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Aastha and Shlok are brought together many times by different creatures, representing different characters in the story. These critter cupids played a very important part in their love story. I feel that, they not just brought Aastha and Shlok together, but they also warned them to make certain changes in their lives and they gave hints, about the upcoming events or some past events, to the viewers.
Wall Lizard
A Lizard is a cold blooded reptile, so it represents an enemy, who looks benign on the surface, but will do things to malign you behind your back. Like a Snake, Lizard is also associated with primal urges like hunger, thirst and sex. A Lizard distracts its predators by leaving its tail behind and flees. This could mean deception. It can grow its tail back again, which means renewal. It could mean the ability to leave a part of you behind, as in your past, and move on. They are equipped to climb vertical walls, which indicates the capacity to overcome the obstacles.
There were two lizard incidents in EBP.
The first time, the lizard actually crawled on Aastha's hand in the store room and she runs into Shlok screaming. This incident happened after Shlok saved Aastha from the autowala rape attempt. This must be an indication that someone is already trying to malign Aastha. I always felt that Niranjan was behind the rape incident. Aastha always thought that Anjali was the Hitler and Niranjan the saintly, though he might be the one, who was trying to malign her. This incident also suggests that Shlok is attracted to Aastha, but he needs to come out of his past.
The second time, it happened in their bedroom in the stranger track. She imagined the hair pin to be the lizard and got scared. There are omens attached to the lizards. I read that a lizard falling on a woman's back indicates her husband's death. Since it is just the hairpin that fell on her back and not the actual lizard, she might think that something happened to Shlok, but he might be safe. Didn't Shlok talk about his death in the stranger's track?! Also, after the lizard scene in their bedroom, she bumps into Pawar. She starts thinking about him and walks on distractedly without noticing Shlok, who is standing right beside her. Shlok crosses her and stands in front of her. She bumps into Shlok, still lost in her thoughts, and he calls her a zombie. All of this indicates that she will presume that he is dead and she might become a living corpse, when Anjali will become her strength.
Black Dog
Friendly dogs mean good things, but not the dogs that chase you to kill you.
Aastha tries to run away from Shlok, but this huge Black Dog chased her and she fell into a hole in the ground, during their first jungle adventure . This Dog looked like a Hellhound to me, that guards the gates of the Hell, and that hole in the ground seems like a hellhole called Agnihotri Mansion. It is said that the Hell hound never lets anyone get out of the Hell. The person, who never lets anyone get out of the Agnihotri hell alive, is Niranjan.
Shlok comes to Aastha's rescue and diverts that hound's attention away from Aastha instead of killing it. That's what he tells Aastha when she mocks him about not being able to kill the hound, in that jungle ghost house later. Why wouldn't he kill him if it's any jungle beast?! Why did he "just wanted to divert the hound's mind"?
Aastha tells Shlok that she ended up in the hole, because she wanted to be far away from Shlok and he asks her if she didn't find a better place than that hole, to be far away from him. She not just rejected the marriage proposal, but damaged Niranjan's image again and again, which he values too much. Shlok always used to tell her repeatedly in the beginning, to stay away from him. But, I think, Aastha made sure that Niranjan is thirsty for her blood. We can hear a distant dog bark in the rape incident too.
Shlok offers her help only on the condition that she apologizes to him, but Aastha refuses and manages to pull him into the hole too. Shlok doesn't involve himself in Agnihotri house matters usually and stays aloof, but because of Aastha, he is forced to deal with the hell, starting with the Jyothi issue. Niranjan wonders, just before Sweekriti, that it is not good that Shlok is showing too much interest in household matters.
Shlok tries to get out of the hole and he manages to get a foot hold. He demands Aastha to apologize and she says sorry to him like a good girl. He helps her get out of the hole, but finds it hard to climb out himself, when Aastha pulls him out of his darkness. Niranjan started to feel that Aastha will not become another Anjali. He probably wanted Aastha to go away by accepting divorce. He even snubbed Aastha during Gudi Padwa by giving Aditi a necklace along with the other daughters-in-law. Shlok also probably thought that it is better for her if she goes away, though he didn't want her to leave him. That's the reason why he was extremely rude to her and called her "parayi", when Aastha tried to oust Aditi, just before the divorce hearing. I see the same pattern of rudeness even now. Isn't he telling her to go away from him every other day?! Is he "diverting Niranjan's mind" even now?! But Aastha read something in his eyes, which made her reject the divorce and stay with him. Shlok said that he also doesn't want divorce only after Aastha rejected the divorce. Soon after Swathi's death happened and Aastha helped Shlok come out of that gloom. Niranjan probably kept quiet during this phase, because he was afraid of losing Shlok again due to Swathi's death.
White Rat and Black Rat
In general, Rats are known for their Adaptability, Fertility, Foresight, Cunning, Aggression, Restlessness and Greediness. We can learn a lot of things from rats - to stay smart, to think ahead, to stay calm, to declutter our lives and to adapt to the circumstances.
In the store room scene, Aastha comes there to look for a stool for Anjali to sit in puja comfortably and Shlok follows her there. While they are coochicooing, Jaya comes there to snoop on Aastha, but she gets distracted with the shiny things lying around. She being greedy, packs some of those things like a rat and Aastha is shocked to see this. When she tells Shlok about this, he ignores her, as if its not the worst thing he has seen and he keeps staring at Aastha. Aastha sees a white rat scurrying around and she plasters herself to Shlok in fear.
White rat is symbolic of an annoying person, who is not really harmful. Somewhat like Jaya and Sojal. The white rat in the Store room scene, reminds me of the laboratory rats, which are restricted to their cages and are subjected to various experiments for the profit of the companies, without caring for the wellbeing of the animal itself. It is provided with various distractions in its cage to keep itself busy and it even thinks that it owns everything in its world, when in reality, it doesn't even own its own life. Sounds exactly like Sojal. Though all rats have the same characteristics that I mentioned above, the domesticated laboratory rats are less hostile and more tolerant than the wild rats. Lab rats are not at all harmful like wild rats, as they don't carry plague that kills children.
Rats are known for their mischief and this fits Sojal's nature. Whenever Sojal did some mischief, she ended up tearing down the pretenses and bringing Aastha and Shlok together. She stole Aastha's passport and that spoiled Varad's plans of sending them on a luxurious honeymoon trip. But they got lost in the jungle instead, on their road trip to Goa, which helped both of them to cross many barriers and understand each other in the face of adversity. When they followed Varad's plans for them, the Valentines day happened. Actually, Sojal tried to stop Aastha from going to the Valentines dinner by locking the door, but she could only delay her until Shlok got drunk and bared his heart out. This also made them face their issues and brought them closer. She did another mischief, by serving bhaang to the Agnihotri ladies on Holi, which helped Anjali to connect with her real self after a long time, even though only for a little while and Aastha could pour her heart out to Shlok without any inhibitions.
The Black Rat is Abhay. He is cunning, aggressive, restless and greedy. He is the wild rat, which spreads plague and kills children. Whenever there is a rat shown or referred to, it is usually preceded or followed with a reference to Abhay. He locks up Jyothi in the store room and starves her in 24-FEB-2014 episode, when Shlok and Aastha come to give prasad. He lies to them that Jyothi went to some friend's house, but Jyothi makes some sound in the store room. When Aastha enquires about the sound he says that some rats are trapped in the store room and they are trying to get free. When Jyothi finally escapes from Abhay during the second jungle adventure, Abhay and Sulbha become restless as their source of money is no more.
During the initial period of six month court ordered probation, Aastha used to sleep in the kitchen for a few days. On 7-FEB-2014 episode, she sees a black rat near her sleeping mat and gets scared. Shlok "rescues" her from the rat this time. Soon after the Valentine's incident happens and Aastha shifts to Shlok's room to take care of him. Again in 10-APR-2014 episode, the same black rat visits their bedroom. It makes sure that Aastha doesn't sleep on the floor or sofa, but in the appropriate place, beside Shlok on their bed. Soon after this incident, the Aditi/Swathi drama comes to a close. In both these incidents, the rat was giving a message to both of them to rid their minds of unnecessary doubts. This is the time period during which Shlok dealt with his abandonment issues and mistrust in relationships that fortified after Swathi experience and Aastha dealt with her feelings for Shlok. Somewhere in this time frame, Anjali burns the clutter, that Shlok is hoarding in his study. Shlok makes Aastha burn his diary, which has Swathi's memories.
After the black rat's visit on 7-FEB-2014, Abhay comes to the office to get his check, which Aastha refuses to sign, if he doesn't provide a detailed spending report for her perusal. Shlok tells her to just sign the check and give it to Abhay. He later questions Abhay about his possible involvement in Avdhoot's arrest. All this questioning from Aastha and Shlok makes Abhay aggressive and he mistreats Jyothi. Later he comes to know that Jyothi is pregnant and he tells her that he is expecting a son like him. This scares Jyothi and she starts thinking about escaping Abhay in order to protect her baby.
On 10-APR-2014, Jyothi slips on soap water and falls down. Sid takes her to the hospital when Jyothi panics. He comes to know that Jyothi is pregnant. Jyothi later tells him how Abhay used to abuse her and how two of her babies got aborted. In the episodes preceding this, Jyothi tries to contact Aastha to ask for help,but she fails to reach her. Abhay is unable to know the whereabouts of Jyothi and gets restless as money stops trickling in without her signature on the check. She finally moves past the trauma and mistrust Abhay created in her and trusts Sid completely.
The time period between 7-FEB-2014 and 10-APR-2014, was the time for decluttering their minds and lives for Aastha, Shlok and Jyothi. While during this same time, Abhay lost his perennial source of income and Sojal was being fed with lies by Varad.
Snake
Snake is a cold blooded animal with a forked tongue. This indicates a cold blooded enemy, who is very good at deception. Niranjan fits the bill.
Snake is a phallic symbol, so it indicates sexual feelings or fear of those feelings, if forbidden.
Snake is a symbol of mystery, knowledge and wisdom. Snakes shed their skins, which indicates renewal. They are also a symbol of healing.
The snake was shown on three instances until now.
The first time was just before the first suhaagraat of Aastha and Shlok, Jaya scares Sojal with a fake snake and Sojal jumps all over the bed. Shlok does exactly the same thing to Aastha on their suhaagraat. He scares her out of her wits, just like a real snake.
Shlok is not the real enemy. He was pretending to be her enemy, though he was actually protecting her, even from himself. He didn't sleep with her that night, though he was very much attracted to her. There was anger and frustration in him that night, but not vengeance and malevolence.
The second time was in the dilapidated ghost house in the jungle, during their first jungle adventure.
Aastha is unaware of the snake, but Shlok sees it and he quickly pulls down the barrier she created with her saree, enters her personal space and closes her mouth to stop her from making any noise. The snake slithers away by itself. So Shlok is always aware of the snake. Shlok restored their family image by shutting Aastha's mouth with marriage and thus prevented the snake from attacking Aastha or her family.
The third time is in today's episode, the snake actually crawls over Shlok's leg and Aastha, though scared out of her wits, picks it up and flings it away, for the fear that it might hurt Shlok.
Initially, Shlok throws Aastha in his black SUV and tells her to sleep there, as it will keep her warm and safe. But Aastha lies to him that there is a snake in the SUV, as she wants to be close to Shlok in his white tent. Actually, snake is not in the black SUV, in which Aastha had to stay separated from Shlok, but it comes to the white tent and crawls over Shlok's leg only when they are together.
The black SUV is in the water, which sustains life. Though Aastha is separated from Shlok in the SUV and is shrouded in darkness for the lack of Shlok's presence there, she is still safe from any danger. The white tent is their paradise, where they can live happily, intoxicated with pure love. Niranjan couldn't bear their proximity and he started plotting to separate them. The snake crawling over Shlok's leg suggests that it is preventing him from moving ahead, like shackling his legs. His love for his father is stopping him from doing what his heart wants. Aastha released him from those shackles with her indomitable love. The snake crawling on Shlok's leg instead of Aastha's leg, also suggests that Niranjan will endanger Shlok's life in some way. Like Shlok in the first jungle adventure, Aastha too didn't kill the snake. And Aastha also fears that the snake will come back. So Niranjan will come back after he is thrown out.
Will update my thoughts in this post on the rest of the creatures in the above picture, as and when I write them...
Please share your thoughts.
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My other posts in the series Symbolism in a Shot
My other posts in the series Symbolism in a Shot
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