My dear Ankita,
I know that after my interim reply, I am 3 days late with this one, but this has been overtaken, not just by Nandini's vicious display of spite and malice in her sudden descent on Mura, which has drastically lowered her in my eyes, but also by a series of very interesting posts made almost entirely by Shailaja & Tejaswini on pages 17-19 above, which deal, inter alia, with Helena's motives,which need not be as simple as they seem at first sight. Do try and read them if you can squeeze out the time.
Besides, my fingers are in poor shape today. So I will try and make my points in brief, and in blue.
Shyamala Aunty
Am typing this on my offtime at duty on my mobile so bear with me Aunt.
I sorely missed ur last posts but i will catch up when I get time.
Absolutely loved this analysis. Am giving my two cents worth now.
I am very pleased that you liked this one so much. I hope the next is also to your liking, especially the Prologue.
Helena - There is something to be said about the fury of a woman scorned. I can relate to the anger and vindication she feels towards Malayketu. Right now she is not thinking about anything except for her revenge against that man. For that she has sacrificed her loyalty to her motherland, her king and even her culture. She betrayed her King Alexander to teach CG Greek war tactics then helped him escape...she betrayed her motherland as a whole when she supports CG despite knowing that he will attack her countrymen for his advantage. Instead of supporting her father, the new Greek ruler, she plots to ensure that Seleucus and his army can be useful pawns for CG. Magadh is her aim. Such daring is exceptional in those times. Even when CG is losing hope, she holds fast and revives his fighting spirit. Even the wedding night is about her vengeance. Magadh, Magadh, Magadh. That is all she thinks about.
I have already responded to this in my interim reply.
As for the noble motives you have, rightly, stressed in your comment on that, who knows how much of Chanakya's thirst for revenge against Nand was to avenge his personal humiliation - it was that he remembers last night as Chandra gets Nand sprawling on the ground - and how much in order to save his mathrubhoomi? No one knows, most likely not even Chanakya. As for Chandra, right now his fury is entirely personal, and it is that personal element which lends it that white hot edge this time.
As for Helena, as Shreya (sp108) has made a beautiful summing up of her motives and her actions, As she puts it:
" I do feel that there has been a change in Helena her journey from being Chandra's mentor to Chandra's wife. Her goal is revenge and that remains constant. But when she decided to marry Chandra, she willingly became part of Chandra's struggles. She is wise enough to know that taking on Magadh is no mean feat. Yet, she is willing to tread the difficult path with him. Earlier she was using Chandra as a means to gain Magadh, and now she has become a part of his struggle, not the one to abandon it or abandon Chandra if he fails. And I completely agree with you that - "No man could have asked for a stronger, more determined, more effective and supportive partner".
Strangely, CG has always given her a place higher than himself. The power dynamics till now are always heavier on her side. Be she as his master then as his guru and now as his partner, she continues to find more ways to keep that gentle intimidation yet support going. Once you teach a man, he will always look up to you and not at you. For CG too, he looks up to her. The equality is missing but they make this partnership work because for now that works for them both.
It is not really strange. He sees her not only as a helpmate, but also, as he tells Durdhara, his margadarshak, his guide. In short, Chanakya lite.
While I can but be in awe of her, I can also see her crashing in the future. Here is a woman who has forsaken her people to take revenge on one man. To punish one man she is ready to wage war on thousands. This is personal for her. She will watch thousands die for so that she can get her revenge. This is not justice that she seeks. It is plain old selfish and obssessive revenge. But what happens once Magadh is hers? Once Malayketu is punished? What will she do then. There is no going back for her. But will she be able to move forward?
The posts I have mentioned question the 'forsaken her people" line quite convincingly. After Malayaketu is punished, she will turn her attention to Chandragupta's empire building.
Also, seeing how territorial she is already vis a vis her husband, exactly like a lioness, she will boss over his other wives, of whom I am quite sure there were more than the conventionally accepted two!
Most of the records of the period must have been lost in the destruction of the great Nalanda University library by Bakhtiyar Khilji. The Arthashastra does not include such personal details, so we have nothing solid at hand. But multiple political marriages were the norm for kings, and it would have been strange if Chandragupta, still busy with the expansion of his empire, would have neglected such short cuts!😉
I dont think so. CG and Chanakya both are aware of her motivations. Whatever they may feel for her, the knowledge that she betrayed her own people will always weigh in their minds when they think of trusting her.
Distrust her in which context? She stands by Chandra like a rock, and that is all they would care about. In those days, if a queen's father later fell out with her husband, would the husband suspect her loyalty towards himself? No. As shown here,but for Helena, the C & C would have got nowhere for a decade. That is all they would remember. And Chanakya and Helena, who are very much alike, get along like a house afire.
Coming to the marriage, she is spending the beginnings of her new relationship by fighting against a former lover. There is no love for CGM in her till now only confidence and trust. She will regret this lost time. She might think Malayketu ruined her life but in reality her obssession with him is ruining her future as well. What happens when the vengeance is gone? Will it leave an emotional void, an empty lonely pride or a new obssession for a new love?
All this theorising has gone with the wind by now, overtaken by events. Besides, Helena does not see her life as ruined. She sees herself as having been humiliated, and she want to pay the man back tenfold.
This woman doesnt do halves. She is all about extremes and she is all about herself.1 Hail all who favour her cause. To hell with other lesser mortals. LOL. That right now works in her favour. In the future it may not if she continues to be so thoroughly focussed on what only she wants. 2
1 Not any longer, as Shreya says.
2 Yes, but what she wants is not a constant, and it always for Chandragupta's benefit. A problem will arise only if she has a son, and he is denied the right to the throne, as was shown in Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat.
Nandini - the blinded fool who did what is expected of any daughter - she loved and trusted her father. Normally that is what good girls do, they love and obey their fathers who in turn never lead then astray. Sadly in her case her father is the villain who does lead her astray. Is it her fault for trusting her dad to make good decisions? Maybe. I cannot fault her for something that most children do when it comes to their parents. In this blinded trust, she is doing everything she can for him...getting hitched to a lecher to keep a strong alliance against her father's enemy, fighting the enemy...
I cannot summon anger for her...only pity...it is natural to deny accusations made against our parents until we get solid proof. That too when those parents are the loving caring type. I cannot fault her. This is the kind of girl who can give her all for someone who loves her. That makes her always always vulnerable to deceit, exploitation and disappointment. Because her heart is always open. Mind not so much. Her mettle however will truly be told by how she handles her broken heart when truth is revealed. Honestly speaking if she knew abt Nand's sins and still supported him I would not be able to accept her actions. That would have been unpardonable to me. She might have been a grey character but never a heroine. A heroine must by the virtue of her name has to be heroic. This heroine is a blind fool with a lots of guts and a lot of hearts but less of the brains. I can work with that. There is scope for improvement. Unlike Helena who chooses herself over everyone and everything all the time, Nandini chooses her loved ones firmly believing that they are in the wrong. These two women are both blinded badly...one by obssession and one by love. Alas. Who trumps who will actually be decided by their future choices.
Well, I have already summed up what I feel now about Nandini in my next post.
CGM - I was laughing at the suhaagraat scene. Poor guy was so scared of his wife! Ok coming to the heavy stuff, a big revelation occurred tonight. He leaves without meeting his mother and somehow I can understand why. He is in no position to bust a weakened woman and two others out of jail. They are simply not equipped for such heavy actions. Instead he must vow to succeed in his mission so he can end their miseries once and for all.
That is not why he retreats, but because Mura says she will welcome him as her son only after he has destroyed Nand.
Magadh. Magadh. Magadh. Note that in Helena's case this single mindedness is not a good thing...her reasons for waging war are selfish. For CGM, we cheer his mission because it is for a good cause. I have discussed this above.
This new discovery adds to his reasons now. He must vanquish the evil Nands. Not just adds to it, it is now his sole motive, overpowering all else. He says so unambiguouslyl
Nandini has had a very deep impact on Chandra's psyche. When he remembers his first loss, it is her victorious gloating face he sees first in his mind. When he loses again it is her image that taunts him. When he is discovered as a spy and whipped it is her he blames though her part in his discovery was dubious at best. Now thr first person he rushes to after such a self-discovery is her. He literally bulldozes into her room to blurt out all he plans and what he expects to see from her. The hate is all channelled at her. Padmanand maybe is his mission but Nandini is his end point. The guy is crazy in hate with her.
The best and most psychologically convincing explanation for this is by Sandhya on page 2 of my next thread, and it goes as follows.
Despite all Chandra's aloofness in the Gurukul and his being his teacher's pet, the 'Charvahe ka beta' taunts of Malayaketu must have pricked him. He might have chosen to ignore considering it to be his unfortunate truth that he can overcome with his abilities. But that he was none lesser than the oafketu or the RajNandini and that he had to be separated from his parents, live a fatherless life, abused by the man he thought was his father, with a mother who ought to have been a queen, chained for years waiting for his return and revenge, were all too many revelations and very strong ones too.
What he suffered, how much he had missed in life. Hence his anger is multifold at Nand and more at his putri who enjoyed all the splendor and care at his expense. No wonder his first outburst of anger is against Nandini, whose birthday was celebrated with such grandeur, and coins were issued in whose name, who was pampered and cared for, while he, who was similar born suffered because of her father.
The anger is so great that is willing to bend the rules (or in some cases ignore) the codes of conduct with a woman that good men must follow. What does he do to her anyway? Does he slap her around? No. And that code of conduct is only for non-combatant women. Not for a Nandini.She cannot have it both ways,
She pushes him that far off his rocker. One might think it was she who committed all sins and not her father they way he goes on and on into her ears. He says that she is a fool and someday she will know the truth. This means that he partially guesses that she is unaware abt her father's crimes but even then he says that she will be punished at his hands. This is what makes me realize that our hero's anger has crossed a limit. She did what he himself is doing. Getting info on the enemy and finding weaknesses. Both think they are doing it for the right reasons but Nandini will suffer for her loyalty. With Nand, he will seek justice, with Nandini his actions are pure revenge. There is no doubt that for some reason, Nandini scrubs him raw to the bone and all the agony and pain that he has collected he will direct at her. (Covered above)
He says that he plans a different and worse punishment for her. If CGM is not careful he might invariably start treating her as his whipping post. I do not mind him puishing her...as a future Victor he has every right to punish his enemy...yet as a hero I expect him to have a code of honour that favours justice over vengeance...how far he toes that line remains to be seen.
My dear, no one who has looked at that scene of Nandini with Mura can deny that there is a very nasty streak to her as well, and if she does not know of her father's unspeakable crimes against his own praja, it is because she is deliberately blind to them. Is it that she never goes out of the palace and never hears any maids gossiping?
Ignorance of the law is not a defence in law, and in the same way, her deliberate ignorance of Nand's crimes cannot get her off scot free.
For one thing, Mura will not forget her behaviour in that scene, nor will she,as the Rajmata, ever forget it. She is a vengeful sort, and why not? She will take it all out on Nandini.
And all this distinction between justice and vengeance rarely holds up in real life. Vaishali would have killed Nandini without any hesitation in order to hit back at Nand, and I can understand that perfectly. And every time Chandragupta and Mura look at Nandini, they will only see Nand and Avantika.
What horrible genes the girl has inherited! 😡If Chandra were my son, everything else apart, I would not let him within a mile of a girl with such an accursed inheritance, for fear that her vile familial traits - as the daughter of a murderous barber and an adulteress of a queen who colluded in the murder of her husband by her lover - would be passed on to the next generation. Ugh..
What I am waiting to see is how Shweta handles the inevitable scene when the truth about her father really hits Nandini It would be like one of those real life stories where an excellent and devoted family man is exposed, 40 years after WW II, to have been a sadistic concentration camp SS officer.
That scene, which will be a very difficult one, will be the acid test of her ability as an actress. Rajat can turn himself inside out, and let his weaknesses all hang out without any hesitation, as his Chandra did in that riverside scene with Helena. We shall see if Shweta can do the same.
Lord, and I meant this to be brief! 😆 It is what I do all the time, and now my fingers are seizing up. But at least I feel morally uplifted after having done what I promised I would!😉
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Edited by sashashyam - 8 years ago
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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