Walk With Me

Author(s): Chandanaji Acharya, Vastupal Parikh
Publisher: Veerayatan

Page 50

Walk With Me
Now the citizens of Kundagram were gathering at the Bahusal gardens. They were anxious to see and hear their dear Prince, who was now a celebrity. Maharaja Nandivardhan was busy, personally looking after all the arrangements. Thousands were expected, including hundreds of guests and kings and queens from far and wide. Nandivardhan wanted to make sure that he was personally present at the outskirts of the city when his dear brother arrived.
When Mahavir arrived at the gardens the crowd exploded with loud cheers. Mahavir walked swiftly to the podium. He was poised, calm and appeared motionless. Every eye was upon him as he started his sermon. He was speaking and all were able to hear, but to look at him one would have thought he were a statue. People were mesmerized as if in a trance, lost in the memories of earlier days with their prince.
I spotted Nandivardhan quietly standing in the far corner of the garden. He too appeared to be lost in his memories and was perhaps reminiscing about his growing up together with Mahavir. Perhaps he did not want to take away the spotlight from his dear brother. He did not want to show off that being the king and Mahavir's brother, he deserved a special seat on the podium.
I slowly walked up to Nandivardhan, but as soon as he noticed me he bowed respectfully and asked, “Honorable Gurudev is everything alright? Is there anything more I can do?"
I said, “Maharaja Nandivardhan, you have arranged everything so well that there seems to be no problem at all. However, I noticed that you were standing here all alone and are lost in your thoughts."
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