Why is the September 1st episode so important to me? What happened there that struck a certain chord for me and had me watching it over and over again? What about today's episode prompted me to make a post.
It was the scene between Shivvay and Pinky Singh Oberoi that made me revisit the September 1st episode. It was the scene between Shakti and Dadi and later Pinky and Dadi that made me revisit it.
September 1st was the day that ShivIka took the final challenge. That day ended with the golden Prince leaving his 'Palace of Pleasures, Royal Robes, his Chariots and his Team of Staff ' and walking out to live like a common man with only enough money to survive on, like his wife would have done, before she became an Oberoi.
The scene that stuck out and refused to go away was the one immediately following the one where Pinky walks in after Annika has finished her imitation of Shivvay.
Pinky: "Aaisa hi keheta hai mera beta, ki who saab theek kar dega... Aapni Ma ko toh jaisey bhul hi gaya hai"
Annika: "Lekin mujhe yakeen hai ki Shivvay saab theek kar dengey"
The stone faced and unmoved Shivvay is very clear to see. He has cut off all ties that his mother is still holding on to. She is only Mrs. Pinky Oberoi now not Ma anymore.
He has disowned her just like she had disowned him to Annika by calling him illegitimate. He has also disowned her like she had made him disown the love of his life and the very reason for his happiness - his wife.
To me that in a way is poetic justice for the woman who had made him disown his own wife before the whole world. The burden of that sin must still weigh heavy on his heart even though he was an innocent victim of her machinations.
He was very clear that he would even forgive Pinky for what she had done to him but would not forgive her for what she did to Annika. She has already lost him emotionally and if Pinky pulls another stunt again, this time I think it is going to be the physical loss of her son who will not hesitate to even walk out with his wife.
Shivvay: "Annika par var karna matlab Shivvay pe var karna hai.
He said Shivvay' , not Shivvay Singh Oberoi' like he used to before.
Dadi was happy that Shivvay supported Annika.
Her words were that when life is good and we have plenty it is very easy to walk shoulder to shoulder with your partner but when times are difficult, that is when the true strength of a relationship is tested.
Dadi: "... Rishtey ki aasli agni pariksha tab hoti hai jab humarey paas kuch na ho. Matlab sukh suvidhaye, aaish o aaram kuch bhi nahi."
He has also reaffirmed that Annika's respect is his respect and Annika is his pride. Whatever secret the envelop holds about Shivvay this time it will not matter because even if she ends up manipulating either Annika or Shivvay I am sure that there will be no separation between ShivIka. There will be another journey for sure but a journey that they both will make together to find that truth. And so comes challenge number three where Dadi challenges that they live together happily even in a situation where they do not have any luxuries.
I will insert a small note about Rudy a.k.a. Lakshman who might walk out with Bhaiya-Bhabhi. He, I feel, is being groomed into a working man who has to understand responsibility and manual labor as opposed to being paid for just signing a cheque at the Oberoi offices. Is that also his track as per the challenge that Bhavya has thrown at him?
Then we have the RiKara track - where once again Om the shattered brother will be alone and Shivvay will need Gauri to support and look after him till he returns. Shivvay will place Om in Gauri's care so that he will not feel the loneliness and pain of his brothers loss. That is where RiKara is headed as well I feel with them placing the Family Deity at the home temple, the guardians of the Oberoi House in the absence of ShivIka. Om an unwilling and hesitant businessman will need to shoulder the responsibility of the Family Business in Shivvay's absence.
Maybe I am overthinking this but somehow I feel that the challenges that Dadi put before ShivIka were a premonition of the life that was to come for the Older Oberoi son and bahu. It is the Vanvas track that we might be heralding with Svetlana being exposed and the secret being hidden by Dadi and Shakti, the honorable elders in the Family who truly hold it together.
The first challenge was preparing a meal for each other according to the partner's choice which was learning to understand and appreciate each other's tastes. The meal was bad but they covered up for each other and they passed that test. The second was role play where each acted out the other and they passed that as well. The third is living the life that your partner lived and the challenges she faced prior to her meeting you.
What I could not understand was why the challenge was just for one day and why that was wrapped up in the span of two episodes with Shivvay getting only a mild taste of what Annika's world was like. I mean they could have easily made that experience a bit more meaningful and a bit longer and I am sure that none of us would have objected in the least.
I remember ASR staying with Khushi at her place was definitely a track none of us IPK fans will ever forget. That could have been done with ShivIka as well with at least 3 days being spent there as opposed to one day.
So maybe it was kept short because there was to be a longer track with him experiencing her life and what the Oberoi's put her through. This way we might get at least the track where he delves into Annika's past now because it is connected with his Family's secrets.
He might even come to realize that contrary to what Pinky Singh Oberoi always said it was the Oberoi's who were 'bad luck' for Annika not the other way around. That quest to prove/ or the need to rectify the wrong (if that secret is in the envelop already), might cause him to disown his Naam, Khoon and Khandaan that he was always so very proud of.
He was so enraged when she told him she was beaten in the dark at the orphanage. Now imagine this man finds out that his Family was the cause of all the suffering and trauma that she faced all her life. That guilt is enough to weigh any loving husband down to disown who he is.
Again maybe I am wrong but I feel that this is the grand finale of Pinky's so called arc that somehow fell very short of all our expectations. We were expecting a nuclear warhead after all that build up and all we got was a scud missle. Pinky causing an issue during the wedding is a given and with all the warnings that we have Shivvay giving her over and over again, it seems like they want us to prepare for his final walking out.
Even today he very openly stated that he did not trust her with his wedding preparations, wedding plans or even anywhere near his wife because he has realized how much she hates Annika and what lengths she is willing to go to in order to remove her from his life.
So that itself, with Dadi's warning as an added twist, is going to have a major arc closure I feel which concludes with him walking out with his wife after the wedding ceremony. I also feel that no one will stop him or try to make him change his mind because they will understand that this is what he needs to do in order to stand by his wife and his life partner. After all this second wedding should have some purpose to it and the envelope being found some reason.
Shivvay is the Neev and with him so is Annika now. What happens when the very foundation is shaken and weak or decides to leave?
Maybe to live in the Haveli that Om and Gauri had recently gone to or maybe Annika's chawl.
