Every now and then each of us has to face a situation where we have the choice to play either good cop, spare the rod or the bad cop and say it like it is. I dare to quote Robert Frost to highlight that very dilemma….
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Our dear Dr. Armaan presented with a similar quandary could have played the good cop, mollycoddling the object of his affection, trying to placate her and her rue against him by being nice, sweet and forever cajoling as he usually is. But somewhere along the line, I think he has come to realize that Ridhima is like a petulant child who is not au fait with the concept of love or mildness as an effective means of communication. It is indeed strange that she should prefer the stronger, more acrid medicine considering she has been copiously showered with affection from her father. Maybe it is true that when you get an excess of something you tend not to realize its worth.
Instead of following his routine course of inveigling Ridhima, attempting to get her to see reason, this one time Armaan has decided that Ridhima has enough people playing good cop in her life and it is time he donned the role of bad cop and got her to face reality as it were. He offers no opportunity to cushion the blows. And sure enough his efforts have yielded praiseworthy results.
He is cruel in his sermon to Ridhima on how pain is not exclusive to her (hinting at the pain in his life, the neglect of his parents) and that instead of wallowing in self pity she needs to pick up the pieces and accept reality. He is right of course. Not everybody who smiles is a happy person…and tears overshed can lose their significance. Ridhima's life may have been turned upside down by the shocking truth of her origin, but there were more pressing matters at hand, her birth mother's life at stake, her father's confidence at the guillotine, their need for her and her support. She would have the rest of her life to moan the loss of her identity.
As Ridhima suddenly overcome with a sense of duty towards her mother, decides to walk out on her patients, Armaan once again chooses to speak to her clearly…no sweet words, no pleading. Telling it like it is, he makes her aware of the fact that her patients need her as much as her parents do and while her parents can still manage without her constant care, for they need only her support, her patients depend on her completely.
Our bad cop plays his role perfectly. If only Ridhima would pause a bit and think of how much Armaan has done for her in the past couple of days, she would be surprised to find that her almost instant recovery from the tragic revelation can be credited entirely to the efforts of one angel in a devil's masquerade. If she could see past his 'annoying/useless/insensitive' ways, she would realize that she understands nothing else but that when it comes to Armaan.
At the risk of permanently jeopardizing his relationship with Ridhima, Armaan has chosen the road less traveled by and that has truly made all the difference. A testament to how deep his love for her runs.
On a separate note Anjali understands and values only good cop talk, since she has had enough of bad cop in her life…but that is another discussion altogether!!!
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