Friends, yesterday's episode was a very mixed bag for me. The first part of the episode started off with a really good scene of Jodha and Jalal tying the dhaga together at the Baba Salim Chisti camp, and even asking each other about revealing their really deep feelings and "mannats" to each other. I thought all was going forward on the same grand romantic note, when Jodha and Jalal looked up suddenly to spot a new visitor on the scene ... and my heart sank!
It was the Grand Queen Ruqaiya, bedecked in all her royal splendour, and surrounded by an entourage, waiting for Jalal to invite her to join his trip with Jodha . Even as she arrived, she accosted Jalal on his foolishness of thus travelling in common man's garb without escorts, and she started her venting on Jodha on a rather ugly note ... saying it was precisely because Jodha was with Jalal that she herself reconsidered her decision to join on this trip. After all, she knew Jodha and Jalal do not get along, and moreover she knew he would have a very uncomfortable trip if he was saddled with Jodha.
When Ruqaiya found Jalal looking distractedly at Jodha instead of hearing her out, her anger seemed doubled. She barked at him to listen to her and went on in a fishwife fashion - admonishing Jalal for the trip, its idea of travelling in disguise, and the insult that it would heap upon him and his Begums and their audha if he were discovered underneath the disguise. It was all about audha, rank, status, prestige, pride ... and the cursing and belittling of Jodha.
To add to matters, Ruq had even set up a royal khema in such an elaborate way as to attract attention to their whole group (just what Jalal wanted to avoid!) ... and she further seemed extremely hesistant to even change her clothes to match those of Jalal and Jodha to be able to join unobtrusively with them on this trip. Jalal seemed slightly firm with her that she either had to change or give up the trip, and that was about the only strong sentence I heard him utter all through the episode. I thought Ruqaiya would blow up in his face - but she instead got all devilishly practical. She thought if she didn't change as he wanted her to, she would herself deliver Jalal to the much-hated Jodha. And so she changed into something not quite as simple as simple garb should be, and insisted on bringing along a grumbling and grunting Hoshiyaar with the party.
The four of them then walked a while, with the background music of Ruq and Hoshiyaar cursing their fate, when night descended and Jalal decided they all had best stay in some rather humble dwellings of a Banjara family - it was a bare hut and the Banjara husband and wife kindly gave over their charpai and vessels and groceries to Jodha for a the price of her gold hair ornament, and Jodha started cooking for Jalal. Again Ruqaiya had all kinds of insults for Jodha's cooking in the hearing of Jalal, and again Jodha in a good natured way continued with her cooking - but Jalal, instead of telling Ruq not to be so insulting, merely defended Jodha's cooking skills. He seemed to prefer a "non-combative aproach" with Ruq, just interjecting minimally to defend Jodha when the insults became intolerable. If he had shut Ruq up, she would have subsided, but instead when he said something favourable about Jodha as a response, it only got Ruq even more riled up!
Then feeling rather competitive Ruq also insisted on cooking and produced the worst burnt roti I have seen in my life. But as Jodha said to Ruq, if it was made with love and mehanat, Jalal would appreciate it ... and he did. Jodha and Jalal seemed on the same wavelength, but Ruq was on a different planet entirely.
The worst part of the episode was left for the end. Ruqaiya had made up the one-bedroom khema into sleeping quarters for herself and Jalal ... and to Jalal's knowledge, she had the temerity to ask Jodha to go and sleep outside the tent! And what do we see in the precap? Jalal comes outside and is watching Jodha sleep on a charpai on the hard ground while his other Queen is snoring away in the comfy bed within. All that he seems to be able to do is watch Jodha, because in the precap yesterday we didn't hear even a feeble protest from Jalal at the treatment meted out to Jodha by Ruqaiya!
What was it about Jalal that made him tolerate and never even remotely berate Ruqaiya for her disgusting behaviour? It was childish, rude, inelegant, and downright insulting to Jodha, and yet the same man who says he feels love anew for Jodha in his heart was keeping quiet watching all this?
In one way it seemed very good that all of yesterday's episode was devoted to showing Jalal exactly the difference between his two queens. One was a overgrown child, ill-mannered, power-mongering and utterly spoilt like a badly brought up brat. The other was dignified and graceful even in the face of insults and jibes, and stayed in alignment with Jalal and his intentions to make this disguised trip really bring him closer to the people he ruled over.
Ruqaiaya clearly neither understood the value of this trip nor why it should be done in disguise ... or even why it should not be accompanied by khemas and footmen. Jodha understood and encouraged and supported everything Jalal was trying to do. In fact Jodha even understood that Jalal had to to put up with this brattish wife, so when the exchange between him and Ruq started getting heated Jodha chose to move away and not be a spectator to their quarrels.
I can't fault Jodha for being gracious and aloof and uncomplaining, and yet loving and caring of Jalal ... and neither could I really fault this Ruq for bad behaviour. We all knew she would behave atrociously, and this situation in the outdoors, with simplicity and audha-less-ness as its theme, was bound to bring out the worst in her. We must all be glad that Jalal got to hear the worst of her relentless audha-fixation and brainless arguments, and saw her exposing herself and her meaness and smallness before him. All this was in contrast also showing Jalal the more queenly qualities of Jodha, who even in her inelegant clothes and as the butt of Ruq's hatred, exuded the class and pedigree of a well-bred person of rank and nobility.
But did Jalal do enough? Why did he not set Ruq down harder and speak up when needed against such treatment of anyone, let alone Jodha? Why did he tolerate the behaviour and rudeness of Ruq? Even if she was his best friend or childhood friend, was he not outraged enough to be able to tell Ruqaiaya to her face that what she was doing was wrong?
Okay, Ruq's unwillingness to wear simple clothes, her inability to cook, her inability to trek over tough terrian is all understood as her own problems. That doesn't affect Jalal or Jodha. But when Ruq actively insults Jodha through the horrendous gesture of making her sleep outside the tent like a menial servant, I felt Jalal should have opened his mouth to say something. Otherwise silence is often taken as consent.
Now that Jalal knows he loves Jodha, I feel he should have shown how deep is his love by defending Jodha from such desperate open insults from Ruqaiaya. He can speak to Ruq kindly or angrily, speak to her of manners or audha or whatever language she understands, but he cannot avoid speaking to her, right?
Folks I have not done my usual kind of post today and have instead chosen to vent. I don't know how much difference my venting will make to Jalal or Jodha or Ruqaiaya or the Creatives. But at least I have got my sadness off my chest and can survive the weekend.
Book Talk
Anupamaa
Vasudha
