Prologue:
Karna is one of the most complex characters in the epic of Mahabharata. The greatest archer whom even Arjuna couldn’t defeat single-handedly. He is also known for his extreme generosity and inability to say no to anyone who asks for anything of him. He is the son of Kunti and the Sun god and is thus blessed with a protective gold armour and gold earrings at birth. He is also the most unfortunate of characters in the epic. He is cursed many-a-times by other people, one of the curses being that the Earth would swallow up one of the wheels of his chariot in battle.
Karna looked to the right and saw a taxi driver give a long yawn. Behind him sat a serious looking man dressed in a formal shirt staring intently into his phone. Looking to his left he saw a small school van filled with grumpy looking kids, fighting to keep their eyes open at the early morning hour of eight. Craning his neck and looking ahead, Karna saw nothing but a sea of vehicles waiting for the traffic signal to turn green. Three seconds later it did and so did the orchestra of horns blaring, engines rumbling and the clamour of frustrated drivers screaming insults at each other. The traffic moved forward ever so slowly that the traffic light became red again.Karna cursed at being stuck in just the second row before the green light changed. “ So close!” he blurted out in impatience over the noise of the radio in his car.
An irritating drizzle had now begun which would not help the traffic move any faster. Few minutes later, again the lights went green but the car in front of his stayed where it was. A roar of honks erupted behind him. The driver got out and signalled that his car had broken down. This was followed by rickshaw drivers venting out their anger on other drivers for lack of cooperation, some trying to manage the situation and some more honking. In this whole pandemonium, the school kids looked remarkably excited, happy at some drama unfolding before them and for the delay it would cause in reaching school. Karna was getting more impatient by the minute trying to turn his car to the left as a diversion to get going.
He had to get there fast, to catch his doppelganger, showing off his obviously fake gold armour and claiming to be the best archer in the world. He could hear the radio commentary of the archery contest in his car. “People had once believed me to be even better than Arjuna! What chance is this man going to have against me; the one with the original armour of the sun god” he had thought. The irritating drizzle had now turned into rain with giant drops colliding noisily with the windscreen. Karna could see the troubled driver making frantic phone calls with a look of guilt on his face, having caused so much inconvenience to so many people. Just when Karna had finally managed to turn his car to the left amidst the forward moving traffic, the troubled driver stopped him. “ Could you please help me push my car to the side? Nobody else is stopping to help” he asked with a hopeful look on his face. Karna famously being the most generous man, couldn’t refuse. “Sure” Karna said with a smile, ignoring his personal commitments. With the driver at the wheel to navigate the car, Karna started pushing the car with all his might. The car began to move forward inch by inch. It was getting more and more difficult. The heavy rains had risen the water levels up till the knee and water had begun to seep inside the car. “ My beloved car!” the driver exclaimed in despair and looked at Karna for a solution. Karna instinctively removed his magical armour and placed it on the bonnet of the car to stop the water from seeping in. After pushing the car to the side of the road and having his hand violently shook by the driver in gratitude, he returned to his car, drenched, to continue on his mission. Karna started the car and began to accelerate. The engine rumbled but the car wouldn’t move.
“……And so after defeating 76 archers in this competition, Karna has been declared the best archer in the world!!” Announced the radio commentator proudly, his channel being the first “ as always” to deliver this news. “ NOOOOOO!” came a disgruntled response from Karna. “ That is not me!” Frustrated at the though of such trickery and deception, he tried harder to start the car. The rain was still lashing against the car windows and other cars were honking from behind him. He finally got out of the car and rammed the door shut in order to inspect the problem. He saw that the rear wheel had sunk deep inside a pothole and was just turning in its place when accelerated. He kicked the car once in anger of how people did not have any morals and casually indulged in trickery, and once again in irritation of how the wheel was stuck. “ Well , this is not the first time that my vehicle has failed me” he recalled in his mind leaning against the car. A tired smile spreading across his face.