Gandhari Uvaach

It was utterly cold. She could sense her coming death -clad in icy breath and riding the chariot of doom and despair.... She welcomed it with her last breath - it was like going home after a long, hard, disappointing and fruitless journey.

"Look! The great and mighty Yama himself has come to fetch me!" She muttered, smiling up at the towering figure over her nearly lifeless body. Yama, too, smiled at her. "Come," he said, extending a helpful hand towards her. She smiled again, and as she did, her soul rose up from her body, grabbed the helpful hand of Yama and stood beside him, now gazing down at her own lifeless body. 

"Are you sad?" Asked Yama, now looking at her soul. "No," she answered simply, "I am content. I want to move on."

"Let's go then, shall we?", said Yama, and the soul nooded her agreement. Off they flew, far far away, to the land of Yama - Yamlok - the place of trial and justice.

Soon, they were at the main gates. The gatekeepers were slightly surprised that Yama himself had gone to fetch a single simple compliant soul, but new better than to express thier opinion on the matter to their king. They quickly opened the bigger gates and let them both in. Over the other corner of the gates, there was quite a long queue of souls, waiting with patience, for their turn to be called into the Yamlok courts by the bailiffs.

As Yama, and the soul with him, entered Yamalok, they noticed Chitragupta sitting nearby the royal court, waiting for Yama. He smiled upon seeing his Lord.

Finally you are back, my Lord!!", said Chitragupta, welcoming Yama. 

"You must be the only person in this God made universe that is always glad to see me.", observed Yama, somewhat jokingly.

"So, is this the one...." Chitragupta let his sentence trail off, but Yama understood his question correctly. "Yes."he said shortly, signalling him with his eyes to speak no further about it. "So, can we begin?" He enquired. 

"Yes my Lord. This way please." He showed them both into the royal court immediately.

Soon, all three were standing in a round simple spacious room, with comfortable sitting mats called aasaans. Yama nodded approvingly. 

"Come, sit." He envited the soul to sit on one aasan while he himself sat on the middle one and Chitragupta sat on the remaining aasan. 

"Gandhari, do you know why it was me who fetched you here instead of one of my Yamdoots?" Yama enquired.

"No."

"Because you are one of the women who suffered the most." Yama said gently. He could sense that there was still a lot of bitter resentment residing in the soul. Gandhari said nothing. After a short awkward pause, Chitragupta broke the silence with a gentle cough, and then said to Gandhari, " It is customary here to show each soul glimpses of their earthly life before proceeding further. I -"

"Is it necessary?"Gandhari cut in a bit rudely. She was feeling restless and bothered. She had always been a private person. This felt like her whole life would be publicly displayed and laughed at. 

"Yes," Chitragupta replied. He too could sense her feelings of despair over this news. "Don't worry. No one else we be able to see it except you, me, and my Lord Yama."

"Shall we begin my Lord?" Chitragupta addressed Yama. He knew that his Lord had a soft corner the women in distress, and this soul had really been through a lot. Though he himself didn't think Ganghari meritted being treated so well. After all, she had failed to her children properly, causing the Great War.

He had been listening to the pitiful stories of soul after soul of the victims of that Great War, and that long line, that had formed since the first day of that War, had still not ended, even though so many years had passed away.

Yama nodded his approval, and gave a reassuring glance to Gandhari, who braced herself for avalanch. 

"Let me warn you," said Chitragupta, "that any time Lord Yama, me or you want to discuss a point, we can stop and discuss it before proceeding further. All you need to do is to clap twice, and the glimpses will stop temporarily. You can resume it by clapping thrice."

"Okay" said Gandhari, in a soft voice, barely audible. 

" Where shall we begin, then? The Great War? The aftermath? The Dice game? The -"

"The beginning."Yama interrupted Chitragupta. He had seen Ganghari's face falling and understood that she could sense Chitragupta's biasedness against her. Yama understood her feelings, and that of Chitragupta too, and felt that both justified in their own place. However, Yama also knew that truth had many faces. He smiled a sad smile.