two lines from one of my favourite poems, rudyard kipling's "if." had written this poem way back for asr, for he had much of what is in the poem. but this quality even khushi has. when things get tough, she doesn't sit and cry, or resign and run, or throw tantrums of "i quit." she panics, she fears, she rages, then she chats with dm. her poolside is this little image of a goddess always within arms reach, it seems to me. what poolside often gives asr, dm gives khushi: a sense of connection with their inner self. to her she goes, worried, upset, whatever and seeks a way. as she closes her eyes and joins her palms, she descends into calm, gets in tune with herself, and hears her innermost being more clearly. and the way "comes" to her. feels like dm speaks. unhampered by fear, tension, material things, true and keen communication flows from her deepest self to her.
and so, completely racked by tension and trouble, she hears the ultimatum of anjali, then the offer by shyam. and then, surprisingly, asr's voice, "tum jaise log toh paiso ke liye..." why does she hear him? why does what he thinks or says matter? why did the instinctive deal maker decide to walk away from it all in a hot and bothered moment in a sunday afternoon store room. why was she ready to run, not deal? yet, wasn't she really assessing the situation? how she looked at him after throwing that line. and then in the most convoluted manner ever, she found a way out of her own decision to leave delhi and now it's, i'm not leaving delhi.
so what he thinks matters. she is all set it seems to just say, no. then she hears her mother's voice, speaking of the terrible financial difficulties at home. and she comes to her poolside.
next morning, when the bell rings at rm, it is no surprise. the deal maker is here. the tears and anxiety gone from her face. instead a resolution.
and a shart. a clause. this deal is going to have some advantage for her too. not everything his way. or anybody's. she speaks of "majboori" but she never lets her majboori break her spirit. a deal with that too. in fact, with dm also she jests often, get this done for me and i'll give you tonnes of prasad you like. i know these may not seem like real deals, but they are... an ongoing negotiation with life to keep pushing it the way you want it to go, while it pushes you to do what it wants. i love this attitude of ipk. there's a realism and a positivity and an active feel to it.
i admire this quality of khushi's in people. perhaps because i have too little of it. took me quite a while to understand, if you want to win in life, you gotta be prepared to play a bit. the very closed "this or nothing" attitude can actually come in the way of living a full and real life.
"kitne laddoo the"... mami and la are doing a girls' thing, la getting several laddoos for her laddoo making. anjali quakes and worries whether khushi will come or not. she has taken a most uncharacteristic dealmaker's stance here as her love for chhotey is involved and she will do what it takes to keep him from leaving home. nai sees the mess la makes and says, "ek taraf ee hai... aur doosri tarf khoosi... jo galti ma kiya hua kaam bhi... theek karat hai." at one end there's this one, at the other thee's khsuhi who even when she does something by mistake, she gets it to be right.
and so when khushi enters, and anjali explains, that she's here to train la, as nani won't let her or mami get involved, anjali thinks she's sweetly tricked nani. nani of course smiles and readily agrees to the idea. why that gracious and almost irrepressible smile on nani's face though, i wonder. in episode 63, the reason becomes clear.
shatir nani, more or less engineered the return of khushi. uff. now we know where the grandson gets that stubborn and clever streak from. so i like an idiot thought nani is going to take this i'll move in my cool gf to the family home thing lying down. watch out all, this is nani. don't mess with the babbar sher. another supreme deal maker among us. i adore such pragmatic, empowered yet gracious and feminine portrayal of women in media. this is not sick manipulation but a considered game playing to bring home a point that she genuinely believes is good for chhotey. she gains nothing from it, just saves her loved one from losing something. this is really sexy. and subversive. the opposite of the "come, walk all over me" women patriarchal societies have successfully created as an ideal. jayshree t is just so perfect in her role. she brings alive another time, and a grace women had without being obsequious. compared to her la looks old fashioned and highly submissive before a man.
la, on hearing chamkili will teach her things, does the either or thing and says, she'll leave. nani is delighted, "hum janat rahe khushi ke kadam padte hi shubh kaam hoga," i knew the moment khushi stepped in good things would happen.
then the resolute one took over."anjali ji, hum sambhalenge." anjali ji, i'll manage this. and she does. classic manoeuvre, the win win "phormoola." there's something in it for you, la, and something for me. shall we?
"chamkili se samjhauta dono ka fayda." compromising with the situation/chamkili will profit both of us. give... take... win. smart girl.
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