The Painter

A Story by SUGATA M

History is written on the lives of the kings. It does not bother about the common men and women.

Mriganko was deeply sunk in deliberation. He was sitting inside the cave. Whole of the day, he had smoothened the corrugated rocky surface of the cave to make it his canvass of his painting. When the canvass is ready, he was trapped in complex fabrics of thoughts. He didn’t know what to brush though the king made it very clear to him about the subject of his painting.

He has to draw a portrait of queen Haimoboti, that’s what king Shayantak instructed him to do. The king wants to immortalize his beloved queen in the caves within its immortal paintings.

Mriganko met the queen once at the temple of Goddess Vishalakshi. He managed to see a glimpse of her face. The queen was beautiful but Mriganko’s eyes failed to discover the charm of a painter in her. How will he reflect his passion in an uninteresting subject of painting? Mriganko was feeling paralyzed and decapacitated.

Suddenly his faced glowed with unexpected joy and happiness.

He happened to meet the solution of his crisis.

Mriganko jumped off his place, took his brushes, dipped them into the colours and soon got glued to his painting. His face was radiating divine pleasure as if he was creating the most unique creation of his life, as if he had been living so long only for the sake of this.

When the painting was complete king Shayantak visited the cave to have a look at his painting.

The lady in the painting was not his queen, but someone else.

The king was utterly surprised at the audacity of one of the most ordinary cave-painters of his kingdom. How he dared to disobey the king’s order like this? Anger was boiling inside Shayantak’s head.

At the same time, the king was completely swept away by the irresistable attraction of the woman in the painting. Who is this woman? The king had never seen such sensual beauty before. Is she just the product of this ragged painter’s imagination? Or he painted a real flesh and blood woman who is very much existing in his own kingdom without his knowledge? King’s heart was dying to own the woman.

‘Who is this woman in the painting?’ the king asked Mriganko.

‘Forgive me my Lord, I couldn’t draw the portrait of your queen. I made the painting of Abontika. She is my beloved wife. She is so artistic that she can be any painter’s dream. I couldn’t overcome the temptation to immortalize her in the caves.’ Mriganko expressed his feelings sincerely to the king. He expected the king will pardon him after seeing his exemplary creation.

But he was so wrong. He misjudged the king. He was not able to win his confidence and praise, rather generated a strong jealousy in king’s mind. How come an ordinary painter has an extraordinary wife? This woman is hundred times more attractive than the queen.

Next day morning, Mriganko was thrown at the feet of the killer elephant that crashed his head within seconds. And the king declared his marriage at the very next day with the widow of the dead and disloyal painter.

But the king had something else written in his destiny.

At the night before wedding, king Shayantak was poisoned to death by his queen Haimoboti.

History remains silent about Abontika, the widow of the ill-fated, deceased painter.

But her portrait has become immortal in the caves of Ajonta among those of kings and queens.

© 2012 SUGATA M

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Raven Starhawk

Marvelous. A time set in history will provide this with much attention. I will make sure of it. ^^* Actually I am quite surprised no one has picked up on this yet. Your words are well put together in my opinion and paint a nice image for me to visit.