Pandavana gave birth to three daughters at the same time. She named them Bellatrix, Celina, and Maricela. Pandavana, along with her mother, Alima, brought the three babies back to their small cottage on the edge of town. The father of the girls was never around. Pandavana never thought of him after he left to be with another woman.

Being a skilled fighter herself, Pandavana taught her daughters the art of combat; she wanted to ensure that her daughters could defend themselves when she wasn’t around. All the while, Pandavana also taught her girls how to be headstrong and compassionate towards themselves and others.

Every morning, the grandmother would cook breakfast while Pandavana braided their hair. All three had long brown curly hair, and braiding was the only way to tame the monster. During their downtime, Pandavana reminded the girls to be confident in themselves. "Don't let anyone judge you by the way you look. You all might not appreciate your height, but you all are so strong and beautiful."

The girls knew several stories of rakshasas taking people away at night and eating them. At every session, they were willing to learn so that they could protect themselves in future cases. At night, the Grandmother would tell spooky stories about the rakshasas that lived in the surrounding forest. Bella was always the first to sleep. Maricela would always drink a glass of milk right before she fell asleep. Celina was always the last to sleep due to her vivid imagination and endless thoughts.

During the day, the three girls would think of a plan to sneak attack Alima. Unbeknownst to them, their grandmother had quite a history of fighting. One day, while Grandma was pinning up laundry, Bell, Celia and Mari were discussing their ambush. Celina was a little hesitant about going through with the plan.

“What if we actually hurt her?” asked Celina. Bell smiled and said, “That just means we’re getting better at working as a team, Cel.” Bell climbed up a nearby tree and quietly did a jump kick. The two other girls positioned themselves in different places. As Bell initiated their attack, Celia and Mari jumped out of their hiding spots. Without taking a look, the grandmother threw Bell to the ground, dodged Celina’s punched, and kicked Mari away. The grandmother cackled and shouted, "Was that supposed to work? I could hear you guys from a mile away! Try again!"

A couple of days before their sixteenth birthday, Pandavana decided to go to the market to search for a present. Her girls had never worn makeup, so she wanted to get them some. For their birthday dinner, Pandavana decided to cook their favorites: Paneer Onion Masala, Corn Kadai, and Buttery Lentils. As for dessert, she was going to make Mango Cheesecake. Since the family didn’t usually go to the city, Pandavana decided to bring her daughters so they could help her with the groceries. “Wow! I love going to the city. I wish we could live here,” said Mari.

“Remember what I said – keep your guard up. This city is filled with bad people,” said Pandavana. Their mother told them that they needed to go find the needed ingredients for their birthday dinner. “You all need to meet me back at the fountain in twenty minutes. If anything happens, stay calm and remember your training.”

While they were away, Pandavana went into a beauty store. Pandavana had saved up enough money to buy one item for each of her daughters. The wall of makeup became overwhelming for Pandavana that she asked for the store worker to help her find the items she needed. After some thought, Pandavana picked mascara for Bell, lip gloss for Celina, and blush for Mari. As she stood in line, she noticed that there were several excited young girls carrying baskets full of makeup. She looked down at her pathetic basket. To hide her present, Pandavana bought the two mangos, yogurt, and a few cans of condensed milk. Afterwards, she started heading back to the rendezvous.

While Pandavana was looking, the three girls quickly found the necessary ingredients so that they could spend the rest of the time looking around. After fifteen minutes of sightseeing and walking, the girls decided to head to the fountain. When they approached the fountain, they saw a group of obnoxious men surround their mother. Rage quickly coursed throughout their bodies causing the girls to sprint to their mother. One of the men tried touching Pandavana’s shoulder, but she slapped his arm away. Her resistance only fueled the men’s fire. Pandavana tried to get out, but the men pushed her back. “I would back away right now,” warned Pandavana. As one of the men tried to grab Pandavana’s arm, she grabbed his arm and flung him over her head. All the men started punching and grabbing at Pandavana. Her bag of goods was pulled from her grasp, thrown onto the floor, and stepped on. Behind the men, the three girls yelled to get their attention. With revenge in her eyes, Mari said, “Don’t you dare mess with our mother.” The men just laughed after noticing how short the girls were.

Bell, Celina, and Mari quickly started attacking them. By working as a team, the three girls and Pandavana pummeled the entire group of men. Celina picked up her mother’s bag and gave it back to her. “Are you alright?” asked Bell with a worried look.

When they returned home, Pandavana went to her room to see if the makeup was miraculously intact. Unfortunately, all of it was completely broken. The mascara splattered everywhere; the blush was broken along with its mirror; the pink lipstick smeared all over the bag. Pandavana broke down, crying. She didn’t have enough money to buy more.

Alima went to check on her daughter to see what she bought. As Alima opened the door, Pandavana quickly wiped away her tears and greeted her mother. Despite Pandavana's best efforts to act okay, Alima knew better than that. She sat down next to her daughter and opened the messy bag. Alima's rough loud voice turned soft and sweet. Alima said, "You will be okay, my child." She then reached into her shirt, took her hand out, and revealed a thick wad of Indian rupees. Alima whispered, "Take this, go back to the city, and buy their present again. I will take care them during your absence."

The two woman embraced each other. Pandavana wiped away her tears, stood up and started to make dinner with the help of her daughters.

Bibliography

Richard Wilson, The Five Tall Sons of Pandu, Reading

Author's Note

My story is based off of the rendition of the Mahabharata, The Five Tall Sons of Pandu which explains the upbringing of the five sons of Pandu. The Pandavas were a royal family so the sons were taught in the art of war and were extremely knowledgeable.

The last trait in my theme is power. I tried portraying power within the three girls by their fighting skills. Overall, I wanted to show the strength within all these women. Having the girl learn how to fight came from my own desire. I've always wanted to know how to fight but never did.

While I was writing this story, I kept having writer's block so future apologies if the story doesn't flow or if there's not enough development. Please feel free to tell me your thoughts on my comment wall.