‘Smriti, when will I finally be able to say what I feel for you?’

Yes, Manthan all this while, he had been longing to tell her that he loved her.

Smriti the pearly-white female fish always looked stunningly beautiful in the sunshine, she looked at Manthan, a male fish’s eyes with so much of love and care.

Smriti happened to be the wise healer fish, taking care of the entire water kingdom of the river Bhaswati for an eternity! Smriti was blessed with healing powers, her exact age remained a mystery to every living being existing in the river Bhaswati. It is said, she has been living here since Dwaparyug, the 2^nd Yug from all the four yugas of earth!

The story of Manthan, ever since he has been with Smriti, he has been an admirer of Maharaja Vīryamartanda. As he had heard a lot about the Maharaja in stories, though he had never seen him, how he took care of his citizens like his kids, his sacrifice, empathy and charity and heroism. His aura shone brightly. He was a divine figure to his citizens and a fierce guardian against his enemies. A king whom his subjects not only admired with respect, but also with love.

It is said that Manthan once floated from some river and has come towards the shimmering Bhaswati river, a river which reflects the golden rays of the sun.

He remained unconscious for many days; he was very young when everybody in the river used to speak so much about Maharaja Vīryamartanda!

Manthan used to get happily overwhelmed by the stories of Maharaja Vīryamartanda. To him the Maharaja was a God, loved and respected for the way he cared for his natives.

Manthan has heard from Vegmati, a female crocodile among others as well, that Maharaja Vīryamartanda has been strongly fighting and defending his entire kingdom including rivers and oceans. He used to come most of the times to this river and feed fishes and all other living beings with his own hand. We all have seen him; he is no less than God to us.

For Manthan, the greatest regret in his heart was that he could never meet the King. He knew he had become an admirer of someone he had never met, yet he had started looking up to him and considering him his idol.

Manthan could no longer remember when he had first flown down to this river; and Smriti, she had whole heartedly taken care of him all this while.

It was a sea storm, Smriti had said, by which Manthan was flown into this river, unconscious; he does not know from which river he travelled so far!

Smriti as a healer fish in this vast divine river has healed and taken care of countless water life. Manthan among other fishes remember living in this river for 100 years. This divine river has been home to the fishes for so long.

Again, it was said that long after Maharaja Vīryamartanda disappeared mysteriously, some divine power which has the similar aura of their guardian Maharaja is protecting the river.

Smriti and Manthan were the brightest fish in the river, their presence and aura had always been much more soothing and protective; while Manthan has fiercely protected families inside the water kingdom, whether it is natural disaster like flood, cyclone and other water predators, Smriti closely aided and healed the water kingdom with medicinal herbs in difficult times.

Smriti lived with her siblings and over the years she has often risked her life protecting Manthan from them, as not all her siblings liked Manthan.

One soft mid-afternoon, as the sunlight gently fell upon the river, Smriti closed her eyes and was resting on a marsh flower leaf. Manthan was looking at her and he was imagining his heart’s greatest kept secret – Oh God! this lady has suffered so much, she has loved so many, if at all I can someday tell her how much I have loved her all these years!

I know she loves me too! But sometimes I feel she hides something very deep from me. Her eyes reveal her love for me, but she never says a word!

Somewhere like the river Bhaswati, there was a water kingdom in the river Ojaswini as well, where the territory was said to be protected by divine beings. Ojaswini was a wild, raging mountain river that provided the kingdom and empire’s warriors and crops with legendary vitality and power.

One day, someone came running into the water kingdom of Bhaswati and shouted, ‘People, have you heard? Dark forces and demons have attacked the region around Ojaswini! All the living beings there – humans, birds, animals, and creatures of the water kingdom are living in fear and cannot breathe in relief. It has been almost fourteen days, and the kingdom surrounding Ojaswini is on the brink of destruction!’

Manthan exclaimed and sighed, ‘If only Maharaja Vīryamartanda was alive today, this wouldn’t have happened!’

Smriti, who was arranging her medicines and herbs in her place, suddenly looked at Manthan amusingly.

It was a warm afternoon inside the kingdom of Bhaswati. Smriti held Manthan’s fin and said, ‘Let’s go. We have lives to save!’

Manthan was quite taken aback when Smriti grabbed his fin and began swimming north. As she sped through the water, she lets out a fierce battle cry,

‘Ojaswini, we are coming!’

Amid cliffs, stones, mountains and water tornados Smriti and Manthan were swimming. So many things were going on inside the head of Manthan, but he trusted Smriti and didn’t say a word.

Smriti looked at Manthan and said don’t you want to know why I am taking you towards Ojaswini!

Manthan replied, ‘I trust you are taking me somewhere where may be someone’s destiny lies’, Manthan didn’t know why he said such a thing

It was around midnight they both reached Ojaswini river bank when Manthan and Smriti surprisingly could see a beautiful queen standing on the river bank as if the queen is only waiting for them.

Some instant memory-flashes started shifting scenes within Manthan’s mind, ‘Kiran… Maharani Kiranmalini!’

‘Yes, Maharaja Vīryamartanda, we have been waiting for you’, the Maharani answered.

Smriti spat a golden pebble out of her mouth, and instantly her whole body turned pink! She fell down on the banks of the river.

‘Manthan…’

Smriti lay down on the banks, her eyes still looking at Manthan, who has now transformed to his original human form.

Suddenly, her mind drifted back to the fateful night, when…

The promise echoed in Smriti’s mind which she made with Maharani Kiranmalini of Ojaswini.

That night, the Maharani brought the wounded and unconscious Maharaja Vīryamartanda to the banks of Ojaswini and pleaded with Smriti to help her hide him from the evil forces for one hundred years!

Long ago, a prophecy had foretold that on this very day,

-Dark forces would rise once again, and when that time comes, the people would need the Maharaja’s protection to survive the impending darkness.

-The golden pebble, if a fish keeps the mouth, her identity will be hidden and Maharaja Vīryamartanda can be converted to any other living being that will help him stay disguised for a hundred year!

-But when the time comes the golden pebble needs to be thrown out of the mouth; this will take the king back to his original form, but the fish will die!

-This will erase all the past memories of Maharaja Vīryamartanda, who has been Manthan all this while!

While Maharaja Vīryamartanda and his queen Maharani Kiranmalini were united happily and began walking towards their palace, he turned one last time and looked at Smriti,

‘How beautiful the fish is!’ he thought. ‘And yet, she seems so familiar and dear to me. Her eyes are saying so much.’

She lay before him, seemingly in the final moments of her life. The King noticed the deep pink hue that had spread across her lustrous body. He understood that such a blush could only be born from intense love for someone.

‘But who is it?’ he wondered.

‘Don’t worry,’ Smriti whispered. ‘I have spat out the marble as the prophecy predicted. Manthan will never remember his past. He will continue to live the life of our Maharaja Vīryamartanda and save his kingdom.’

Love surpasses destiny and prophecies.

Smriti Manthan (Awakening of Forgotten Memories) begins!

Maharaja Vīryamartanda paused and looked back at Smriti, as if he wanted to say, ‘One last time, just one last time say you have loved me!’

Somewhere in his heart, he thought he heard her answer …

‘How can I? You have always been our king.

Maybe fate will let us meet again in another lifetime.’