Arjun FF: The Lady in Red.. Thread 2. Link added.. - Page 21

My dear Avantika,

This was shorter than usual, but in no way is it a filler chapter. You have divided it half and half between the Rosanna track and the Aisha-Arjun track, with an equal number of teasers (or red herrings?) left trailing all over them.

The world of intelligence and counter-intelligence work is very different from that of the regular police, and the skill sets needed in it overlap only in part with that of police work. It is far more demanding than police duty, for the successful intelligence operative has to be able to completely become another person, and at times several other persons, for long periods at a time. The only way to do that so well as to fool the professionals in the enemy camp is to shut out your real persona altogether while you are on an assignment, and live, talk and even think like the person you are pretending to be. Otherwise there will be slip ups, leading to covers being blown and valuable lives los and morale shattered. The mask must never slip, preferably even in private.

Now your Rosanna knows all this, but there seem to be corners in her mind where old traumas linger, so that when she sings, she bares herself too much emotionally and makes herself vulnerable. This is what Karan concludes, and as she does not contradict him, we can take it that it is true. However, I do not think Karan is right in thinking that she does not accept Pereira's offer of a job at his hotel because of this mental block. I think she wants to make Pereira run after her a bit more, so that when she does accept in the end, it does not seem that she has no option but to do that, and she has a stronger hand to play vis a vis Pereira.

I am sure your readers (except me) will now be busy working out if Karan is falling for Rosanna. I am not interested in this, except that I want make one point. Between intelligence operatives, falling in love can be dangerous, for it is almost sure to affect their mental focus and thus their mission. In a mission such as this one, there is always very serious risk, and Karan, and even more so Rosanna, run this risk deliberately. Love will make each of them afraid for the safety of the other, and this might make one or both of them choose to protect the other at the expense of the mission. So long as they are dedicated professionals, such weaknesses need to be avoided. It sounds cruel, but that is the way it is.

The Aisha Gupte turned 'just Aisha' is obviously Roshni's cousin, and so the dard ka rishta that she and Arjun share is now up front and centre. After Rosanna, Aisha is the character I like the most. She is a very strong woman, but not unemotional, only tightly controlled. A time will surely come when she will be less controlled. As will Arjun Suryakant Rawte, as he goes back to his old haunts and the familiar environs of his boyhood, where old traumas lurk, just waiting for the right moment to surge forth, like so many Jacks-in-the-Box.

But many questions still remain, as they should. On to Khopoli!

Shyamala Aunty

hi avantika di...it was an brilliant update...rosy is too mysterious and karan is also agood friend aisha n arjun's past are attached to each other... waiting for the revealations...i just want to tell u since this is exam season so i may not comment on ur updates plz bear with it...just for this week...awesome update di...update soon