Week 9 Story: Ekalayva's Robot

 

The neon lights shined bright on the dark alleyways of Haste City. The Pandava brothers shielded themselves from the lights as they snuck through the winding backstreets, dodging and weaving to avoid anyone in their way. As they approached a metal door, they heard the clanking and crashing characteristic of bot fighting, an outlawed sport. Their head engineer, Arjuna, took the lead and knocked the secret code. Three hard knocks, followed by two soft ones. Soon, the metal door creaked open, and the men entered in the room.

 

Bot fighting was known to be ruthless, with unimaginable riches ready for the taking. The stakes were high, and the competition was fierce. But everyone knew of the Pandava brothers and their amazing feats; their robots were known far and wide to be the very best in Haste City. Arjuna led the brothers, and was taught by their mentor and guru, Drona, who retired years before from bot fighting. Since bot fighting was illegal, the Pandava brothers was an alias for the group of men, and there were rumors that they came from old money, which is why Drona taught them in the first place. But no one was certain where they came from.

 

As they entered, the whole room went silent. None were foolish enough to challenge Arjuna or the brothers. Arjuna smirked as he saw the other bot fighters cowardly avoiding his gaze. With a booming voice, Arjuna said, “Who dares to fight my bot? I’m the greatest engineer the world has ever seen!” A scrawny teenage boy emerged from the crowd, gripping his homemade bot. Without hesitation, the boy replied, “My name is Ekalayva. I’ve heard about your skill, Arjuna. I respect the Pandava brothers, but I want to display what I am capable of.”

 

They set their bots down in the fighting ring and prepared for a battle. Arjuna had never lost before, but he could sense something was wrong. Ekalayva’s bot was designed in a way he had never seen before, but it felt familiar. The clock began ticking down. 3, 2, 1.

 

A robot fighting arena. Source: Wikipedia

 

And the fight was over as fast it began. Swiftly, Ekalayva had defeated Arjuna’s bot. The crowd was at a loss for words as their shock took their breaths away. Arjuna looked up with a flash of anger and asked, “Ekalayva, who’s your guru?” Ekalayva replied, “Drona taught me everything I knew.”

 

Just then, Drona emerged from the crowd with rage and fury. He roared out, “I am not your mentor, you child! I refused to teach you years before. You’re a nobody.” Ekalayva calmly replied, “I remember that day, but you still taught me. I found your old blueprints and studied them. Inspired by your genius, I taught myself how to make a new, better design.”

 

Arjuna’s anger disappeared, and he embraced Ekalayva, declaring that Ekalayva is now a Pandava brother. Likewise, Drona’s rage soon became admiration. Ekalayva finally gained the respect that he deserved.

 

Author’s Note: I was inspired by Ekalayva’sStory from Epified’s Mahabharata, which is a video series made my Epified. I changed the setting to be futuristic; rather than being an archer, I wanted Arjuna and Ekalayva to be master engineers. In the original story, Drona rejects Ekalayva and forces him to cut off his thumb, stopping him from ever being an archer. In my re-telling, I wanted to have a happy ending where his skill and hard work is recognized and embraced. The original story showed that the Pandava brothers and Drona aren’t always the “good guys,” and I made them the villians in my story. I kept Ekalayva’s humility and humble personality in both stories, and I highlighted Arjuna’s arrogance and desire to be the very best.