chuckle and gracefully denied being irritated by Bheem. "You are just kind to deny that. We all know how Bhrata Bheem gets when he sees food." replies Arjun. Yudhishtir shakes his head at his brothers' bickering and asks the couple, "If you are free, can you explain how do you live if you don't have kingdoms? How do you control the chaos?"

Yudhishtir's question grabbed his brothers' and his wife's attention. Hridansh replies to the question with, "During your time, you had multiple kingdoms ruled by their respective kings. However, right now most of those kingdoms are combined into one country. We have different states in one country. For now, you can imagine a state to be a province of one kingdom....."

As Hridansh explains and answers their questions, Aranya flows into the ocean of her thoughts. There are many discussions till date on whether the epics Ramayan and Mahabharat happened in real or not. She always wanted them to be true. She wanted to believe that there is some human at some point of time, who is righteous, kind and compassionate. She wanted to believe that the person's nature wasn't as described due to some boon or divine intervention but because he/she chose to behave that way. It would give her some relief knowing that in a world filled with negativity, there is a hope for humanity and compassion.

Seeing Yudhishthir and co before her brought a sense of contentment. She found a golden opportunity in the situation and she intended on never letting it go to waste. She can interact and bond with the legendary characters. Born and brought up in Kaliyug, her thoughts are tuned to the modern way of thinking. There are many scenarios in Dwapar yug which she didn't comprehend or didn't find correct. She now has the chance to talk about them with the people involved directly. She thanked her lady luck for siding with her and joined Hridansh in quenching Draupadi and her husband's thirst for knowledge.

Brahmamuhurat - It is considered to be the time when gods roam the sky (4:00 -4:30 a.m)

Bhrata - Sanskrit word for brother

Prahar - A measure of time in the olden days. A prahar has 3 hours. There are 4 prahars in a day and 4 prahars in a night.

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Hello everyone!!

Here's the second chapter of Pandavas' time in Kaliyug. How is it? The next chapter will have few bonding moments between Aranya and Draupadi.

I have a question for all of you. The story is set in the end of 2019. Should Draupadi and her husbands stay till Covid-19 spreads or leave before Covid? Kindly give your opinions as the pace and few details of the story would change accordingly.

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