Mahabharat 16: Karan and Eklavya: The Real Heroes - 2

Dear reader, its been quite a journey we have undertaken in uncovering the narrative,
the "real" story of the great epic Mahabharat, uncorrupted by the winner's perspective.
I know this chapter has been a long time coming, and that I have been tardy in updating this before,
but I promise you I will be more regular going forward, so keep watching this space for more.

For the full recap of the series, just click on this link, while I do a small recap of the story here -
if you remember, 6 years ago, we started this story with tale of Yayati and how he made Puru his heir.
Now, Puru was Yayati's youngest son, whereas the eldest, Yadu, was exiled to present day Iran,
while our story turned to Puru's descendant, Shantanu, and how he met Ganga one day at dawn.
Ganga gave birth to eight sons, but killed all but one, and departed when Shantanu asked her why,
Ganga gave him back the only living son, Bhishma, and Shantanu said, "You will be king after I die",
;Meanwhile, we also looked at birth of Satyavati and her son Ved Vyas, both products of lust,
and how Shantanu on the banks of Yamuna found Satyavati, and charmed by her aroma and big bust.
asked her to marry him, which could only be arranged once Bhishma took a vow of never having sex,
Bhishma captures three princess for his half-brother, but Amba tells him "I wanna go back to my ex".
Amba commits suicide, half-brother dies, Vyas impregnates his widows with Dhritrashtra and Pandu,
Pandu marries Kunti & Madri, while blind Dhritrastra weds Gandhari, who says,"kismet's gandu" 
Dhristrashtra is elder but Pandu is made king, but then retires to the jungle because of a curse,
And I will stop the recap here, for well, I am having difficulty keeping it all in verse.

To tell a long story short is not one of life's great thrills, I realize, and the recap was not much fun,
for in the actual story, there is plenty of excitement, cat fights, violence and sex for everyone.
So, dear reader, if you think you want a recap, read the entire story once again and return,
for now we will start Chapter 16: The Real Heroes - 2, the story to which we all shall turn. 

So after Eklavya had been subdued, by taking the Dakshina of his right thumb,
Arjuna was back being the best archer for the other Pandavas and Kauravas were mostly dumb.
And the time soon came to graduate as their studies were now complete,
Drona designed a test, a contest of sorts in which the different students had to compete.
The entire town was there, in a Colosseum like stadium, to watch the princes perform,
and while there were many fans of Pandavas, the support for Kauravas was rather lukewarm.
Bhima and Duryodhana took up the mace and started fighting hard, difficult to say who won,
Yudhisthra excelled in spearmanship, but in archery, Arjuna was undoubtedly number one.
While Nakul-Sahedeva showed people their skills with swords, Arjuna made arrows make fire,
and then he produced rain, and some arrows made people laugh, while others made them tire.
Everyone applauded Arjuna's feats, he was brought to the podium to be facilitated by the king,
when suddenly walked into the stadium a boy clad in golden armour, with shining earrings.

As you all would know by now, that boy was Karna, and he achieved all of Arjuna's feats,
and as soon as she saw him, Kunti felt her heart pumping in faster beats.
For she remembered the sungod, and the wild sex they had years before,
ohh what a great time it was, Kunti's mind relived all the excitement, fun and gore.
But she had abandoned Karna, and feeling bad for abandoning him, she fainted away,
and was escorted outside the stadium, while the performance of Karna still held sway.
He did all that Arjuna had done, and it was an even better show,
And the people, who were all earlier praising Arjuna, soon had placards saying, "Go Karna Go!"
Everyone was amazed to see this regal looking boy, they said he must be son of a great king,
and soon they were talking about him as the actual winner, the real thing.
Karna was soon shouting at the princes gallery, "Let me fight Arjuna to prove who's the best,
let us do all the tricks, and the one to win should be declared the winner of this contest."

As soon as he said it, Kripa and Drona, the two teachers, asked him about his caste,
"You know you can only contest against a prince, if your family is as chaste".
Hearing this, Karna's head fell, as his "father", the charioteer, Adhirath, came forward to bless him,
and seeing him acknowledging his father, Bhima launched out in a mocking tone, as was his whim.
"Oh, you are a Sutputra, the son of a chariot, and you want to challenge a prince,
know your status and go away, before I and my brothers beat you up and make you wince."
Hearing this, Karna's head bent low, feeling ashamed, but Duryodhana rushed to his aid,
told Bhima to shut up, "and a person isn't judged by his birth, but by the stuff of which he's made."
And turning to Karna, he said, "Dear friend, you valour has impressed us all,your kind is very rare,
and hence I will make you king of Anga this very moment, just to show you that I care."
The usual swearing in ceremony done, Karna was proclaimed a king, and Duryodhana said,
"Now that both belong to families of kings, can they fight a fair fight? I want to see Arjuna dead."

However, by then the day had passed along, the sun was getting down, and hence they all went home,
and Karna, impressed by Duryodhana, said, "Pal, they will talk about our friendship even in Rome."
Karna and Duryodhana rode back to the palace together, talking about their new relationship,
and Duryodhana said, quoting Casablanca, "I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship"