Originally posted by: Chintapandu
Thank you for opening this thread MMji and for asking for my POV, so here it is
I don't know where to start cuz I have a lot in mind and want to throw a few points out there without offending any of our friends here.
So first things first, I do believe he does possess an unconscious class bias, and this is not an insult to AKT in any way. I'm merely pointing out what many of us, consciously or unconsciously, chose to ignore because of the fact that Adi accepted Imlie despite her social status and the plethora of good things he had done for her.
I'll explain my broader POV and then give you some specific examples that support it.
Sadly, this prejudice is not new nor is it limited to this show or a few characters in it. Class [includes caste in most cases] prejudice is ingrained in our society for a very very long time. It is everywhere and every human tends to show it at some point or the other in their life. One has to be aware of their own prejudices to fight them off. A single person cannot be blamed for this unless it overpowers their common sense [Ex: Mrs.C] cuz it is a social evil that is actually taught at home starting at a very young age that cannot be erased easily.
Adi and the Ts are no exception when it comes to this unconscious classism - the Ts loved Imlie as their maid and as an adopted daughter. But did that acceptance make them give her a room and all the luxuries of a Tripathi daughter? No, cuz she was still a maid and they loved her because she was a maid and that love vanished when they got to know that she is married to Adi. The first reason Aparna stated for her disbelief that Adi is married to Imlie is that she is a 'naukraani' and that HER son couldn't marry a naukraani.
While the Ts were busy loving Imlie earlier, Adi didn't miss a chance to remind her of her status - "apni jagah mat bhulna", "family ki naukraani hain", "joothe mein phasey kankad", "mitti not chandan" [albeit for his self-assurance, but these words were what he chose to term her as] and "kya socha? muh maange rakam dedenge?" "ye tumhare haq ke paise hain", "chinta mat karna aur bhi bhejte rahenge". Let's not forget that he was also the one who tagged her a thief in PD because she's a village girl - just like his family did in the beginning regd. the jewelry and later regd. their own son after the truth-revelation [He is a Tripathi after all, and if you noticed, amma bitwa are same same in many aspects].
He was the one who comfortably forgot about her studies even after M reminded him until he himself realized how talented she is because SK telling him about Imlie's sapna of aage badhna wasn't convincing enough - he didn't believe that a village girl like Imlie could actually achieve her dreams.
He was quicker than the Ts to realize his mistakes and rectify them, but this doesn't make his prejudice vanish.
It resurfaces every now and then. Some of those instances are
- When he wouldn't bash M the way he bashed the warden for questioning Imlie's character,
- When he wouldn't give benefit of the doubt to Imlie when she says M has wrong intentions [it is not about trusting M, it is about him considering the possibility that Imlie could be right and he couldn't consider it],
- When he wouldn't ask M for the truth one last time after Imlie's accusations but asks Imlie after M accuses her,
- When he wouldn't let M go to jail despite the video evidence but would want to send SK to jail despite the eye-witness telling that he didn't shoot.
- When he wouldn't question AC one last time after her confessing to drugging him despite Imlie claiming otherwise,
- When he wouldn't file a case on AC saying her going or not going to jail doesn't make a difference but would want SK behind the bars saying he was the culprit - doesn't matter who instigated him.
Not to keep an account of his wrongdoings but to show you where I found it in his actions. These were some of my observations, still not able to gather all my thoughts but let's call it a day. So this is my POV.