Friends, what can I say, I thought today's episode was splendid. Three things happened that made it great for me:
One, Jalal got both the gifts and not only did he like Jodha's better, but he allowed that precious gift to totally transform him as a man and a king! The same man who was parading his fine clothes (Ruq's gift) at the start of the evening, was by the end of the episode parading his fine sentiments and values that he had learnt by bringing himself down from a Kingly height to the level of his simple but loving people! It was also grand that he self-talked: "One gift bedazzled my eyes, the other helped me open my eyes!"
Two, I thought that scene between Jalal and Jodha, in Jodha's room was sensational. The whole interaction between Jalal and Jodha was terrific, the dialogues were full of nuance and meaning and were articulated by both in a really heartfelt way. Their faces and feelings, and especially their eyes, were full of communication. The way they both seemed to bond with each other, with sincerity, goodwill and mutual appreciation was awesome.
Three, the scene between Jalal and Ruqaiya was one that I always wanted to see and finally got! Previously we have always seen Jalal placating Ruqaiaya's jealousies by saying there was nothing between him and Jodha, and that Jodha can never ever take Ruqaiaya's place. Today Jalal for the first time controverted those statements completely. He admitted that he now had a new friend in Jodha and while Ruqaiya would always have her place, Jodha too was definitely a friend with whom she would have to get along! What surprised me was the way Jalal was soft when needed and hard when needed and yet made the conversation sound polite and pleasant!
Overall the episode seemed to hinge on the contrast between the two gifts: while Ruq had offered royal finery for Jalal to wear as a sign of his awesome power, Jodha had actually offered him peasant's garb to wear as a sign of his humble heart! In the end Jalal could have taken the diplomatic route and maintained that both gifts were equally good to him and he could have complimented both Ruq and Jodha without hurting either of them. But he chose to be honest today which was exceedingly gratifying. He chose to say that he preferred being that humble heart rather than that shiny King, and he made it public that he valued one gift above the other. His open statement of choice was thus as important as the gifts he got.
One other lovely addition to today's episode was the scenes at the Akbar ka Makabra ... the souls of Jalal and Jodha were constantly telling us how special this day was for both of them and how it turned their lives and their love around, and how they discovered what they meant to each other! That was lovely to watch as well!
Now onto the detailed analysis ...
Jalal gets his precious gifts ... and discovers to his delight which one means more to him!
The whole episode started directly with the Diwan-E-Khas, where all the family and the court were assembled waiting for Jalal to be announced in. Ruqaiaya was on tenterhooks because she was anxious to see the impact of her gift to him. Finally Jalal came into the sabha ... and immediately there was a collective gasp before people in the room seemed to stop breathing. No one could believe their eyes. The Shahenshah was shining brightly like a fireball!
He was dressed from head to toe in flashy gold clothes, his turban and coat and leggings and shoes all competing to outdazzle one another. To our sophisticated eyes, the outfit looked garish and unbelievably gilded! But to the assemblage there, in that century, and even to Jalal himself it must have looked splendid - for I have no doubt that large parts of the attire must have been made from pure gold thread!
Anyway, the resplendant Jalal turned to Ruqiaya to offer thanks to her for this grand and terrific gift and he announced also to the sabha: "This is by far the best gift I have received. These are clothes really fit for an Emperor."
The poignancy of that remark then suddenly became obvious to us when Atga Khan told Jalal that thousands of his praja were assembled outside asking for a darshan of the Shahenshah. Jalal got up to go and meet them. As he saw the sea of faces before him, he was for a moment dumbstruck by their sheer numbers. There were simple village folk - men, women and children - all congregated, with just one idea: to laud and praise Jalal for what he had done for them. He had previously cared for them via his impersonal administration but he had never done what he did that day, when he dressed like them, wore their clothes, visited their villages, heard their cries and immediately commisioned wells to be dug to make water available to quench their thirst. He had listened to what they wanted and given it to them. It was such a simple thing he had done and yet so profound, that when the gathered people began, one by one, to praise Jalal and to pray for his good life, Jalal was overwhelmed.
Hamida added to the moment with deeper explanations to him of the real impact of what he done. She said Humayun, his father would have been proud of the way he had won the hearts and minds of his people and earned their love. Jalal looked at Jodha in silent thanks, as Hamida added: "Both your wives have gifted you something valuable. One has given you maan, and the other has given you shaan".
But Jalal, in his mind, didn't seem to think the two gifts had equal value. He now knew which gift was the more outstanding one by far. He marched with purpose back into the sabha and said: "I thought Ruqaiaya's gift was the best till I saw Jodha's gift. I now think Jodha has given me something I have never had in life. She has given me the love of my people, a connect with them, a heartfelt blessing from them. " Lifting the peasant's garb he had worn all morning, he said : "Look at these clothes I wore this morning. They show you that clothes do not make a King. It's the ability of a King to mingle with his people and hear the whispers in their hearts that makes him a King. I am indebted to Jodha for giving me the greatest present I have ever received in my life!" And then in a gesture of even deeper gratitude and warmth, he asked Jodha to come and sit beside him at the head of the sabha.
I have never seen Jalal look more pleased at heart, more moved or more deeply affected. He was smiling silently, feeling the wealth of the good wishes of his people wash over him ...while Jodha was beaming more openly with pride and self-satisfaction! Hamida was exultant! Two treasure hunts had yielded two very different kinds of experiences and gifts for Jalal. But most importantly he now knew how to distinguish between the superficial and the real in life, and he had learnt that he wanted hereafter to value the real!
The Jalal-Jodha conversation was beautiful - very elegant, very heartfelt, and very happy
After the scene at the jashn was over, Jalal was seen sitting on one of the terraces, by a bonfire, warming his hands, and having memories of that time on his first trip to Amer when he retrieved Jodha's payal from another such bonfire. One by one, more memories of Jodha flooded his mind ... of her going past him in the palanquin, of her holding a sword at his throat at the jail, of her in more recent conversations saying he would get his gift by the evening ... suddenly we heard his self-talks when he admitted that he could no longer bear to be separated from Jodha, he had an urgent need to see her and talk to her, and he would go to her, even if it was not the right time for a visit ...
In her rooms, Jodha was herself in a reverie. She was decking Kanha with the bansuri and morpankh that Jalal gave her as a birthday gift, remembering how thrilled she had been to get such a thoughtful gift from him that she would cherish for life.
Jalal entered her room just then and said a really heartwarming thank you to Jodha for the gift she had given him. He elaborated on how he had learnt so much by going with her to the village and mixing with people at their level. And most importantly he had learnt the difference between ruling by power and fear and ruling by winning hearts and minds. Jodha seemed to grow happier by the minute to hear all this. She said "I did nothing. I just pointed you in the right direction from where you could see for yourself and understand things for yourself. You then did everything, so all credit goes to you". But Jalal wouldn't have it! He said: "When someone wants to thank you deeply, please do receive it!".
The most beautiful part of this conversation, for me, was this next sentence by Jodha. She said: "I have achieved one thing, Shahenshah, I have blown the cover off your lies. You said you had no heart and it was a lie. Without a heart how could you have felt and responded to the cries of those people? I have helped you realise you have a heart and have wakened the humanity in you!"
Jalal looked at her with something like deep caring in his eyes. I am afraid to call it love yet, but as he looked right into her face and her eyes today I felt as if I was watching two souls in exquisite harmony with each other. There was lots of happiness on both faces, and the eyes of both were glazed over with moistness as they talked.
Then Jalal said something spectacular. He turned and looked at Kanha and said: "I have a prayer to God. I want him to bless me that I can spend many many more years with you receiving such wonderful gifts from you every year". To Jodha that sounded like a commitment to spend their lives together forever! What a beautiful piece of dialogue that was! He gave her an "adaab" with a very special gleam in his eyes - and she folded her hands together with her eyes welling up as he left the room. I loved it!
Ruqaiaya throws a mighty tantrum ... before being shown her place by an astute Jalal!
The Ruqaiaya-centric part of the episode appeared before us in two places today. First was when she came straight from the Diwan-E-Khas, frothing at the mouth, smoke issuing from her ears, her eyes ablaze with uncontrolled rage! Jodha's gift had upstaged her own gift totally! And Jalal had acknowledged that in public!
She threw every precious object in sight to the ground smashing it to smithereens. She broke the mirror with another loud crash. "How can Jodha have bested my gift to Jalal, how could she?" she said, seething at the humiliation! Hoshiyaar, feeling totally out of control, tried to say:"Jodha's gift was not all that good. She was a bewakoof to give such a gift". But Ruq hissed at Hoshiyaar like a King Cobra: "No she is not a bewakoof. She is an awfully clever one and she has succeeded today. Wait till you see what I intend to do with her now!"
Today many of us saw one of the worst sides of Ruq: her unbridled temper and her violent tantrums. I was just thinking to myself, "If this was how she behaved often as a child, it is no wonder that Jalal may have just preferred to let her have her way rather than cross swords with her, for it must have been torture for a young boy to have to deal with her extreme emotions!" I remember Salima once telling Jodha that in childhood "Ruqiaya apni haq jatati rahi, aur Jalal ko uski aadat pad gayi".
By the second time we saw Ruq on the scene, she had however calmed down considerably. For some reason she was wearing her dupatta well forward on her head, and actually looking rather cowed down and beaten! Jalal had come to see her, and she launched directly at him: "You look pleased ... is it all because of that great gift from Jodha?" Sensing and anticipating her reactions he said "Both gifts were really good." But she was not to be placated yet. She then asked him: "Tell me, can two swords remain in one sheath? Then how can both Jodha and I be in the same space?" A very astute Jalal replied: "Ah, but there's a difference between real life and a sword sheath. In real life there are many things that survive in harmony together - like the two banks of a river, or the two sides of a coin. You too will have to learn to live with Jodha. And this is where I am going to have to tell you one truth: Jodha has now also become a friend to me". A stunned Ruq then asked him: "Tell me honestly, will this new friend take my place?" Jalal was at his placatory best. He said "No one can take your place. Old friends are like old wine, they get better with age. But still, Jodha is also now becoming a new friend ... " He let her digest that without any further explanations. She looked gobsmacked. As a parting shot said: "Take care" and left!
I thought he was masterly in his handling of Ruq. He knew when to placate her and when to be ruthlessly honest - and when to draw the line on his own choices and decisions into which he would not allow her dictation. He was after all the Shahenshah and no matter how close he was to his wives, he would not let them decide his priorities for him. He politely and smartly made that so clear today!
I won't write about the Adham Khan-Tasneem issue today because I've already written a lot, and anyway the situation is yet to get heated up enough for us to analyse the happenings. For today it's enough that we have noticed two things:
a. Tasneem is really a kid, not more mature than Rahim. The two were playing at the same mental level!
b. Jodha and Moti have seen enough when Adham was trying to hold the child's waist and get her kite for her. His demeanour has raised Jodha's hackles.
There's big trouble brewing on this front. It may start tomorrow and spill into the next week!
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