My dear young ladies,
I am still considerably under the weather, but having slept all day, I am now awake and I thought that if I did nothing else, I should try and clarify the confusions I seem to have created here.
But before that I should tell you both that there is not the slightest need for either of you to feel the least bit hesitant about disagreeing with me, and this is especially for you, Jarp. I do not mind even strong disagreements with my views, and if I am unable to defend my positions convincingly, I am always open to changing them.
This said, what I wrote in those 3 points was related not so much to whether Ruqaiya loved Jalal per se, but to whether she cared for him
only because she relished being the chief begum of such a powerful emperor.
The way in which Jodha asks those questions, there is a clear implication that Ruqaiya cares
only for the position she now has thanks to Jalal, and by inference,
that she is some kind of upstart, for whom such power and prestige are tremendously important precisely she is a parvenue, not one to whom these are familiar. Jodha might not have intended it as such, but that is just how it sounds.
So, if I had been Ruqaiya, I would have made it clear that I was NOT an upstart,who would need to cling to Jalal simply to get this position, which would be such a boost for me that nothing could be more important.
That it was thanks to my father's sacrifice that Jalal was now what he was, and so he owes my family more than he can ever repay. This sort of thing, a powerful father or one to whom your husband's family owes a lot, is something that is a great morale booster for a wife in her
sasural, whether in the India of today, or that of the 16th century. I remember mentioning this in the context of Sukanya's marriage, that she now had the best possible support system in her
jeejasa.If you look at the first 2 points in this context, they might seem more logical.
These points were not made clear in the voiceovers when Ruqaiya was introduced, except to note that she was a childhood friend of Jalal's. Later, one of the other begums clarifies that she is Jalal's equal in birth and thus her special status is only natural. This was also my point.
@blue.No, Neha, very few were loyal to their king to this degree.
Pannadai is so lauded and remembered only because her sacrifice was extraordinary. Not because it was the norm; if that had been so, it would never have been noticed at all, any more than a soldier dying in battle. Next, Hindal Mirza was a step brother of Humayun's. And the man intent on killing both Humayun and Jalal was ALSO a stepbrother of Humayun's. That itself torpedoes your argument of such sacrifice by brothers being the norm. Udai Singh too was betrayed by a brother, and in the Mughal dynasty, Shahjahan had a brother and 2 cousins killed to get to the throne, Aurangzeb killed all 3 of his brothers and imprisoned his father till his death. No one knows what Jalal, or Bairam Khan acting for him, would have done if there had been any brothers of Jalal's. Salim did not have to get rid of anyone as both Murad and Daniyal had died. It is this fratricide that was the norm, not the kind of thing Hindal Mirza did. That was an exception.
I do not think Hindal Mirza did what he did for the sake of his wife and daughter. Jalal and Ruqaiya were not married then, and he could not have been sure of anything. It was just pure loyalty and fraternal ties, both of a rare kind. In fact, despite Hindal Mirza's vital contributions, if Bairam Khan had not been there, the incompetent Humayun would languished in exile in Persia.
@red. Neha, you simply cannot generalise like this. How can you lay down such a definition of love as if it was a universal norm?
In fact it is anything but the norm. In love, it is jealousy and possessiveness that are the norms, and these are in fact often seen as the necessary attributes of love. And this figures endlessly in literature as in life. both for men and for women. You only have to think of Othello among men or Medea among women.
It is true that in those days, when polygamy was the norm for kings, the queens were taught that they had to coexist with many contenders for their husband's attentions and his affection. But do not imagine that all this worked smoothly, not at all. Almost everyone else would have been jealous of the favorite queen, and there would have been plots galore against her.
As for your citing Salima as an example of a non-jealous begum, that, my dear, is a non-starter. Salima is Jalal's begum only in name, and she does not want any physical or other relations with him, so where does the question of jealousy arise in such a platonic relationship?
Even without such extreme examples like Medea, there would be very few women who would not mind sharing with another woman a husband whom they loved deeply and passionately. Possessiveness comes naturally when one falls in love. It will be the same with Jodha eventually when she comes to love Jalal. Even if she tries to be fair and not jealous, if she really loves him, she will not be able to help herself.
It is one thing if he fulfils his marital duties with other queens, and quite another if he loves one or more of them. That is precisely Ruqaiya's position.
Except that as of now, she claims to be more interested in her influence over him than in any romantic attachment.This might change when she sees Jalal slipping away to that unfamiliar and alarming (for Ruqaiya) situation of becoming emotionally dependent on another woman. I have written about this earlier: that till now, she has never had to face such a situation, and when it arises with Jodha, she might not be able to accept that at all.
Consider another point, which is a curious and interesting one. See, Jodha is beginning to fall for Jalal, but why? Because she is able to influence him in ways that she feels are the right ones. If he had not accepted her outlook on the raja-praja relationship, for example, and thanked her profusely for bringing him round to it, would she have softened towards him at all? No.
So, in her case too, it is NOT Jalal per se that she now likes, and whom she will come to love. It is the emperor who will have been a very successful experiment for Jodha's approach to life, a very apt and grateful pupil. He flatters her to the top of her bent, and there is nothing so appealing as flattery. Nor is there any such thing as too much flattery.
So Jodha is falling in love with the idea of her being able to reform an emperor. Not with the man who wears the crown. The difference between her and Ruqaiaya is thus one of degree. Not of the fundamentals.
Neither of them loves Jalal for himself, but that is not anything to be wondered at. How can you separate him from what he is, the Shahenshah? Unless he went somewhere in disguise and some young woman fell for him alone, and not for his power and wealth. Which is not the case for Jodha. I do not say that she attaches too much importance to these attributes, only that without them, she would not have hated him, but she might not have noticed him at all.
Well, I am tired, and I will get back to bed. I do not know if the above makes sense to both of you. I do hope so.
Shyamala Aunty
Originally posted by: AbHer_neha
Shyamla aunty...I always like ur analysis of each episode...so beautiful post as always👏...but I would like to differ on the same three points mentioned by Jarp.
I noticed one thing...whenever People here on this forum talk abt Ruq's character they most of the time refer to the Real Begum Ruquiya Sultan...and I m talking abt a character Ruq which is the part of a fictional show...I know her childhood was miserable...her father sacrificed his life for Humayun...she had been with Jalal in his good & bad times...but plz tell me whenever that aspect was shown in this show ?
I agree with Jarp...she married Jalal at the age of 9...does a girl of nine years really understand the meaning of marriage & love in that age?...whatever Hindal Mirza did it was his loyalty to his Shehenshah & his brother...and people of that time used to be loyal to their King...I have many examples from history...Panna Dhaay if I m not wrong sacrificed his own son to save Udai Sing's life...Shakti Sing had always been against his brother Maharana Pratap & fought against him from the Mughals...but when he saw his brother's life was in danger & took his crown & wore it himself to save his brother's life...
If Hindal Mirza saved Humayun's life he saved the existence of the Mughals & his family including his wife & daughter...so it has nothing to do with Ruq...But now Ruq is matured & understands marriage & love...now the question arises does she really love Jalal or her position as Begum-e-Khaas?..she indeed loves Jalal but as Jodha said there is difference b/w "Chahna" & "Pana"...love is unconditional..."she loves Jalal so much that she can't share her love with anyone else"...I can't digest this...if u truly love someone u will continue to love that person even if he/she loves anyone else...how can she object if Jalal also loves his any other begum...why she questioned Salima if Jalal took her advice...Salima's also his begum as she...she is possessive of Jalal...
Jodha hasn't yet fallen for Jalal but the day she realizes her love she'll keep loving him even if he's not a Shehenshah, she's not his begum or he loves any other begum...she will never mind Jalal's going to Ruq...infact she'll be the one who will send Jalal to Ruq...I m not against Ruq...she is one of my fav characters in the show and I have full faith on CVs...they won't spoil her character...she's the same Ruq who din mind Jodha's accompanying Jalal to Ajmer...she's the same lady who was happy for Jalal's coming child even if the mother of that child was Jodha...one day she will realize the meaning of true love...she'll accept Jalal-Jodha relationship...she will love their child as her own...😳
Originally posted by: Jarp
Everything was beautifully written but I couldn't understand above 3 points..The question from jodha is if ruq loves her husband if he is a normal person not being sehanshah/best friend..
1. She married him at the age of 8/9 years old ..she is just a kid (we can't expect a kid marrying with love)..as a kid she might have thought its fun to play marriage game ..(as of her nature she loves special treatment )..n also it is elders decision .
2. Sacrifice of her father ..it's her father's loyality..here question is whether ruq loves her husband r not..it's not about her father's loyality towards jalal's family.
3. Whether she don't want to share his love is it because she is afraid of loosing her husband or her khas position..
I'm not good at expressing my feelings..that is the reason I do not prefer write anything other than pressing the like button..
Above mentioned points are not for critising r hurting. I just tried to express what I thought when I read those points.
You are the only one who mentioned about the odd thing rahim neem KA ped changed to tulsi KA ped n smart jalal did not catch he took tulsi plant as tree..
sashashyam
1)That she had married Jalal when he was a hunted prince on the run, more likely to end up dead than on a throne.
2)That but for the sacrifice of her father, Hindal Mirza, who not only gave up his life to save those of his stepbrother Humayan and Jalal, but left the whole of his holdings in Afghanistan to Jalal, and not to his own daughter Ruqaiya, there would have been no Shahenshah Jalaluddin today.
3)That she loves her Jalal so much that she will not share his love with anyone else.
Instead, she makes a complete ass of herself, undoubtedly so the CVs can make Jodha look cleverer.
Edited by sashashyam - 11 years ago
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