Chanakya - The Kingmaker

In the dead of the night, a brahmin, bare chested and eyes closed stood amongst an army of thousands thinking of the joys he would bring,
Chanakya the Kingmaker stood outside the gates of Kishaganj smiling, tonight he would throw down another king.


Inside the kingdom, in a large dining room there stood a huge table fit only for royalty, so large and so beautiful it uplifted anyone's mood,
Kishaganj's ruler Raman sat alone that night, waiting for the hunger to die, waiting for his feast, waiting to hog on the food.

Everything was fine and good, he thought, as he sat waiting for his delicious meal, he would not go down without a fight for anyone, he would not cave,
Raman had heard about the ongoing war and the surrendering kingdoms .... "But I won't give up!" he growled as he banged his fist on the table, little did he know - he was just foolishly being brave.

He suddenly looked up as the food flew in, saffron rice and pickle on a silver plate along with flavored milk, ah ! This was going to be fun,
It had been a bittersweet day, he decided, and it was surely a nice night; Once I am full here, I will go to bed with the Queen and rise with the Sun.

The Meal Taster had arrived soon enough and bowed to the king, he took a neat spoon from his pocket and put the rice in his mouth, stood staring for some time,
The hungry Raja sat there waiting eagerly like a lion, he watched the Taster eat and cursed him for ruining the moment, like it was some crime.

"It's all good, Sire, it's all good," said the taster, gulping down the rice, "You may eat it ... Oops, sorry !",
The spoon slipped from his hand and fell to the ground, disturbing the king who stared angrily, the taster cried, "I will get another one, oh Mighty King, not to worry."

Ah, will I ever eat ? thought the king, with his head bowed under the table, he sat up at the sound of footsteps,he took a glance as the anger inside began to heal,
He saw the young boy come back, along with a bright shiny golden piece of cutlery who pushed it into the rice and said, "Oh Lord, enjoy your meal."

Taking in the first bite felt like heaven, he hadn't eaten in so long, it was a rough evening in the court : The Kishaganj ruler in the evening also had an argument with his son,
Umm ... Turmeric was just right, the salt complimented the peanuts, he tried to count all the tastes : Rice, spices, sugar and .... Poison.

Gasping for breath, he suddenly realized he had been tricked and deceived; he tried to look around and shout but words didn't come out; tonight was his last,
He squeezed the spoon as he reached out for the milk but it was too late, he felt pain everywhere in the body, he knew he was dying and dying fast.

Still trying to fight a useless battle, Raman stood up only to crash to the ground, he tried to crawl to get back up as his head begin to swoon,
But how ?! He thought as he saw, through his blurred eyes, soldiers running toward him in panic, the king finally realized amidst shock : It was the taster and the spoon.

Gathered and speaking in hushed tones outside the city gates of Kishaganj, led by ChandraGupta Maurya, stood so many warriors there was hardly any room,
One man looked up to the stars which slowly began moving away, he calculated the time and faintly smiled, he had brought another empire to it's doom.

He soon began to think of the money he had spent to bribe the taster to smear the spoon with poisonous paste but it was worth it, he knew so,
His dream tonight, dream of a united India had come one step closer, he felt like a God as the adrenaline inside him began to flow.

In the dead of the night, standing beside his protege, he whispered in the determined man's ear, "Tell me Maurya, of what use is a rose stem if there is no head?",
Chanakya, the kingmaker, in answer to everyone including Chandragupta shouted at once with a might that shook everyone's ear, "Break these gates, rush inside and take this Kingdom for it's king .... Is dead."
3:D