Chapter 26 : charioteer
After this, The drummer took out a scroll, which contained the names of all the participants who had come for the competition.
Participant 1 : rajkumar duryadhan , ✓
Participant 2 : rajkumar Arjun, ✓
Participant 3 : Prince ×××× , ✓
Participant 4 : princess ××××, ✓
...
Participant 17 : princess poonuruvi, ✓
Participant 18 : prince ××××, ✓
Participant 19 : princess ××××, ✓
...
Participant 28 : princess ××××, ✓
Participant 29 : prince ××××, ✓
Participant 30 : princess ××××, ✓
Participant 31 : princess Urvi, ✓
....
Last particment 50 : prince ××××, ✓
Drummer counted all the princes and princesses and then he came to know that according to the scroll, every prince and princess had been invited to participate in the chariot competition.
So after making sure everything was correct, he wrote thik (✓) after the names of the prince and princess on the scroll.
He took out the flag of Hastinapur and started waving it in the air,
giving the signal that all the princes and princesses are present in the competition and it is time to start the competition.
There was a large bell hanging above the stadium and two soldiers were standing on both its sides, holding two big hammers in their hands.
When they both heard the flag being waved from below to start the drummer's competition, they both raised their hammers. Then both of them hit the bell with the hammer together.
Ting! Ting!
As soon as this happened, a strong voice resonated in the stadium and Hastinapur.
The sound caused the stadium ground to shake briefly, and most of the people sitting in the stadium covered their ears with their hands.
And very few people tolerated this voice because perhaps their tolerance power was more.
I easily endured it because due to my physical power my mental power is much stronger than normal people.
"People of Hastinapur, you no longer need to wait any longer. The competition is about to begin soon. The drummer announced.
As soon as the people heard this announcement, they all started shouting with excitement.
After doing this, he started talking about all the princes and princesses and the issues and competition,
Now your first task is to find a talented charioteer for your competition.
This will prove how to hire a talented charioteer. He gestured to all the spectators sitting on the seats, "Choose one of these people to be your charioteer."
"The time begins now, From this moment until the sand in this hourglass runs to the bottom, all of you have time to choose your charioteers."
Drummer took out a sand clock and placed it in front of everyone and finished speaking about the first task.
All the princes and princesses did not dare to waste their time and started searching for charioteers for their chariots.
One by one, sand drops were going down from the sand clock.
Duryodhana was completely carefree, as if this task were child's play for him. He put two fingers into his mouth and whistled.
As soon as he did so, a boy stepped forward from among the people sitting in the stands and began walking toward Duryodhana.
When he reached him, he bowed and paid his respects to Duryodhana. He appeared to be around eighteen years old.
"Pratikami, I accept your greeting. From today, you are the charioteer of my chariot," Duryodhana said with a laugh.
All the princes and princesses were watching this in astonishment. They had not expected things to unfold in this manner.
This was clearly cheating, because Duryodhana had already hired someone as his charioteer and had even seated him among the spectators beforehand.
But the drummer did not say anything about it, because the rules did not state that one could choose a charioteer only from among the spectators.
What Duryodhana did could be called cheating within the rules. Since he did not break any rule, the drummer said nothing.
After realizing that the game could be played in this way, many princes and princesses quickly summoned their elders and had a skilled charioteer from Hastinapur selected and seated among the spectators, so that they could later choose their own charioteer.
Seeing this, Arjuna looked at Duryodhana with anger-filled eyes, because he did not like cheating and disliked seeing others cheat as well.
However, there was nothing he could do here. Duryodhana had cheated, but it still fell within the conditions of the competition.
Because he could not do anything, Arjuna felt angry, but his anger soon subsided, and he began to think about what should be done next.
He took a deep breath, stepped down from his chariot, and began walking toward a soldier. When he reached him,
he whispered something into the soldier's ear. After listening carefully, the soldier bowed respectfully to Prince Arjuna and then started heading out through the stadium gate.
Then Arjuna returned to his chariot and sat down as if nothing had happened.
All the princes and princesses looked at Arjuna in a strange way, but after a short while they stopped paying attention and went back to their own matters.
More than half of the sand in the hourglass had fallen to the bottom, making it clear to anyone that less than half the time remained.
Twenty-five princes and fifteen princesses, like Duryodhana, had already chosen their charioteers, and only a few princes and princesses were left who had not yet done so.
Among them were Prince Arjuna, Princess Urvi, and Princess Poonuruvi.
All the parents who had come to watch the competition with their children, dreaming that their sons might be chosen as charioteers, saw their dreams shatter the moment this happened.
They had not expected things to turn out this way.
From the depths of their hearts, they prayed that the princes and princesses who still remained would choose their sons as charioteers.
Seeing their expressions, I couldn't stop myself from laughing. I had expected this.
How could those princes and princesses choose someone who did not know how to drive a chariot at all?
Did they want to lose? Of course not.
Very little sand remained in the hourglass, with almost all of it having fallen to the bottom.
If we compare it to the twenty-first century, only about one minute was left.
Seeing how little time remained, four princes and three princesses chose boys from the seats who were around thirteen to fifteen years old.
Why?
Because those seven had not brought any elders with them who could help find a charioteer. They had come confidently, believing they did not need elders at all.
But now they were regretting their decision. With only one minute left, they hurriedly chose someone from among the citizens of Hastinapur and left the rest to luck.
Now only Prince Arjuna and the two princesses, Poonuruvi and Urvi, were left who had not yet chosen their charioteers.
To be continued...