Dear fellow admirers of Riya,
Requiescat in pacem. This is the Latin inscription often found on tombstones in graveyards, and it translates as Rest in peace. This is pretty much what the FB message of October 28 from the CVs sought to convey to us, in a nice, thoughtful, and yet totally unsatisfactory manner, as could be seen from the immediate responses on the IF thread where this message was reproduced.
Riya's exit cruel and unnecessary: And no wonder. How could they convincingly explain why they had to murder a very popular character out of the blue, and that too as abruptly as extinguishing a candle? I felt very depressed watching that long drawn out death scene, and I can imagine how much it must have hurt all you young people in the Arjun forum who are far more emotional than I. One could hardly be expected to admire or relate to the high emotional content of Riya's last moments, or the harrowing performances by all concerned, when one was sick to the pit of one's stomach. It was, to my mind, stupid, because it was totally unnecessary.
Now I expect that they will wait for a week or more before landing us with a new female officer, for that is necessary for gender equality, like the African-American or female partners for tough guy cops like Clint Eastwood and Mel Gibson.
But why kill Riya at all? If they had to change the actress, they could have packed Riya off on a month's leave to recover, and then eased her replacement into the show. She was a fully rounded out character, and a back story was called for to explain her mental block against shooting anyone, not to speak of filling her family history etc, out. Why have they decided to waste all the build-up of Riya as a person and as an officer so far- and the CVs message underlines this point with great emphasis - and just junk her without a second thought just because Sana wanted to leave?
Gender bias at work?: I sometimes feel than in crime series on TV, they treat the female officers like interchangeable props. They are rarely shown as contributing anything substantial to the detection process - Riya was better off than most in this respect, partly because the ETF team is so small and compact - and they are invariably the first, in fact the only ones to be bumped off.
I shall name no names so as not to violate the IF rules, but the fact is that in the other such series that I used to watch till 2008 (I dropped it when the team became too unwieldy and the stories too trite and run of the mill), the only officers who died on duty, by being stabbed or shot by a criminal, were the women. The men survived the most appalling attacks, including losing gallons of blood, and even being walled into a tiny cubicle, almost miraculously, exactly like the heroines of old time films. I never saw any of these male officers kicking the bucket in the line of duty.
We have examples of this in Arjun as well. The CV's message stresses that the ETF members are in great danger 24x7, at times mortal danger ' and they add, to drive home this point, that ACP Rathod was nearly murdered, that Arjun and Riya were shot at, and that Shree was trapped. But in citing these examples they are, inadvertently, proving my thesis of the gender bias. Yes, ACP Rathod was nearly murdered in cold blood, after a long drawn out and sadistic prelude, by Vidyut Satham, and Arjun was saved from certain death only by the Ganapati coin in his pocket (which was there only thanks to Riya). But the pertinent fact is that none of these male officers died. They all escaped from very threatening situations, and emerged hale and hearty (or almost so).
Let us be honest CVs, no matter what you say, can you ever seriously contemplate Arjun or Rathod actually getting killed?
But a Riya Mukherjee can get killed, and she did, as we saw on Saturday, after a whole week of false optimism. She was shown to be a martial arts expert, who could take much stronger men on and floor them. Why then did she let herself be immobilized so easily from behind by Rajat Sharma, who was no strongman like Chhotu? Why did she not use her skills to twist her body inside his grasp and kick him or punch him in the crotch, which would have brought him to his knees? No, she had to be shown as inexplicably inefficient and easily overwhelmed, and they set her up for the Great Sacrifice of her life.
It is even more of a Great Shame, and I am sure all of you feel the same way as I do. It also seems to me to indicate that in the future, the focus will be more and more on the crime solving aspect of the show, and much less on any emotional bonding within the team, except in terms of loyalty to each other. I am not besotted by Ariya romances, but even I had been almost sure that there would be an Arjun-Riya love story eventually. That is obviously over now.
Police Gallantry Medal for Riya: This apart, Riya/Sana was a bright, beautiful girl and, more important, a capable, conscientious, and very courageous ETF officer. When the time came, the unexpected sloppiness I have mentioned above apart, she showed tremendous guts and presence of mind, plus the readiness to put the people at large ahead of herself and to make the supreme sacrifice for their sake. No one could ask anything more of her. As Haruhi mentioned in a post, it was a heroic way to go. I do not agree that she need have died at all, but as an exit, it was a perfect one ' she was brave and unflinching, warm and considerate, humble and conscientious, right till her last breath.
I was only disappointed that they did not show any press articles praising her courage, or mention her being recommended by the Police Commissioner for the President's Police Medal for Gallantry for her bravery, which really went far beyond the call of duty.
But the latter is an omission that can be easily remedied by the CVs. This award takes a good bit of time to decide on, and it can thus be shown as being awarded in some future episode.
I very much hope that the CVs will do this without fail, for they owe it to their creation. I would request all of you who feel likewise to take this up with the CVs in the most effective manner you can think of.
Riya unquestionably deserves the President's Police Medal for Gallantry. To quote the official write up "The President's Police Medal for Gallantry is the most prestigious award for any police officer in the country. It is awarded for displaying conspicuous gallantry, courage and devotion to duty of very high order. The police officer keeps the duty before self in completing the task. This award is rare in itself as the action should match the risk involved on the occasion."
Nothing fits these requirements better than what Riya Mukherjee accomplished in the line of duty, knowing beyond doubt that it would be at the cost of her life, and thus showing courage and dedication that went way beyond the call of duty. I hope they show her as being given this Medal posthumously, as happens very often in real life. The award, which is rare, is given by the President of India at the Republic Day parade on January 26.
Shyamala B.Cowsik
Vanshaj
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