The Week that Was

The Week That Was 13^th – 17^th Feb

Trust is the Bedrock.The theme for the upcoming track.

Note – I wrote this in two parts – the first half was written on Wednesday when I was still reeling under that powerful car drive scene of Arnav. Good thing too … because when Thursday and Friday rolled around, all Arnav's feelings were forgotten in the despair on Khushi's face, in her shock, her heartbreak and her complete and utter devastation. So I hope I did Arnav justice by writing this earlier!

13^th – 15^th Feb – Shyam and Arnav – the battle is on

2-3 weeks ago, I had stated in TWTW that love alone isn't enough – trust and respect are essential for any relationship, they are the bedrock, the foundation … and if that foundation is weak, the mightiest passion can crumble to dust withing seconds. And over the course of the first three days of the week, that's what we saw happening.

Arnav and Khushi … newly in love, discovering their feelings, discovering the joy and passion of being in love, the shy glances, the quickening of heartbeats, the involuntary searching gazes, the soft smiles at the sight of each other, the hide and seek … we are in love …

Trust and respect had started to build … the foundation was being laid slowly … more from Khushi's side, I feel in retrospect, as her first reactions after the Shyam incident showed – her first instinct – run to Arnav and tell him exactly what happened. The right instinct … she should have followed her heart on that one … because her heart told her she could trust him to believe her and she knew he would do what was needed … this was too big for her too handle.

The second thought … give Shyam another chance … yet another. How many chances does he deserve?! Yet this is a new event, a new baby … surely this is the one thing that could change him? If he is still close enough to Anjali to father a baby with her, maybe things between them are not beyond repair after all … and if she discloses his truth, she might be depriving not only Anjali of a husband, but an unborn baby of its father.

So far so good … accepted, and even justifiable. But what if she is wrong … what if Shyam is beyond redemption? Is she putting Anjali at risk in any way by not disclosing the truth to anyone? Agreed, she doesn't know that Anjali's wounds were due to an accident, even if she did, she doesn't know of the other 'accidents' Anjali nearly had … so she can claim ignorance as defence. The first time she decided to withhold the truth, it was partly because she had no one to tell it to, no one whom she felt would believe her … Anjali was cracking up and going hysterical at the sight of a broken clasp on a mangalsutra, and she was simply not at that level of relationship with Arnav … having just come out from a very bitter 'farak padta hai' track.

But now surely she does have someone … she is in love with Arnav, or almost there … she trusted him during the challenge not to do anything that would harm her … surely she owes it to him and to Anjali to at least caution him about Shyam?

Khushi's mistake … keep silent and hope for the best. That's actually her one and only wrong decision … but made repeatedly … and it had huge repercussions. Lack of faith in Arnav? Poor judgement of Shyam? Or both?

Arnav … he had a bad day … a really, really bad day. First hit with the news of Anjali's accident, overwrought at the near miss, then he gets all geared up to confess his love, only to find the girls of his dreams in a tight clinch with his much respected jijaji … added to which, words he cannot even misinterpret … Shyam loves Khushi and doesn't give a damn about Anjali.

And before he can recover from the shock, before he can register that the hug is not a two-way thing, it's a rib-crushing hold the girl is struggling against, he hears her say that Shyam should leave Anjali if his marriage doesn't matter to him.

No matter that he would later feel exactly the same way. At the moment, he is too shell-shocked to react … to even jump in and confront the two caught red-handed. If he had, things would have been completely different. But no, he turns away … without listening to the entire conversation … mistake number one. If you're eavesdropping on a conversation that can shake your world, and your sister's, listen to the whole thing, not a part … make sure you have all the facts.

And the first conclusion he jumps to … Khushi has been two-timing him. Justified – yes, to quite an extent. (Since the cv's went to quite some trouble to set this up, clichd as it was … have to give it to them.😛) Correct? Of course not. Sometimes seeing is not quite believing.

He goes back to his room, trying to recover from the shock of seeing the girl he loved in someone else's arms … and then the wider ramifications hit him … his sister and her marriage. And that's when the rage starts … how dare she? And how dare Shyam? He has to tell his sister this immediately.

Mistake number two. Arnav is thinking with his heart, not his head. Head would say - find out the facts first – all of them. Confront the two main players, do some more fact finding, ferret out the truth, the whole truth … and then decide your next step. This is a marriage you're talking about, not child's play. And trust in a marriage is a tenuous thing – once broken, very difficult to restore. Be very, very sure before you break that thread.

Yes, we know that Shyam is an evil, conniving two-timing rat … but in Arnav's view, he has been a respected member of the Raizada family for three years, he has apparently never placed a foot wrong … maybe he is infatuated with Khushi, and he didn't really mean it … it's his first fault … maybe there is a chance to save Anjali's marriage … a man can make a mistake, after all. Khushi's viewpoint, and in my view, it's justified – IF Arnav didn't know the entire story of Shyam's deception – which at the moment, he didn't.

Quite unwittingly, Arnav bumps into Shyam and confirms one side of the story … Shyam is unapologetic, unashamed … he confirms what Arnav saw, and also adds that he has never loved Anjali ever … the last three years were all a lie. And unfortunately, like all good drama villains, Shyam is also very quick-thinking and astute … he wants Khushi, Khushi just turned him down comprehensively, married or not married – and he has seen the signs of things brewing between Arnav and Khushi … So Shyam takes no time at all to throw a spanner in the works. Arnav is unsure, suspicious, already shaken by this first big revelation … this is a great time to separate the two, strike while the iron is hot, isolate Khushi … the first step to getting her. Quick-thinking indeed! Now this is 'dimaag'! Unfortunately with the wrong person!

And his poison falls on fertile ground … because of that weak foundation. Arnav is quick to believe Shyam, quick to believe that Khushi has been two-timing him … no need to get her side of the story, because of course, Shyam is telling the truth. Didn't he see it with his own eyes?

Mistake number three. The man just told you proudly that he has been deceiving you, your sister and the entire family for the last three years, that he never loved his wife ever … despite everything that you saw to the contrary – he admits that for three years he has been putting up an act. Yet you believe him instantly when he says that the girl you have fallen in love with, is in cahoots with him … when he has also declared that he is crazy about her? Doesn't it somewhere strike you that could be another lie … especially when you claim to love the girl in question … and have strong reason to believe she feels the same way?

Again, Arnav not thinking clearly at all … he is far too quick to jump to conclusions about Khushi. The ostensible reason is of course what he saw on the terrace … yet doesn't he owe it to Khushi to at least ask her once for her version? Or is it unseen, unheard, no time or place for defence – she is tried, judged and condemned in absentia. But why? Doesn't he love her?

The reason is simple – lack of trust, of that all-important foundation … so weak as to be virtually absent. And the reason for that in turn - as seen in Wednesday's flashbacks … is buried in his past. First the rage, the anger, the frustration, the helplessness, the betrayal … as he relives Shyam's perfidy, Anjali's pregnancy, her dependance and her love, the Shyam-Khushi hug and Khushi's damning words. But then … As he remembers the past, Anjali's broken first wedding, remembers his mother … and an anguished cry is torn from his throat, from the depths of his heart … she left him … his ever-present fear …

And then comes the calm … his moments with Khushi … Khushi in the rain, tangled in the lights, facing him in the guesthouse, the way she absorbed both the pain and the passion he gave her on Diwali … Khushi, only Khushi … his Khushi … his love, his life … who brought him back to life, who taught him to live again …

But the way his mother betrayed him, abandoned him and left him all alone, so has Khushi … when he needed her, the one he loved has left him … what he always feared has come to pass. His inherent insecurities, his ever-present fear of abandonment - the reason for his lack of trust – so quick to accept that yes, Khushi has left him … because he always feared that she would. And accepting that his fear has come to pass is easier than living in hopethat it hasn't, and being crushed yet again … it's easier to condemn her and leave her, than wait for her to leave him … it's even easier to condemn her unheard, rather than face her and hear it from her own mouth.

This is the point at which Arnav really realized what Khushi was to him … the point when he realised how much he loved this girl … and hated her for what he thought she had done to his sister … when he thought he had lost her … when he determined that he wouldn't ... that he wouldn't let her go out of his life, he would keep her with him, and punish her for what she had done … love and hate two sides of the same coin …

I wanted the ArHi marriage to be about ArHi … and it is. The conscious given reason for Arnav marrying Khushi is his need to safeguard Anjali's pregnancy, her health and her marriage … his justification, as it were … but that is a cover, an excuse … he was willing to break that very marriage when he found her husband was a lying, two-timing cheat … Anjali's pregnancy has merely postponed the break, delayed the inevitable, till he can find a way of doing it which his sister can stand. Because he knows now … even more than Khushi, he has seen the ugly side of Shyam, and knows Shyam is beyond redemption.

But marrying Khushi is to punish her … punish her for betraying hm … take her to hell and back for abandoning him the way his mother did. And also to keep her close … because Khushi is his … she is his own … she cannot leave him, and he will not let that happen, hate her though he might. And when he realizes he was wrong in judging Khushi, he is going to be the one taking that trip to hell. And Khushi just might not be there with him. But if she is, if she has the courage and the fortitude to stay the course, to love him unconditionally, the way his mother wanted … that is his only road to redemption.

And if anyone thinks that the sole reason is Anjali, then let me ask – what if the girl in question had been any other girl – anyone but Khushi? Would he have acted the same way? No, he would have banished the unknown girl as far as he possibly could … bribed her, threatened her, blackmailed her, paid her off … put a world of distance between her and his perfidious brother-in-law … anything but keep her in his brother-in-law's orbit. The decision would be taken from his head, from his cold calculating businessman dimaag – do the deal, get rid of the girl. But he can't do that with Khushi.

Khushi pays the price not only for her mistake, but also the price for being the girl he has fallen in love with … madly, crazily, to the point of desperation …

A decision taken not with his thinking mind (Dimaag) that he is so proud of, but from the depths of his heart … an irrational, poorly thought out decision, … and the best thing he has done … for himself and for her. But they both have to go through a trial of fire … and this Agni Pariksha had better not be Khushi's pariksha alone … it has to be Arnav's as well, if there is to be any redemption for him.

16^th Feb - Total Eclipse of the Heart

Once upon a time I was falling in love

But now I'm only falling apart

There's nothing I can do

A total eclipse of the heart

Once upon a time there was light in my life

But now there's only love in the dark

Nothing I can say

A total eclipse of the heart

What is the deal made behind closed doors? The deal that shatters her heart into a million pieces, so that through the chanting of the mantras and the sound of the shehnai, the sound of her heart break is clearly audible … to the man who caused it …

Arnav has an Achilles heel – his sister, Anjali. Khushi has an equally sensitive Achilles heel – her sister, Payal. More specifically – Payal's marriage. She was held responsible the first time around for the break … completely unfairly – as Arnav, the man who was actually responsible, acknowledged – to Payal, if never directly to her. But the stigma, the pain of those accusations never went away …

And today, he brought it up … he, who knew how much it would hurt her … no, he knew it would kill her if the same thing happened again, and she was again held responsible … he knew it, played on it, used it …

Today was Sanaya's day … her pain, her bewilderment, her heartbreak drove us mad with grief, feeling achingly sorry for Khushi, numb with her pain, so much so that the most awaited event of the show – the ArHi wedding, was completely overshadowed, shrouded by Khushi's pain.

Starting with Khushi'e eyes searching for the missing Arnav, her bewilderment and confusion when she sees his anger, directed at her … what happened, what did she do, why is he angry … and he glares back, only accusation in his eyes, but no answers, as she stares at him, her attention completely on him, divorced from the rituals of the wedding that she carries on automatically … What is wrong? What is so very wrong?! Where is the man who till barely a few short hours ago was teasing her, gently flirting with her, making her smile with his every look, making her starry-eyed with dreams ... where is that man, and who is this in his place?

And he takes the first chance as the wedding party moves to the mandap, to grasp her injured wrist, for once uncaring of the pain it gives her, and drags her to their rendezvous … the poolside.

And the deal is struck … but one party holds all the bargaining chips. The biggest one - her sister's wedding.

Once before, Payal's wedding was cancelled at the mandap ... the whole family accused Khushi, said it was all her fault ... Khushi's biggest pain and guilt. She can't let that happen ever again ... Arnav knows it was not her fault, it was his ... he even acknowledged it in so many words to Payal. Yet, when it comes to the crunch, he uses it to save his sister ... his sister's marriage for her sister's. Because he knows that is Khushi's biggest source of guilt ... she will do anything, literally anything ... to prevent her sister's marriage breaking. Even selling her own self ... body and soul.

Deal struck, they both return ... to the barely disguised fury of Shyam, who knows something is up, but doesn't know what. Khushi walking in a daze ... barely comprehending what is going on around her, so completely and brutally has her world of dreams been shattered. Arnav follows her - a confident look at Shyam ... now do what you want, check and mate. This game is mine. With Khushi the all-important ... and helpless pawn.

Families as dense as usual, just smile when the two re-appear, apparently not even noticing the shell-shocked face of Khushi, and the stern-faced Arnav. Akash is the only one to wonder … he asks Arnav if everything is ok, Arnav says yes, Khushi sends him one last beseeching look … as though begging, please don't do this. But he is implacable.

Did Arnav feel a tinge of guilt at using Akash as his pawn in his game with Khushi? And Payal – the girl whose marriage he was responsible for breaking the first time round, and would have done again?

Buaji asks Khushi to put the 'shagun ka thaal' from here to there, asks Arnav to help ... another shagun of marriage completed – kanyadaan? ... again that speaking exchange of looks between Khushi and Arnav, hers pleading, shattered, despairing ... don't do this, please don't make me do this. Her face, her eyes showing her devastation … dazed, disbelieving what was happening, trying to come to terms with it ... trying to make sense of it ... pleading with him, at least tell me what happened, why ... make me understand ... Sanaya is simply brilliant in these scenes! But he is still implacable.

Payal and Khushi embrace .. both in tears, but Khushi breaking from inside ... and Arnav actually has to look away from the naked pain in her eyes ... she still manages to smile and wipe away Payal's tears ... her silent promise to her sister? that she will always do what she can to keep Payal happy?

Arnav may make repeated verbal promises to Anjali all the time about keeping her happy and not letting any problems come into her life ... Khushi makes those same promises non-verbally all the time ... and follows through on them, regardless of the cost to herself.

And she does … as the wedding ends, she moves to the door as agreed, moving in a daze, the walking dead, and walks past him … out. And he shuts the door behind her … shutting them both out … away from their families, away from love …

Arnav Singh Raizada using his dimaag belatedly – find the weakest link and crush it. What a pity he didn't use it enough to find out the truth (on second thoughts, if he had, the story would have ended in a week … so forget I said that!)

17^th Feb – Six Months Contract

Good thing we found out what the deal was – I, for one, was delighted it was a real marriage – forcing Khushi into a live in relationship under the guise of a fake marriage would have put Arnav beyond redemption for me. And judging from the very obviously dubbed dialogues about six months, someone else (channel?/cv's?) apparently also thought the same.

So – the episode -

A rushed marriage – why did Khushi protest so strenuously against a marriage to the man she loved, the man she was hoping for a declaration of love from? Because Khushi realized immediately the huge implications … how it would reflect on both of them, especially her, because in such instances, it's always the girl's reputation which suffers, not the boy's. Arnav never thought of all that at all. All he thought of was using her as his pawn in his battle with Shyam.

And her worst fears came true as Arnav pulled her into the house and faced his family with determination, while she could barely lift her eyes from shame. What should have been the happiest day of her life, married to the man she loved, reduced to something sordid and dirty … subjecting her to the anger, the suspicious questioning from her family … why the rush? The secrecy? The urgency?!

Arnav doesn't bother to answer any of the questions. When he says ... we have got married ... he addresses it only to Shyam ... you wanted her, you can't have her, she will never be yours. You hurt my sister, I hurt you where it hurts the most.

That was his sole objective, his game plan – avenge his Di. So what if the collateral damage is to the girl he loves, an innocent 19 year old who can't fight back ... his Di is all that matters, everything else is justified ... including using an innocent as a pawn ... because the man he really hates, the man actually responsible, is out of his reach at the moment.

Arnav, your road to redemption just became a few hundred miles longer ... and I really hated him when the only regret he seemed to have was that he had hurt his precious Di by not telling her ... the Di who is a psychiatric case, and whose blind faith is the cause of all the problem in the first place.

And as Nani questions Arnav angrily, Khushi feels even worse ... she has let down not only her own family, but the Raizadas, Nani and Anjali, from whom she has always got so much love and respect ...

Arnav still silent ... honestly, man, you made a decision, now defend it ... be a man! Why let the girl face the whole brunt?!

And I think in the face of all the questioning from the entire family, both his and hers, it finally begins to sink in what a huge decision this was ... what has he done ... how completely he has ruined Khushi … and did he actually even want this? His regret starting already …

The scene I hated - thrown in for the saas-bahu audience ... and to reassure viewers that Arnav loves Khushi, he really does ... even if his spine has gone missing temporarily ... he glares at Garima when she slaps Khushi, but doesn't say a word ... at least now speak up, say she's my wife, not your daughter any more, lay off! Garima had the right to be furious, but you do have a duty to your wife too … just glaring impotently when you've got the girl into this mess, is not going to cut it!
More miles added on that road to redemption ...

Nani asks him again for answers, he doesn't give any ... Khushi looks at him as though asking the same ... if she wanted, she could have opened her mouth then and there, and said, yes, even I want to know ... WHY??!!! Why this way ... you could have asked me once to marry you and I would have said yes instantly ... why this blackmail, these threats, this instant runaway marriage ... why?!

But she doesn't say anything ... doesn't expose him in front of his own family, taking the blame, the humiliation being meted out to her …

I loved the last exchange of looks, as she looks at him desperately, pleadingly, broken completely inside, and he looks back as though just starting to realize what he has done to her.

I was so glad they showed the flashback at the poolside, and confirmed that this was a real marriage. And the closing of another loop - the flashbacks showed a repeat of Payal's first marriage and the dori scene … the identical situation … Arnav holding Khushi hostage for her sister's wedding … that time she failed to save it, this time she will not … whatever the cost to herself … Sanaya was brilliant again in that last scene as Khushi finally gives in and agrees to a six month contract marriage … with everything it entails … and covers her face in shame …

Plus points today - It's a real marriage ... phew!

Arnav cannot stand anyone hurting Khushi - he alone reserves the right.

My Thoughts -

Of all the foolish, badly thought out knee jerk reactions that Arnav takes in anger, when his dimaag has shut down, this has to be the worst planned. Six months ? Why six months? A baby takes nine months to arrive, and do you plan to tell Anjali on the delivery table once she's delivered, that oops, Di, been meaning to tell you that the father of this baby is a two-timing jerk ... if you feel she can't stand the news right now, she's gonna be in such a GREAT position to stand it then!

Did Arnav really never stop to think what reaction his family would have to this rushed marriage? Or was he so naive to feel that Nani and Anjali like Khushi already, they will accept her with open arms and just be happy that he's married? And what about the reaction of Khushi's family? Did he really think they would be so delighted at getting a rich son-in-law like Arnav that they would overlook the whole rushed shotgun-type wedding? And the implications it has on Khushi's reputation and her character?

Arnav has to understand the whole truth of what Khushi told him - marriage is not just a name, it is a holy union, binding not just because it is legal, but because it is made with the blessings of family and elders, it is a social contract, the joining of two families, approved and witnessed by society, and is a symbol of lifelong commitment, love, trust, respect and understanding. Not a tool to be used for blackmail - a sacrifice of all relationships to save one.

Also - If being married himself, didn't stop Shyam from lusting after Khushi, how exactly is Khushi being married going to stop him? And Shyam isn't exactly falling over himself to tell Rani Sahiba anything either, in fact, he's completely delighted that Arnav's hands are tied now! So it's patently obvious that Shyam isn't planning to declare his grand love, abandon Anjali tomorrow and run off with Khushi into the sunset ... He's planning to continue doing exactly what he was doing earlier - have a hole in the corner affair ...that's assuming Khushi is willing. How is Khushi being married going to stop that one - in fact, with Khushi in RM, it makes things easier for Shyam. Arnav saw that Shyam is not going to give up Khushi in a hurry, the only other way to stop him was to send Khushi as far away as possible.

Nope - dimaag had gone on holiday here for sure ... this was a decision made from the depths of his heart - he cannot let Khushi go. And although in the long run, this was the right decision, in the short term, it's going to hurt a lot of people badly, his own family, Khushi's family ... and Khushi. Shredding her reputation in tatters, leaving her open to questions from her own family and his as to the reason for the rush - what most people would think ... And what showed how badly thought out this was, was the fact that he had no answers for his own family, let alone hers! And hurting her ... she was dreaming of a marriage proposal, of love, of a Prince Charming ... and she gets a brutal six month contract - take it or leave it, it's your sister's marriage on the line.

Arnav has a lot of repentance ahead if he is to be redeemed ... and it's only Khushi's forgiving nature, which is being derided so badly, which is going to be his salvation.

This week was all about powerful acting, wordless emoting of strong, dark emotions - Barun and Abhaas shone over the first three days, on Thursday Sanaya took over … and how! 👏 And on Friday, Barun and Sanaya shared the honors. And of the supporting cast, Abha Parmar was spot on!

Many of the scenes of this week were wordless, leaving them open to viewers' interpretation … I have put in some of my own - and would love to hear different views.Feedback, opinions,comments, discussions please? Looking forward to your views ...

Beautiful recap as usual Diya.👏 Your TWTW makes weekends really bright.