At the end of reading this chapter - I am so restless and edgy and anxious and all other high strung adjectives you could find, that I almost wish I was infact Meera from the story who could walk up to either or both of them and knock their heads against a wall so that they would start thinking clearly.
I will start with Garima because her reaction is the easiest and the most natural and maybe because now as a parent I understand, if not endorse her reaction. She is a parent losing control of her child and she doesn't like it. Because as parents we are designed to anticipate the worst andit takes immense maturity to let the offspring go. I cannot judge her because I don't what I would do as a mother - I mean I know what I want to do but wanting and doing are very different things...
Nani - what can I say - I know her grandson is pigheaded. But I wish she had been a little more harsh with Khushi - after all as someone that mature and wise and loving, I would have expected her to help Khushi see that she owes her parents an answer. Still, I don't hold much against her because she is still an outsider in this equation and there is only so much she can say or do with Khushi who is for all practical purposes not even family!
That brings me to the two people in the story.
Arnav - he is a classic selfish jerk at this point. For all his admiration of Khushi and for all his open talks about what he wants and doesn't - he is unfortunately exploiting a nave (yes) young woman in the worst way possible by being completely immune to her situation. Yes he didn't force her to be in the relationship but to assume that the world - especially the traditional people that Khushi's parents are (she has been very clear about that) would understand the concept of a life without the commitment and social approval that marriage brings, to be completely blind about societal norms - even if he doesn't agree with them - is ridiculous. I ideally refrain from saying what someone should or should not have done because I believe there are reasons driving everyone and yet in this case, I cannot help but feel that he should have insisted she come clean with her parents. He should have encourage her to be honest and offered to support her in any way she needed. Instead - all he seems to care about is sex??
And Khushi - what can I say when I know that she is one getting the worst deal out of the whole thing - even in terms of sympathy from the reader. I may not have done it in her position but I can see why she went back to the apartment after what happened. But what annoys me most is that she, fully knowing what she does, is still hesitant in telling her parents what she knows. Yes it will be ugly but given she has accepted what Arnav can and cannot give and in her own words claims isn't waiting for him to change, she knows everything there is to know to speak to her parents. Yes, they will not understand but she has made the choice - this is only inevitable. Her situation makes me bleed but I think having everything out in the open can only be better for her - at least what is will be.
This story never fails to make me think and react, K - but today I think I might have just surpassed anything I have ever felt for any piece of fan-fiction - even in anger, despair and helplessness. And what makes it worse is that this is most likely real for someone somewhere. Shudder to think it could be me, my sister, my friend, my daughter...
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
CID
12