She whose fingernails are like winnowing fans..
In a huge palace of Ratnamani, lived a young princess, Minakshi. A princess nobody quite liked, for she was described by most as “ugly” or Ghora Mukhi. The title of Princess was negated by her dark skin, her cross eyes, her pot belly, and her thin brown hair. And what a voice she had! People turned purple just by listening to her shrill grating voice! The over-sized breasts were the worst part of her though, people said it showed how wicked her heart was. Now, who can question people? If they said so, it must be true. As for the princess, she could do only so much, for that’s how the author of her story wanted her to be, so the poor girl obliged.
The princess had six brothers and a sister, each one better than the last. While Minakshi’s mother and sister were considered the epitome of beauty and grace, the brothers either had Godlike strength or kingdom of one kind or another. It was only natural for the young princess to feel pangs of jealousy towards her prodigious siblings but there was one brother, Dashaanan, she found particularly tolerable. Dashaanan, perhaps the best among the children, was a man with profound wisdom and extraordinary powers but most of all, he was nice to his unfortunate sister and loved her a fair amount, so when Minakshi brought home a lover from an enemy clan, Dashaanan was enraged. He could not believe his sister had married this man, Vidyutjihva, without his permission. Minakshi, (being in love and, more importantly, being loved, for the first time, by another human being) sought the help of her sister-in-law to convince her brother. For the time being, the crisis was averted.
The universe plays cruel games to restore balance in each of its pawn’s lives. The new happiness that Minakshi experienced in form of love from her husband after years of constant resentment by everyone else, made the universe grimace and think of ways of turning things around. When the doting brother visited the newly married sister, the loving husband showed his true nature and tried to murder the brother, as had been his plan ever since he married our dear protagonist. Obviously, the husband was unsuccessful and got killed himself, leaving his wife devoid of the last shred of happiness. Having killed his sister’s husband, Dashaanan did what a dutiful brother should do, make his widowed sister spend some time away in forests because obviously the wild will be more comforting than the house. Little did he know that love will come knocking his sister’s door yet again. And little did she know that the same love will bring even more misery than ever before
The forlorn princess now spent her time roaming around the jungle, trying to forget her sorrows. One such day, Minakshi’s eyes fell on a creature of utmost beauty, he was a man, yes, but a man like no other; his broad shoulders looked like they balanced the Earth’s entire weight, his fish-shaped eyes glittered with childlike innocence and his lips were pink like a blossoming lotus. Every part of his body stood at one end of the spectrum of beauty while the other end belonged to Minakshi. Minakshi would have averted her eyes, but who can escape the clutches of love at first sight. Minakshi’s life had given her nothing but pain, and by this, she knew, if she were to wed this bewitching man, she will have to look good herself. And so, in pursuit of a better life, our princess adorned herself with her finest clothing and jewelry and makeup and approached this mysterious man.
“Accept my greetings, my Lord. My name is Minakshi, I am the princess of Ratnamani. Your beauty has pierced my heart, O young one. I wish to make you my husband.”
“I don’t know who you are but you flatter me, O Princess. My name is Raghav and I am here with my wife and younger brother. I cannot accept your proposal because I am faithful to my wife here. Why don’t you take my younger brother as your husband? He is as beautiful and will prove to be a good husband.” Answered the Godly man, his voice sweeter than the nectar. Slightly dismayed, Minakshi turned to see the younger brother and realized Raghav was not wrong.
“Will you take me as your wife, young prince?”
“I don’t think you would like to marry me. I think you should approach my brother again, princess of Ratnamani.” Said the brother, smiling slyly.
By now Minakshi realized the game the two men were playing on her. Instead of refusing her love, the men, so externally beautiful, resorted to humiliating her. In a fit of anger, she advanced at the woman standing coyly behind Raghav when she felt a sharp pain spreading all over her face. Before she knew it, her saree was soaked with blood and her severed nose laid in front of her. Everything that she had used to improve upon her looks washed away in blood and tears. Standing there, she was reminded of all the insults and wrongdoings she had dealt with all her life. She realized the price she had to pay for being ugly and not conforming to the rules a woman should abide by. She was not coy like the wife of the “Godlike” man, she was not submissive and “grounded”. She dared seek acceptance despite being ugly, she dared raise her voice despite being a woman, she dared love outside the dictates of dharma. She will not back out, she will seek revenge and history will be her testament. If war is the language that the world understood more than love, so be it. The world will know her story, it will be laid bare in front of them and then they’ll realize the beauty within the princess whom people called Ghora Mukhi.
And so, the universe smiled broader, for now, the author saw a chance to have some more fun. History was written. Thousands of years after Minakshi lived, the world still did not understand the language of love but that of appearance, for Minakshi was called Shupranakha, she whose fingernails are like winnowing fans.
