please spread positivity! - Page 3

Akbar was a human being, he can't have been all that perfect that he had a plan and solution for every problem that came his way. Sometimes he might have had to rely on advisors such as Atgah Sahib or like this show depicts, on the females in his life. After all, serials like this are geared toward a female audience, and what better way to appeal to them than to show women giving great advice for the betterment of an empire? Akbar was surrounded by male advisors as many of us know but did we ever think about the females in his life? They weren't just pretty showpieces for the Mughal Sultanate right?
I certainly hope not!

This show puts forth the idea that Jodha supported Akbar on his way to become a great emperor. This is the path the show has followed from the beginning and now that Jodha no longer hates Jalal and has become used to her new surroundings, we have seen that she has taken a more active role in making suggestions and giving advice.

Lately her advice and suggestions such as in the divorce case have helped a clueless Jalal make the right decisions for the welfare of his empire without sacrificing his personal life. Jalal never had to make decisions such as that and was understandably stumped - and this is where Jodha came in. All his life, he had been trained in matters of war strategies and political matters but social matters? Where does that come in? This is the first time on the show that he has stood up for a social cause and unfortunately his personal life was dragged into question which he does not handle well. Jodha stepped in to pose a solution and It does not make him any less of an emperor if he uses her advice. It would make him less of an emperor if he shrugged her off and in his arrogance refused to take the advice of a woman into account. But, no, he listens to her with an open mind and gives credit where credit is due by telling Ruqaiya that it is all because of Jodha that their marriage was saved - that is the mark of a great emperor.

Since the beginning of the show, we have seen Jalal using his quick mind to make great decisions as an emperor. One of my favorite Jalal strategies is the clever way in which wins won back the Ratanpur fort after giving it away and then regifts it all in order to teach a lesson. There have been many such moments in the show that we have taken it for granted that Jalal will always save the day with a plan up his sleeve. Unfortunately, that is hardly realistic. I'll be a bit of a nerd here and reference regression to the mean, a statistical concept that states that if a variable is extreme on its first measurement then it will tend to be closer to the average on its second measurement. This generally means that extreme measurements are usually due to luck or extenuating circumstances. We saw a rash of successes in Jalal's strategies and now it seems that he is facing a pile of failures which is probably not his fault but simple statistics in that not every action will bring fruit or be as successful as previous ones. When the show started, he could have been in the middle of his lucky phase for all we know. We cannot expect him to be one step ahead of his enemies all the time - he is a human being and watching a show where Jalal wins every time and/or has a solution for everything would get boring real quick. If he is right all the time, where is that journey towards becoming Akbar?

Because this show is about both Akbar and Jodha, Jodha has to come into the picture somehow and lately she has been a very welcome addition into Akbar's life through the advice she gives him. My favorite piece of advice lately was the bit where she quoted Sujamal and said underestimating your enemy can prove fatal. Jalal is at the stage where he thinks he is invincible which is to be expected of a young emperor off a rash of victories. He is in a state of inertia and has become content enough to let his guard down. At the end of this fiasco and through Jodha, he will learn where he has gone wrong.

Basically, all I'm trying to say is look at this through Jalal's eyes or through another perspective. When you see things differently and aren't as critical, certain aspects of the show become more clear. Jalal has a lot of pride and arrogance, in his view there is no one big enough to challenge him or pose a large enough threat to his life. This track will teach him a big life lesson in that he is just as mortal as anyone and that underestimating your enemy is a dangerous thing.

I don't know about everyone else but I, for one, am looking forward to the upcoming episodes and intend to stick for the ride.