Devils Den - Dev How dare you touch Geet?? - Page 113

Alright folks, yesterday's episode raised several thoughts which I just had to pen down. Given that I had a day off, the thoughts ultimately have turned into a long thesis. You know what they say about an idle mind being the devil's workshop!!

Why did Geet allow Dev to apply colour to her? Why did Geet apply colour on Dev's forehead?

[Caveat: I understand from posts that this was a last-minute call while the shoot was on and not a part of the original script. I, too, am unhappy with what was portrayed. Nonetheless, I will attempt to justify this on the basis of the past episodes.]

We were shown that Geet has forgiven Dev. We are willing to live with that.

Yet, when we saw Geet smile at Dev and allow him to apply colour, we were livid. Our anger knew no boundaries when Geet went ahead and applied colour to Dev on his forehead (tilak). She could forgive, we said, but not forget. She ought to have shown discomfort when Dev attempted to apply colour on her, and she ought not to have applied colour to him.

But, then I asked myself to look at it from another perspective. Let's go back to the episode at the farmhouse, the one where Geet forgave Dev. Let's bear in mind here that, from Geet's point of view, Dev is truly repentant for what he did. Now, one of the reasons Geet gave for forgiving Dev was that she did not want anyone to be burdened on account of her. She did not want Dev to be weighed down by the burden of his guilt. I referred to this earlier and cited Geet's own first-hand experience of living a life laden with guilt or some other sorrow. She has always expressed her reluctance for anyone else to be burdened on account of her. A case in point is when she refused MSK's offer to be his fake fiancee telling him that she did not want his life to be weighed under the burdens of her life. Another instance is her decision to move out of the Manchandas' house, lest her pregnant status bring disrepute to the Manchandas.

So, what did we see? Dev applied colour to Grandma and instinctively moved to the next person, who happened to be Geet. Dev hesitated and lowered his eyes in what could be construed as remnants of the burden of guilt that continued to plague him. This was seen by Geet, who truly does not want anyone else to be burdened on account of her. If she were to show any displeasure, it would indicate that she had merely mouthed the words of forgiveness, but not truly meant it. By smiling at Dev, Geet indicated that she had truly forgiven him and sought to release Dev from the last vestiges of his guilt. By applying colour to him (and the forehead was the only available respectable place) and wishing him a happy holi, she conveyed her wishes of a new start for the repentant man. A new start free of the burden of guilt. A new start on the morning of Holi, the evil having been consigned to flames in the fire of holi during the preceding night.

What caused the outburst? What did MSK's dialogues connote?

MSK was just about to shut the windows to shut out the noise from outside when he was arrested by the sight of Annie and Dev playing around. His anger went up a notch when he saw Annie -- the sister to whom he had explained Dev's ill-deeds at the poolside -- playing Holi with Dev as if he had done no wrong. [In a humorous aside, given MSK's later statement that Geet did not have the Khuranas' blood running through her veins and therefore forgave Dev, I am willing to accept his proposition and apply it to say that Annie's forgiveness of Dev only proved that Annie is not MSK's sister.]

Then MSK saw Dev and Annie head towards Grandma and apply colour to her. Maybe the anger did not head up another notch there, because he already knew that Grandma had a soft corner for Dev.

And then MSK saw Dev applying colour to Geet and Geet's reciprocal action. He saw Geet head into the house. Scant seconds later, he saw Dev following Geet into the house.

MSK's distrust of Dev immediately sprang into action. MSK said to himself that he was sure that Dev was going to Geet and that Geet was unable to understand Dev. He voiced his understanding of Dev -- neither could he ever change nor would he ever change. He said that Dev has stayed at their house for so many days and had attempted to poison Geet and his relationship. He acknowledged that it was his fault that he housed Dev at home for so many days, housed a serpent for so many days. He expressed the end of his tolerance for Dev, a tolerance that had commenced to repay the debt of Dev saving his life. Here, I reckon that we are of the unanimous opinion that MSK did not, for a moment, express any words to doubt Geet's fidelity.

Geet was worried about MSK's silence, his refusal to talk to her.

Enter Dev, who despite MSK, Geet and Grandma telling him to keep out of MSK and Geet's lives, continues his unsolicited intervention. Dev started by asking if she had spoken to MSK. I will complete the unasked question here -- had she spoken to MSK about her decision to forgive him? Geet's silence gives him the answer that he requires, that MSK still does not know of Geet's decision to forgive him. Dev volunteered to speak to MSK to set things aright between MSK and Geet. It does seem as if he was hoping to push the buttons to get MSK to explode in anger. A serpent in paradise?

Enter MSK, who questioned Dev how things would become alright. He told Dev that as long as he was at the Khurana Mansion, the situation would not be ok. He told Dev that he was a fallen man and would remain so. He accused Dev of being the biggest problem and attributed the start of problems in his and Geet's lives to Dev. He vowed not to spare Dev, caught hold of him and slapped him.

Geet, the girl who has always abhorred physical violence, could not comprehend what just happened. She asked Maan what he was doing. Dev asked his brother to listen to him. MSK rhetorically asked Dev if he should listen to him. Geet interjected once again and asked MSK to listen. MSK stopped Geet and told her that she did not know Dev's true face. MSK said that he had understood what Dev was trying to do. MSK looked at Geet for a moment and told her that whatever Dev was doing was with dishonourable intentions (that's how I interpret *gandi neeyati* here).

Dev shrugged off MSK and asked him to stop. He told MSK that, while MSK was elder to him and could beat him if he wanted to, he ought not to accuse him wrongly. Dev admitted that he had committed crimes and claimed he was still repenting for them. Yet, Dev said that MSK's accusations were completely wrong. He claimed that he only wished for MSK to be happy, for the misunderstanding between MSK and Geet to be resolved. He said that he did not expect to be patted on the back for his actions, but pleaded that such allegations ought not to be made against him.

MSK responded by saying that it was a new tactic of Dev to separate them -- Maan and Geet. He said that it was his fault that he allowed Dev to remain at home. MSK asked how he could forget that a lowlife like Dev could never be reformed.

Dev asked MSK to tell him what he had done wrong this time. He asked MSK why he was making wrong allegations against him on the basis of the poison generated on account of his past misdeeds.

And, then, the spark to the plug. Dev asked MSK if Geet could forgive him, why could he not forgive him. A calculated revelation to an already angry man? A revelation designed to set off an angry man who, by Dev's account, did not even know of his wife's decision to forgive him?

Geet looked apprehensively at MSK to gauge his reaction to that, his reaction to what should have been the first time MSK found out about her unilateral decision to forgive Dev. Would he turn to her to confirm if this were true? Well, surprise. MSK did not so much as spare her a glance.

And, the plug was lit and the detonation took place. MSK held Dev by the collar and answered his question. He told Dev that he could not forgive him because the Khurana family's blood runs in his veins, in which there is honour. He said that if Geet did not have that same honour, then it was not his problem. He said that it could be the case that Geet had safed khoon (I am unable to give an English equivalent to this) running through her veins (note that he used the word 'shayad' and did not make a conclusive statement about Geet's blood - a redeeming word there) and that was why she could forget her dishonour (beizzati) and forgive a man like Dev, but not him. He asked Dev what magic he had woven around his wife (note the possessiveness here) that she would forgive a man like him, a man whom he -- MSK -- hates from the core of his heart. MSK turned to Geet and asked her what Dev had done for her that she forgot everything and played holi with him today? He asked her if she had forgotten what Dev had done to her.

And, that, to me, seemed to be the root cause of the outburst. More on that in a short while.

Geet was too shell-shocked to respond and was able to utter only a single word ... "Maan?" A brilliant play of words here, for "Maan" means respect too -- and, today, MSK questioned her sense of self-respect. And, with that, Geet walked out.

Now, for what I perceive to be the root cause of MSK's outburst.

MSK's understandable anger, hatred and insecurity probably stems from the fact that Dev was the man who had dishonoured his wife, his Geet. Try as he might, I would say that he cannot ignore the fact that Dev was the first man for Geet. This, for him, was probably brought out starkly for him at the holi sequence. The sight of Dev becoming the first person to apply the colours of holi to Geet probably underscored the fact that Dev was the first man for Geet. The sight of Geet applying tilak to Dev's forehead (a sign of respect) probably underscored that Geet had submitted herself to Dev to fulfil what she assumed then was her marital duties. Remember how MSK wanted to be the first to apply haldi to Geet at their wedding? The holi scene he witnessed only brought back what could be a deep-rooted insecurity.

Here, fortunately for MSK, Geet does not know that he had seen her and Dev at the farmhouse. I wonder if MSK's question to Geet -- "what had Dev done for her that prompted her to forgive him?" -- actually gave words to his silent, simmering thoughts ever since he saw Dev and Geet at the farmhouse -- Geet telling Dev that she forgave him in a *romantic* ambience that was created for a couple. We have to bear in mind that MSK is still unaware that the setting at the farmhouse had been created for him and Geet.

Another possible cause is that for MSK, Geet and he are one. Her dishonour was his dishonour. And, MSK was not a man to ever forgive a slight to his honour.

Did what happen justify Geet's decision to walk out?

[Caveat: I admit that I could be wrong in the interpretation of what was meant by "honour".] For Geet, MSK's words about honour must have hit hard. MSK had told her that, for him, she was the epitome of purity. He had told her that her past did not matter. Yet, by referring to her dishonour, did he somehow tell her that her past did haunt him?

MSK's words in Geet's flashbacks were probably pointers to her thoughts at that time.

MSK had thanked her for including her in his life, making him a part of her and giving him a new life. Today, he expressed a distinction -- he was a true Khurana, she was not. He may have become a part of her life, but has she become a part of his life, a part of the Khuranas' life, a Khurana? I wonder if this was also why they showed the scene where, as per the Khurana family rite of passage, Geet left the imprints of her palms on the walls of the Khurana Mansion. A mere ritual that held no meaning? [Caveat: I know the question of whether she had become a part of his life is actually rhetorical because MSK has, time and again, told Geet that she was his life. But, this was just a thought that came to mind while reflecting on the flashbacks.]

MSK had told Geet that he did not know if man is born again, and that if there were rebirths, he wanted Geet's companionship, her love in each birth of his. Now, this brings to mind Geet's definition of love. For her, love was togetherness for a lifetime, one which would not be separated even by death.

So, now unsure of whether or not MSK has actually made her a part of his life, does she decide to test whether MSK does truly love her by walking out? This probably ties in with Vinu's spoiler -- "If you love someone, let them go. And if they return to you, then it was meant to be. But, if they don't, it means that their love was never yours to begin with." [Caveat: I am assuming that it is Geet who lets go off Maan, and not the other way round ... the episode tonight will let us know who lets whom go.]


Ability to assess characters -- the test of Dev's assessment

MSK has always been proved to be a shrewd judge of characters. On the other, Geet has been portrayed as a person who believes in the inherent goodness of others -- be it Dev (when she initially refused to believe that he had betrayed her), Meera (she trusted Meera and accepted her offer of staying at her home on the night of the engagement fiasco) or Arjun (she did not tar him with the same brush as Naintara just because he was a Rathod).

MSK distrusted Arjun. Geet told MSK that Arjun should not be tarred with the same brush as Naintara only on account of the fact that Arjun was Naintara's brother. She believed in "good until proven otherwise". MSK disagreed, but only permitted Arjun to be the wedding planner at the insistence of Geet and his Grandma. Arjun was shown to be a person whose conscience would prick him when he was about to do something wrong. Yet, he lost reason when his sister was injured and allowed his conscience to be silenced by his bid for vengeance. Unknown to them, MSK was proved right when Arjun used Annie in a bid to wreak vengeance against the Khuranas. And, unknown to them, Geet's faith in the innate goodness of persons was proven right when Arjun let his conscience dictate his actions once he found out the truth. That it took Dev's words for Arjun to believe in the innocence of the Khuranas and, therefore, prove Geet right was highly ironic. [Note: Personally, I do not think that anything Arjun does would suffice to make amends for his objectification of Annie.].

At the start of the series, MSK had ousted Dev and Naintara from the Khurana mansion for reasons still unknown to us. One can assume that the actions were heinous enough to warrant such an ouster and a complete break-up of the family. Finally, at Grandma's insistence, he allowed Dev one last opportunity and consents to bring him back. What Dev did to Geet completely destroyed MSK's ability to trust him. So, MSK still distrusts Dev, his actions and his motives. On the other hand, Geet is willing to accept that Dev has reformed and has forgiven him. Who will be proven right this time?

Edit: I forgot that the formatting does not automatically carry over.

@Medha:WOWWWW...What a outstanding analysis👏👏👏👏...I wish u hv reserved the first few pages in the Den so that everyone could read this👏👏😳..why don't u make a separate psot in the main forum too pasting your analysis becaue its brillliantly written👏👏

Medha👏 brillaint Please make a post on MF with this😊

Jyo u and me wrote the same thing abt MF ha ha

@Medha...... My love your thesis is absolutely astounding.....👏..