Characterization Meme: Grandmama Baahu, Mama Deva, and Crack! Bhalla
For @ratnas-musings, and all the more fun because I really can just make random stuff up for all of them!
Grandmama Baahu
1. In contrast to all the other queens in this family, Grandmama Baahu in my head is both born in Mahishmati and to the royal family--albeit a distant and rather lowly branch. Naturally this gives her rather more confidence than Sivagami and even Devasena ever have, and if she had wanted to, she could have brought about significant change.
2. The problem, of course, is that the amount of political scheming and deals she ends up having to do leaves her so jaded that she never really does bother.
3. Her eldest son takes drastically after her, and, in keeping with this family, has significant amounts of mother issues. If, though, one were to accuse her of being responsible for all Bijjaladeva’s subsequent scheming and destruction, she would only point out sharply that whatever she might or might not have done, her son must be accountable for his own choices, not her.
(It is not quite the same thing as saying she has no requests.)
4. Her daughters-in-law both frustrated her by never quite living up to the sparks of strength and spirit she occasionally saw to them--and she would have been satisfied to see how they rose to the occasion once she was safely dead.
5. Honestly, her not-quite-romance with a Kuntalan prince is one of the most interesting roads not taken. Aditya Varma’s bitterness at having been jilted is the cause of much of Kuntala’s bad blood in the present day--but taking that away comes at the cost of none of the main characters, with the exception of Sivagami and the Kuntalans, being born, so YMMV if it’s worth it.
Mama Deva
1. She was Queen in her own right, and--unlike her children--came to the throne in her early twenties, after she’d had a chance to prepare. This is while she has some regret to the freedoms she gave up in doing so, she is altogether rather better-adjusted than either of them were.
2. She resembled her daughter to an uncanny degree--something her son vaguely remembers, but that the daughter in question does not.
3. She was a marvelous storyteller, and collected stories from every traveler that passed through Kuntala in order to trade; the number of tales she knew, therefore, was staggering.
4. She was quieter and gentler than her daughter--and so, for that matter, was her husband (at least comparatively). That did not mean her temper couldn’t be just as terrifying when provoked.
5. She dies of illness at a young age. It’s thought to be contagious, but actually turns out to be a malignancy instead, tragic and, in those times, impossible to treat.
Crack! Bhalla
1. His favorite color is a nice tasteful gold, nothing too overwhelming--but, if necessary, he will settle for a crimson. If he must.
2. His favorite activity is smashing anything that stays still enough: pillars, fences, the occasional bull.
3. On which subject, he has no idea where one-quarter of the royal herd has disappeared to. No idea at all.
4. He might grumble about his brother’s insanely idealistic plans for public improvement, but that doesn’t mean he wants the throne--does he seem like he has either time or patience to listen to the complaints of odious, odorous farmers all day? He’ll leave that to Baahu, who’s too foolish to know any better.
5....He’s happy.