Friends, what an episode, what an episode, what an episode! I am a bit dazed by all that happened, the speed at which it all happened ... and most of all by the trajectory things took.
I got PMs and phone calls and text messages from family and friends on the forum asking: "Did you think they did "it"? Did they - Jodha and Jalal - actually consummate the marriage, as Maham seems to think they would? Did they actually do it without Ekta giving this high point in the serial any publicity? Did Jalal just use his body warmth to save Jodha by merely sleeping next to her and holding her as close as possible, or did he go further? And what of the repurcussions of what he may have done on Jodha? What of the repurcussions on the others who thought he would take advantage of her situation and her body, to their own ultimate benefit? And what of the repurcussions on Jalal himself? Would he ever feel the same distance again with her after having been this close to her as he had to be?"
The precap is also very tantalisingly poised on this point . All that we saw was Jodha asking if it was true what people were saying that she and he might have ... well, done it? To which he replies : "Yes I had to do what I did under medical instructions". We still don't know what sentences were spoken before and after that bit we saw in the precap, so we have to wait till tomorrow to know exactly what happened. But to say we are hanging in mid air is an understatement. I know I am collapsing from curiosity!
Let me take a second to go over the sequence of events of the evening a wee bit - before I come to a prediction that Jyoti and I want to jointly make on what will happen next.
The sword was sheathed but Jalal's heart started opening up
When Jodha screamed to Jalal to stop what he was doing, he came to his senses and realised that by bringing the sword down on Achal Singh he would break his solemn word given to Jodha that he would not make an ugly scene here at the wedding. Reluctantly he put his sword away, openly acknowledging his promise to his wife! He told Achal: "I needed to show you who were toying with!"
And then he moved Jodha to tears as he said: "I want to give the happily married couple gifts. To Wajinder I have gifted his father's life. To Sukanya, I gift the Ratanpur Fort under my seal." Stunned as everyone was, no one spoke till Jalal walked out of the room. Jodha ran to him for explanations.
And this time his answers to her were so voluble that I felt he was more desperate to tell her his mind. The brief gist of what he said was this: "The Ratanpur Fort was invaluable to me because my father took me to its top and said that I should see as far as I can and make all that land mine. I have far exceeded that land in what I have today, so I can give the Fort. I wanted Achal Singh to realise the value of things won by hard work and not gained by quid pro quos, and hence the war ... and as for the subsequent gift ... most of all I gave it not to Sukanya but to the sister of my wife! And yes it matters to me what you and your people feel about me. It matters a great deal indeed!"
Folks, to me it was remarkable first of all that 400 years ago a far-thinking man thought it better to gift his property to the dulhan rather than her sasuraal, to empower her and to protect her from any future ill-treatment from them!
But then came the big and gratifying revelation of Jalal's heart (the first heart-opening for the day!) as he said to himself: "Jodha's question still remains with me, though. Why do I so value the good impressions of her folk - and her? Why is it so important to me?"
Then something stormy started building up, an analogy for their lives
Caught in the snowstorm on the way back to Agra, Jalal halted the caravan due to bad weather and after settling his folk into their tents, he went into the khema he and Jodha shared (thanks to Hamida's insistence). Something started then burning bright in his eyes as he watched her undress, (his heart was no doubt opening further!) ... and the way he kept looking at her and getting closer and closer to her made her feel almost hunted since his eyes were predatory almost. Till he reached behind her for the rope that would bring down the purdha, saying to her "You forgot your purdah!"
In the tossing wind, the purdah was no protection to to either of them, and though she fell asleep, all he could do was watch her with an almost compulsive sense of attraction towards her. When exactly he felt impelled to walk towards the bed and to sit on the bed beside her, he himself may not have known ... but as he saw her sleeping, the predatory look was gone and there seemed to be a more loving sort of expression in his eyes as if he was enjoying her beauty. He saw the flashbacks of the scene that had so attracted him on his first trip to Amer when she went past him regally in her palki, looking every inch the Rekistan Ka Gulab!
A wisp of hair was on her sleeping face, that he was itching to move ... when she suddenly turned her face and placed it on the palm of his outstretched hand. He looked quite thrown, and I am quite sure his already primed heart must have done a small somersault. But then she suddenly awoke in this posture and was instantly all brimstone and fire. She was angry with him for breaking his promise to keep his distance, and his protestations of innocence couldn't stop her from running outside into the cold, with him running after her. There she settled herself under a tree, shivering but stoic and feeling betrayed by him, till unconsciousness enveloped her and he had to carry her back into the tent as she was in high fever. He was already showing signs of grave concern and wanting at once to shake her up and protest his innocence.
Now came the interesting dilemma. The medical lady in attendance tried her best to revive Jodha from the chill and fever, but concluded that she needed to talk to Jalal alone for only he could give Jodha what was needed to save her: body warmth! Maham tried to listen in but when she was shooed off with the rest, Resham stood outside the window to overhear. (Luckily for Jodha, Moti too overheard what the medical lady said so that testimony might come in handy later!)
But anyway, Jalal was in a bind. There was only one way to save Jodha and that was by breaking his promise to her. He seemed to weigh the options, and then he suggestively dropped his shawl as if to signal that he has decided to take the route of breaking the distance between them. At the last count, we saw him caressing her face with the intent of going further, but how much further we will not know till 8 pm tomorrow!
Meanwhile, others were dealing with their own issues arising from all this
On the one hand there seemed to be something dire brewing at Agra when Hoshiyaar had to wake up Ruqaiya with the terrible news, and Ruq then had to issue some instructions that included sending a sipahi post-haste to Jalal. What all this was about is one loop unclosed ... and may be revealed tomorrow.
On the other hand Maham has been gloating that Jodha will now get her best "punishment". When Jalal "takes her" she will no longer remain the unattainable for him and she will become the "dispensable toy" that he will ruthlessly discard. So the Amer trip was worth it in the end for Maham!
It was one stormy evening, while toofaans of many kinds were blowing physically and emotionally outside and inside all the protangonists and their hearts, and the sanket of the storm seemed to be that things would never be the same once calm returned again. So what's going to happen and what wiill change?
Jyoti and I want to make a joint prediction here:
Tomorrow's epi, we think will open with Jalal, fully clothed, snuggling close to Jodha, holding her tight and giving her the body warmth to recover consciousness. But the moment Jodha gets her sense back he will move away from her, not letting her know from him what happened.
Jodha may most likely hear the snickerings of Maham and gang to realise that Jalal may have "slept with her". The innuendos of the Maham gang and the other tittering ladies with their sly smiles may drive her to a point of deep distress ... and a need to know what happened exactly.
She will then (as in the precap) ask Jalal if it was true that he had "slept with her" the night before. He may start by saying "Yes, I did, under medical instructions". She will be angry as hell no doubt, or even deeply weepy, but he will then go on to say: "I promise you all I did was to sleep next to you, holding you for the warmth ... and the moment you woke I moved away.. I did nothing else, and you have my word for it, as God is my witness. You are still untouched and pristine in "that way". You have to trust that I will never break my word to you as I have not ever done so far! We will not tell anyone what happened between us, as we should not encourage such talk. But between you and me, we are the same as we always were. And I respect your need for distance and ask that you return your respect for me with your trust."
Jodha may not know if she can believe this or not (as the earlier events of evening before the illness had led her to already question his innocence and his intentions). But then Moti may come to the rescue and re-confirm the exact instructions of the medical lady and how Jalal had saved her life while also not going beyond what was necessary. (Its possible Moti may have also peeped in and seen that Jalal was fully dressed as he lay alongside Jodha and kept her warm).
Since the others cannot be privy to what happened between husband and wife, speculations would surely be rife the next morning among all and sundry, especially Maham and gang, who may be further congratulating themselves that Jodha will soon become history and even saying so to her face.
But in fact the very opposite may happen. Jalal, after getting a taste of holding Jodha close and being with her through the illness (attracted as he was already towards her), may now find her not only more unattainnable and therefore hanker more for her, but he may well even discover what exactly he feels for her and he may start creating opportunities to get closer to her in the hope that he can make her soon reciprocate. So contrary to Maham's expectations Jalal may grow towards Jodha and find her increasingly indispensable.
What Ruq's urgency is we will not know, but if it was something that required the King to leave the camp at night and rush back to Agra, and instead Jalal chose to stay with Jodha, to sleep with her to save her, the shifting of Jalal's priorities between Ruq and Jodha would be sealed. So who will win Jalal's attention and preference - Ruq's urgency or Jodha's urgency -may become a question to watch!
Some other questions after this night of shake-ups:
1. Will Jalal go back to spending the first night of his return to Agra with Ruqaiya (as per tradition) especially after seeing himself feel this depth of pull towards Jodha physically and emotionally?
2. Will Jodha remain as distant from him again knowing he has saved her life without taking advantage bodily, as he could have? Will they grow closer by this new bond of trust that Jodha may begin to have in Jalal having seen him have the advantage over her and not taking it?
3. Will they both start sharing the bedroom at Agra too in continuance of the Amer practice that has been set up? How will Hamida facilitate or mandate this?
4. What will be Maham and Ruq's disgust level and antipathy when they find that rather than setting distance with Jodha, Jalal himself is keen to close the distance with her and going to all lengths to achieve this?
5. When will Jodha really reciprocate what Jalal feels so far? Will this whole snowstorm change her mind and heart and help her discover her love for Jalal very soon?
Tomorrow's epi promises to start where today ended ... happy viewing and may God help us get all the answers to the questions swirling in our minds, because if we don't get it tomorrow we'll have to hang till Monday!
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