Friends, the episode yesterday was one filled with some outstanding conversations for me. The epsiode in fact seemed to just flow from one conversation to another, bringing out various nuances and shades of all the opinions of all the people affected by the crises in the Jodha-Jalal relationship. The story itself seemed to play out via conversations ...
Here is how it all affected me:
The opening convo between Adham and Maham:
Adham seemed behind the times when he started out by talking of the Holi colour throwing insult on Maham and berating Jodha for this gunah ... till Maham showed him why he needed to keep up with the more latest goings-on. She told him of Maianavati's arrival and the impending sending off of Jodha to Amer by Jalal. Adham then went back even further to cursing Jodha (remembering his enmity with on the Moti saga, no doubt). But again Maham brought him back to the present saying as long as Jodha was in Agra she was a Begum of the Emperor to whom he must show deference. I thought this showed an extreme shrewdness in Maham. She had sized up the fact that the Jodha-Jalal break up was only a 50-50 possibility that could still go either way. Jodha may go - or she may not go. Maybe that's why Maham hedged her bets when telling Adham to continue to show deference to Jodha.
The Hamida and Gulbadan(?) convo:
This convo was important because it gave the viewers the context of how Mainavati got to Agra. It became clear that Bharmal had read the paigam from Jalal stating clearly the situation in Agra (of the impending break up of his marriage with Jodha) and the need to take Jodha back to Amer. The convo showed that Bharmal had deputed Mainavati to go to Agra as he was busy fighting the bhagis in Amer. The convo also showed that where Maham was always quick to catch on to the latest happenings at the palace (i.e. Mainavati's arrival) this Hamida was a slowtop that got info late. And finally the convo also hinted that the Diwan-e-Khas had been summoned by Jalal to break open this crises, thus setting up the audience for a big show on this topic.
The convo between Jalal and Mainavati:
This was a very interesting dialogue. Mainavati first says how odd it was for her (a Rajvanshi queen) to be doing office at this sabha (something frowned upon in her clans). She then starts addressing Jalal about his his treatment of her sons and Jodha during the miscarriage crises. But Jalal was not about to be pushed onto the back foot. He said he ws not interested in re-discussing bygones, and as a King he was only doing his duty at the time - and now again as a King and husband he had decided to send Jodha back to Amer. And then he added the one sentence that would stem Mainavati's thought-process from going on in the direction she had set out: he said Jodha herself wants to go back to Amer! I saw this as a convo in which Mainavati tried to bowl a tough ball at Jalal, but he batted it back to her with speed and aplomb!
The Mainavati-Jodha convo:
This was another good conversation but it was not a surprise at all, because we all very well knew what Mainavati's arguments would be. She was a sixteenth century mother, a queen to boot, with two more daughters to marry off. Their family had already antagonised their clan by marrying Jodha into the Mughals and making an alliance with them. She could ill-afford to have Jodha back at Amer as a cast off. So instead she turned upon her own daughter to try and remind her of the way her marriage happened under the stress of unhappy circumstances in which their family had lost a war, of the sacrifices Jodha herself had agreed to make to help her family, of the duty Jodha continued to owe her family and of the understanding Jodha needed to show her own mother who had to act tough with her daughter despite loving her. In both these conversations that Mainavati had - first with Jalal and then with Jodha - I saw something very interesting about Mainavati. Her stock-in-trade method seems to be to "turn the tables on the other person". It didn't work well with Jalal, but it worked with Jodha. Jodha became a mixture of remorse, guilt, self-blame and self-sacrifice within a second. Can any one of us imagine what it would have been like to an unhappy and trapped young girl of barely twenty to have her own mother reject her in front of a grand sabha of hawkish in-laws, and especially in front of Jalal? The remarkable part of this conversation for me was the way Mainavati brushed aside the distress she would have to give Jodha emotionally, and filled her with enough "reasons" and "rationalisations" to make it all palatable both in public and in private! In fact there was no vestige of worry on Mainavati's face as to how Jodha would take all this. The only person who kept looking a bit puzzled, worried, or affected by what Jodha may be going through was Jalal himself. When Jodha said that one sentence to her mother that: "Jodha will die but she won't be a burden to you", I thought Jalal even went to the extent of looking a wee bit alarmed.
Jodha's convos with her antaratmas
After dispensing with Moti, in her own rooms, the conflicted mind of Jodha was well reflected via the two antaratmas of Jodha that appeared on the scene (dressed very well for antaratmas!). One of the antaratmas was giving Jodha the same continued advice of Mainavati - on why going back to Amer was not possible. Jodha was also quick to accept this advice. But it was with the other antaratma that Jodha had the best conversation of the whole episode! This second antaratma reminded Jodha that she had to stay on in Agra, and integrate with the culture here and continue to live with Jalal in good behaviour. Jodha then asks the antaratma if Jalal's behaviour was reasonable or good. Was he not the boor, the unpleasant, the unjust and unthinking one that had created this whole mess in her life here? The second antaratma (god bless her!) gave it to Jodha in no uncertain terms: "You were the one that started it all. Remember you came here with your precious ghrna? Did Jalal not bend to your every sharth, even allowing you your religion and your every whim? What more do you need him to do in the face of your unreleting ghrna? Do you not owe him anything in return for his allowances made for your happiness here?" The second antaratma did a splendid job ... before both antaratmas's disappeared and left Jodha to decide (with a word to Kanha) that suicide was the only way out! Whether Jodha heard the words of the second antaratma (on the subject of her ghrna and being the first offender) clearly right then, or whether it will all hit her later is to be seen.
Hamida and Mainavati's mutual admiration society
This again was an interesting conversation between two mothers who found themselves remarkably on the same page and it was therefore full of mutual compliments. But underneath the niceties, it was also about two motherly women who fully understood the plight of their daughters in the times they lived in. Both women showed their keenness to find the postive in a situation that nedeed both tact and tactics. Hamida first compliments Mainavati on using exactly the right advice with Jodha and even going on to say that nafrat here can become love if given a chance, which is what Mainavati had done. Mainavati then says "That chance to convert nafrat to love cannot come if the couple are apart from each other, and that Jodha has found another mother in Hamida." Both then refer to Jodha as their mutual daughter and Mainavati takes leave of Hamida almost as if saying "I've done my bit, now yours begins"! I could not help but imagine what this convo would have sounded like to Maham if she had been in that same room. It would have sounded to her like Hamida and Mainavati must be jointed at the hip!
Hamida and Gulbadan convo again
This short conversation semeed to serve the purpose of telling the viewers that due to a heavy heart (and possibly not wanting to risk having to take Jodha back) Mainavati had decided to leave without telling Jodha, and so it was incumbent now on Hamida to handle Jodha in the aftermath of this rejection by her own mother!
The Jalal-Hamida-Ruqaiaya convo
When Hamida runs to tell Jalal that Jodha is missing, his first reaction is disbelief, followed by a very quick return to practicality. He orders his troops to find Jodha at all costs. But it is when Jalal is again alone with Ruqaiaya that he begins his rants about the sitaution being untenable. His arguments are that it would be a disgrace on the Sultanate if a begum were to be found missing! Ruqaiaya then corrects him saying "Jodha may not be just "missing", she may have contemplated suicide (which I know being a woman myself and can see how she may feel rejected by both the husband and the mother)". Ruqaiya then goes on to tell Jalal that Jodha's clanswomen in the same position would have immolated themselves. All this does shock him (for I don't think he had actualy thought Jodha would go this dire extreme, even when in the sabha she had talked of death being better than returning to Amer and shaming her family). He nevertheless continues to say It would still be a disgrace to the Kingdom if Jodha were to commit suicide.
It is left to our imaginations to wonder whether Jalal felt anything for Jodha at all or whether all he was worried about was the prestige of the Kingdom. If he did feel fear and dismay on Jodha's count he was not showing it. Maybe tomorrow when he actuallly runs after her, he will have plenty of time to consider how her death may affect him! But for today, we have to believe his "Kingdom disgrace" is all he cares about for the moment!
A prediction I've got (in conjuction with Jyoti):
We think Jodha is now going to fall for Jalal first. Why?
a.
b. Hamida is no doubt going to tell Jalal after the suicide-saving that Jodha needs to heal and he should take her to Ajmer Sharif for peace and prayers so that they both could repair their marriage. Jalal may see it as a chance to take her away from the palace to new surroundings and in privacy so that they could try to make a new beginning. This trip would therefore look like Jalal's initiative at healing the breach. Or even if its Hamida's idea, it would be put Jalal in a posiitive light for having readily acceded to the idea.
c. There are going to be two chances for Jalal to save Jodha'a life now (in the water and with the tiger) and so Jodha is going to see him in an entirely different light as a saviour. She is going to feel beholden to him for her life and the bad side of Jalal may get replaced in her mind by his good side. In true serial style, these sound like the ingredients of a love blossoming in Jodha first. And when she thus changes her view of him, he may see soon thereafter that her that the "ghrna" has gone and something else which is very nice has come in its place!
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
