Dear Draupadi,
I have often wondered which fire had been your source of power. Was it the palpable one from which you materialized, or the one within you, catastrophic, exuberant, and eager to make a mark? But I have finally realized that it could never have possibly been just one of them. You were born to make history, and you did. You kindled the fires within the thousands of women who weren’t born of fire. You empowered every young princess in her melancholic stone palace to search for her wings. So, dear Draupadi, here is a worded expression of the high esteem I hold you in.
Oh, what an extraordinary life you’ve had! Be it rain, shine, or storm, you witnessed them all. Moreover, you endured, and overcame undaunted. It was tough, I know. But I also know that you were tougher, that rains could not extinguish the fire you carried, and that storm only reignited the embers. That’s what barred your anomalous marriage settlement from overwhelming you. That’s what gave you the grit to keep your head raised while carrying the burden of patriarchy on your back. That’s what provided you sustenance in the wilderness. That’s what made you the queen you were, and the queen you always deserved to be.
Were you flawed? Were you audacious or courageous, selfish, immoral or just zealously devoted? Were you the cause of the suffering or its consequence? Did you get what you deserved or deserved what you got? These questions and a million more race through my mind. Perhaps I already know the answers to them. But who am I to decide?
Did you get the answers to these questions, and ones which flashed in your head like lightening while your dignity was at stake? Or is everyone still as silent as they were during that game of dice? You had to exist in that grey void for so long. That must have been stressful, I’m sure. And then there was the price you had to pay for your revenge. Do you still feel that it was solely your fury that turned your loved ones into ashes? I don’t have the answers to these questions, and I won’t assume that you have them either.
In conclusion, Draupadi, all I’d like to say is thank you. Thank you for being the inspiring role-model, for being one who every woman, young or old, has always admired. Thank you for making me believe in the positive feminine energy I never knew I possessed. Thank you for the million other reasons you have given us to remember you.
Your ardent admirer,
Riddhi
Author’s Note: Draupadi, also known as Panchali, is a mythological character from the Mahabharata. She was the daughter of king Drupad of Panchal and the common wife of the five Pandava brothers. This letter is addressed to the character of Draupadi as portrayed in the novel The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, which is a retelling of the Mahabharata from Draupadi’s perspective.
Written by Riddhi Chatterji
Delhi College of Arts and Commerce
University Of Delhi
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