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Images used from : The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest ( 1996 / 97 )

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Traced from : Kenpuu Denki Berserk ( 1997 / 98 )

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Traced from : Kenpuu Denki Berserk ( 1997 / 98 )

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Traced from : Berni Wrightson : Master of the Macabre ( 1983 / 84 )

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Traced from : Kishor ( August , 1972 )

Excerpt from Bedtime Story by Kiran Nagarkar , 2015 :

EKALAVYA : Stop chasing my deer and your hounds will be freed • ARJUN : We are princes. This kingdom is ours. Its people are ours. Geography is ours. History is ours. The air is ours. You are ours. The deer is ours. • EKALAVYA : Take it if it's yours. • DRONA : Don't take what Arjun says to heart. He is young. Like you. And he doesn't know when to give in. Who are you? • EKALAVYA : Black Ekalavya. And your student, Dronacharya, I prostrate myself at your feet. You asked me my name as a mere formality. But you knew who I was, didn't you? • DRONA : Don't we always know? I have never seen such fantastic archery in my life. Praise be to your guru. He is a fortunate man indeed to have so gifted a student. • EKALAVYA : We have the same guru, Dronacharya, your pupils and I. Every single day for the last five years, I prostrated myself before your image and asked for your blessings. Then in that total non-light, where no bird stirred, where there was neither moon nor starlight, where no candle was lit, where the sun itself could not pierce the green-black denseness of the jungle, I practised. • DRONA : It is a fantastic tale. I would not have believed such skill was possible had I not seen it with my own eyes. Imagine what feats you would have performed had you trained under me instead of my image. • EKALAVYA : You had the opportunity Dronacharya, but you spurned it. • DRONA : How true, how true. Truly, Ekalavya, I have no words with which to praise you. What you achieve with your bow lies beyond the imagination of man. I feel fulfilled with the faith you have shown in me. I must go now. But not without honouring you by accepting a gift from you, your gurudakshina. • EKALAVYA : That is your right and my privilege. • DRONA : Just a small remembrance, Ekalavya, a mere token. • EKALAVYA : Command me, Dronacharya. • DRONA : Are you sure you will not refuse? • EKALAVYA : You have no reason to doubt me. • DRONA : That is true. But if you refuse I will not be able to tolerate the insult. Because it will be an insult to the most deeply cherished and honoured tradition of our culture, the guru-shishya relationship. It is through this tradition that knowledge, virtue and religion are perpetuated. • EKALAVYA : You have only to ask, Dronacharya. Ask without hesitation. • DRONA : All right then. A small gift, Eklavya. The thumb of your right hand. • EKALAVYA : So be it. (Eklavya bends down, picks up a little earth, spits in it, moulds it into the shape of a thumb, places it on a leaf, goes down on his knees and ofers it to Dronacharya in cupped hands.) • EKALAVYA : Like guru, like gift.

Do you remember my words, Arjun? 'The sun will go into a sudden eclipse. In the premature twilight, the distinction between reality and illusion will be blurred. The sky will change. Circumstances will change. And you will not even remember that we had met before.' Be on your guard, Arjun. Beware the guru who discriminates between one student and another. Excellence comes through competition with one's betters. Beware the guru who will betray you in your hour of direst need and join the enemy against you.