Week 7 Storytelling: The Battle of the Brothers

There once was a woman named Kunti. She was married to a handsome janitor named Pandu. Kunti and Pandu had been married for five years now and were madly in love. However, Kunti had been trying to have kids for several years and had no luck. They went to the doctor and the doctor told them that Pandu was not able to have kids. She fell into a deep depression and started to wallow. Pandu and Kunti got into fights frequently. They both knew how unhappy they were. However, they still tried to save their marriage. Time went by and Pandu got extremely ill. A few more years went by and Pandu passed away. Kunti's depression got worse. 

One day when she was walking down the streets of Long Island, New York, she ran into a handsome young man. Kunti immediately apologized for the incident. At first the mysterious man seemed to get angry, but after he admired her beauty, he stuck out his hand and introduced himself as Duryodhana. He offered to take her out for dinner, and after some convincing Kunti said yes. 

They had an amazing evening together. He wined and dined her. They went dancing and ended the night lying down and looking at the stars together. During this time, Duryodhana explained that he was on a business trip in Long Island. He told her he was a CEO of a company in California. She admired him even more. He told her he would be in town for a few more days and that they should meet up as much as possible. After the delightful date, Kunti ended up going back to his hotel for a nightcap. 

For the next few days Kunti and Duryodhana met up and messed around. They had so much fun together and Kunti was starting to really like him. Unfortunately, he was leaving for California, and she would not be able to see him for a while. The time had come for his departure and she kissed him goodbye. He promised to keep in touch and went on his merry way. The next few weeks Kunti felt awful. She did not know what the horrible feeling was so she went to the doctor. The doctor exclaimed that she was pregnant with twins! She was so shocked but still did not know how to feel. After the appointment, she called Duryodhana and told him the news. He did not react in the way she hoped.

He was angry and cursed at her. He told her he did not want anything to do with the kids or her. He had his whole career ahead of him and he was not going to just throw it away for her. He told her to never contact him again and that he would file a restraining order if she tried reaching out to him. Kunti was once again disappointed and broken. She decided to have the kids but put them up for adoption once they were born.

Nine months later Kunti had two healthy boys named Karna and Arjuna. When they went into the adoption process, they got adopted by two different couples. They grew up knowing that they were adopted but were unaware that they were twins. They had their biological dad’s features. They both were very career-oriented and grew up to be very successful. They both owned their own businesses which were the top two in the country.

When the economy started to fall, one of their businesses had to as well. Both of their assistants set up a meeting for them to come together and talk about if they wanted to merge their businesses, or which one would buy out which. The meeting did not go smoothly. Both brothers (which they were not aware of) were competitive and strong. Both wanted the other to fail. They started sabotaging each other’s companies and would not stop under any condition.

They finally made a deal. They would play a game of dice, and whoever lost would have to shut down their company immediately. This would leave that person with absolutely nothing. Along with their company, their income, house, cars, pretty much everything they owned would be taken from them. When the game began, the hatred grew deeper. Each played their heart out, but in the end Arjuna won. This felt like the end of the world for Karna, but Arjuna had no sympathy.

When they went back to their homes to tell their family about the news - Arjuna winning - and Karna losing everything, their adopted parents had some news for them. They told them that their biological mother Kunti was very ill and had requested to see them. Both brothers immediately flew to Long Island to see their biological mother. When they arrived to the hospital, Karna and Arjuna were surprised to see each other. Both immediately questioned the other and said, “What are you doing here?” To their surprise, both replied, “I am here to see my birth mother, Kunti.”

They were in utter shock and disbelief. They were brothers? When they met their sweet old mother, she told them the whole story. From the time when she was married to Pandu to the time she got pregnant with Duryodhana. Both brothers felt ashamed and embarrassed that they had turned out like their father. Before Kunti passed away, she made them promise that they would look after each other and would not let anything affect their relationship. Both brothers promised their dying mother and stuck to it. They ended up merging their companies and started a charity for kids in foster care. Since that day at the hospital they never let anything get in between them.

Arjuna and Karna Reuniting

(Source: Pixabay)

Bibliography:

This story is based on The Five Tall Sons of Pandu by Richard Wilson. Reading Guide Part A & B

Author's Note:

In the original Pandu is the father of the five sons known as the Pandava brothers. One of the brothers is named Arjuna which is used in my story. Duryodhana is the Pandava brothers' cousin but has a deep hatred for them. Duryodhana and the Pandavas wage war on each other and the Pandava brothers are the ones who win this war. Duryodhana had appointed many people to be by his side during the war, but they were all killed by the Pandava brothers. One of the people Duryodhana appointed was Karna. Karna promised Duryodhana that he would kill them and get revenge. However, during a battle Arjuna killed Karna. Later,Kunti the mother of the Pandavas, reveals that her firstborn son was Karna. The brothers and Kunti mourned together. In my story, I made Duryodhana be an evil CEO because he is the villain in the Mahabharata. I then based my story of the Karna and Arjuna but tweaked it. I set it to modern day and changed the ending. Instead of one brother killing the other I had both realize they were brothers and vowed to never harm one another.