"Ask no questions and you will be told no lies"
An episode that had set several expectations before it started...This was supposed to be the day Shravan was to disintegrate knowing what he had done to Sumo's dream, her life's work and her life's passion...
Sumo's dream did we say?
Yes...but what exactly do we know of her dream? How did cooking become her life's work and her passion? The first time I heard the word passion related to her job was when Nirmala said "Sumo, I am glad you made your work your passion". The very first few episodes gave a glimpse of a smart entrepreneur. Yes, we have seen her busy herself around her workplace, taking active interest in the affairs. We have had glimpses of her handling her co-workers, Yes, we have seen her get angry when the PCT board was blemished one day. Yes, we have seen her step in to resolve problems at her workplace like any professional. That she takes quality very seriously came to be known when she received poor feedback about her spices, which had her drive to give hell to her supplier. Indeed, PCT figures very strongly in the background in many episodes and so we have all concluded, it is indeed her dream and her life and passion.
But honestly, I have seen her cooking but sparingly. The chamak that Pushkar mentioned today...did I miss it? Of course, I did because I have not seen her growth of the last four years. But importantly, have we ever wondered why Shravan has not ever made one visit to her workplace of this friend? He who was supposed to be Sumo's best friend has never been to her workplace? Why? Was there a design behind this by the writer of this story?
Does Shravan really know this side of Sumo?
We have been convinced that since he had accepted his love the natural extension of this would be his absolute disintegration on knowing that he was the unwitting cause for her pain. Yes, we saw flashes of pain...pain for Sumo, his beloved whose love he carried in his heart all these years but not for Sumo, the owner of PCT. Who is this Sumo that Shravan knows yet does not. Does Shravan really know her? Should we be surprised?
Not really... Today everyone one of us had this expectation that when Shravan would get to know of the dismantling of her business he would feel the pain...but we were surprised that Shravan, though reflective and pensive, was argumentative...like his profession..like a lawyer. How perfectly logical he looked when he said if I had not done this, someone else would have.
True isn't it? Sumo was collateral damage (unintended yet real) in this event. Per law and per intention. Did he intend to hurt Sumo through this event...NO...As per law, was he expected to look out for the interests of his opponent's? NO...Yet he became the cause of her pain. To know someone's pain, to actually feel the pain...and worse still to be actually aware that we (even unwittingly) are the cause of that pain...all have distinct meanings. It is like having to be in those shoes to know the pain of where it pinches.
Echoesofpassion in her post, makes some wonderful references to the past intertwining with the present and events all making their presence felt. Indeed, even if accept that there may not be a like for like comparison to the events, doesn't it prove one thing? The omniscience of time's relevance to events!!
Today, even if he wants, Shravan cannot wish away the questions that come his way. There is no place to hide from uncomfortable questions of how one can become someone's unwitting cause of pain. Pain because you are involved in the happiness of that person. Pain because you love that person whom you caused pain...even if you did not mean to.
That is the place where Pushkar comes in. To everyone he was the perfect friend of Sumo yesterday. But what was Pushkar really doing yesterday...He was playing the role of Shravan's alter ego yesterday. Who is an alter ego? Alter ego has been variously described but in all meanings one thing is implicit that the alter ego is a part of oneself, it's your second self, an intimate friend and a constant companion. Yesterday, Pushkar assumed the role of Shravan's alter ego, giving him a reality check to his conditioned and logical responses. Indeed, who better than Pushkar (what an apt name he has...was it by design? PUSH KAR!! 😆😆) to push Shravan out of the depths of despair...to the nether depths of more despair? Where is the place to hide? Pushkar has played this role on other occasions as well, its just that it was not as pronounced as this...and while him being Sumo's friend overshadowed everything...we have perhaps never paid deep attention to all those times he did. After the reunion party, Pushkar came to him with his heartfelt complaint to Shravan...this is not about Sumo...I want to talk to you about me. The time, Shravan battles with his conscience about the Khosla Varun matter, he quietly slips in to tell him to listen to his heart. Also, remember the time when he references the unbendable nature of truth while at the receiving end of his mother's machinations. The time, when he sees the distance developing between Sumo and Shravan...he comes with his words of advice and his quiet questioning...
When Pushkar told Shravan "you were not there...I was there"...please do think what does it mean here for Shravan? He.. who was nursing his hurt for the last ten years. It gives one a perspective on pain. What is felt to the level of exclusion of the other and yet cannot be denied. This interplay between Shravan and Pushkar mustn't be seen as one questioning another. Yes, it is so but it is also a questioning of the self. Of our own perceptions of events and perspectives that have been developed over years of conditioning our mind. To me the use of Pushkar in that scene was a sublime piece of writing...Pushkar and Sumo, two people who love him the most and the only two people who will show him a mirror to his actions. It was as if Shravan was listening to his inner voice, (a voice that had been conditioned for unemotional responses yet could never give up warring when it concerned Sumo). Every time Shravan negated Pushkar, his renewed vigour of reasoning only brought more pain for Shravan. Every single time, the matter concerned Sumo, we have seen Shravan's conditioned response undergoing a change both overtly and covertly...subconsciously even...(the leg sprain!!) Who other than Pushkar to be that window to Shravan's soul...a glimpse of Sumo for her journey for the time that these two have spent apart. Here Pushkar and Shravan become one...
Ranjit Singh and Namik aced their scenes...their pain literally jumped out of the screens!!👏👏
"True friends stab you in the front"
I leave with you with the above words...Please feel welcome to add your thoughts, question mine...what I write is not an absolutism so all forms of opinions are welcome on this post. We will better our understanding of the journey in that way.Thank u...
Thank you Red...for your wonderful insights...I would have never realised the significance of yesterday's episode had it not been for our crazy discussions yesterday morning...A special shout out to Indrani and J...as always...for just being their wonderful selves...their thoughts and comments as always spur mine
Cricket
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