Folks,
I had thought of giving all my long suffering readers - beginning with young Riyya, who opens every single comment of hers on a post of mine by saying that she had read it and liked it though it was to...o lo...ong! 😉- a break of at least a day, but the gods seem to disagree, so here I am again. The fact is that I found myself answering several questions, on my two earlier threads, about last night's episode, and by the time I had finished, I thought I might as well share it with all of you. The saving grace is that this is going to a short one, by my standards, of course!😉
As you would agree, Episode 32 had only 2 significant bits - one, the Jalal-Mahaam Anga clash, for that is what it was, and the other the scene between Jodha and her father, which also explains how she is in the dark as to the identity of her bridegroom till the muhdikhayi ceremony.
I think that it was very foolish of her parents to have gone along with her saying that she did not want to know whom she would be marrying. How could they have been sure, given her extreme hostility towards Jalal, that Jodha would not react very adversely in public, and make them lose face vis a vis the Mughals? Which is what seems likely to happen. Plus it was most unfair of them to let her face such a shock with zero advance warning, like throwing someone in at the deep end at a freezingly cold pool and expecting that person to cope.
I have named Episode 32 Domination and Duty, because those were the 2 key elements in it.
Jalal seeks to dominate everyone around him , be it his Badiammi, or his prospective begum Jodha, and to make it clear to them that his will has to prevail under any and all circumstances. Jodha is above all dutiful, to Amer and to her father, again under any and all circumstances.
Jalal obviously has no problem with domination! I loved the level, freezing cold look he gave Mahaam Anga for her impertinent suggestion, and the way he held it till well after she had lowered her eyes. If one has such an air of command, one does not need to raise one's voice at all.
Plus the categoric putdown when he says "Namkeen cheez mein jo mazaa aata hai woh meethe me kahan... alag cheezon ko apnane ka mazaa alag hota hai ..": it was crushing. He knows how to show anyone, be it Bharmal or his Badiammi, who is the boss in Agra, does Jalal! He is clearly to the manor born. It will not work quite as smoothly with the feisty Jodha, but that is another tale altogether.
A young friend in the IF had asked me about the 'Shahenshah ka intezar' that Jalal mentions, and whether that meant that he would neglect her as compared to his other begums.
While this is very likely to begin with, to my mind, the point in that it will not bother Jodha at all if Jalal is a no show for days. She would be happy to have to see as little of him as can be managed, so his prolonged absence would be a relief. Plus she will have her personal maids from Amer - headed by the bargain expert Motibai 😉- so she will feel at home to some extent and will be able to keep herself amused.
Moreover, we have not yet seen all the conditions Jodha will propose and which Jalal will accept, which I think will be mostly about her retaining her religion and practicing it in her palace. She can hardly tell him that he cannot come anywhere near her, but she will be as cold and standoffish as she can, and he will want to show her where she gets off by a solid dose of neglect.
So both will be apart and at peace for a while, until the clashes start over something or the other - maybe, like Noorjehan with Salim at the Meena Bazaar in later years, Jodha will set free the parinday that her shauhar prefers to keep caged!
In this context, the editing of the transition between Jodha and her soon-to-be-liberated parrots, to Jalal and his firmly caged pigeons was excellent!
To revert to Episode 32, I also, for the first time, loved Jodha, who has not been a favourite of mine so far, in the last segment with her father. She had such a clear-eyed dutifulness and nobility about her, and this unmarred by any sanctimonious, tyaag ki murti airs and graces. She made it seem the most natural thing in the world for a daughter of Amer to do, and she let Bharmal off the hook very gracefully and without making him feel the least bit ashamed or guilty.
Plus, she looked the best she has done so far.
See, have I not kept my opening promise and been brief ? With any luck, there might be nothing of note tonight as well, and you will all have a real break from me! 😉
Shyamala B.Cowsik
Fan Fictions
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
367