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'm back with my detailed comments ... Loved the post and your writing style is beautiful, especially the analogies. My comments in underlined below
Akbar Jodha...The end of a chapter
With the expulsion of Maham Anga and her fall in his eyes, ends an entire phase in the life of Jalal.
Maham Anga - An important person in the life of Jalalluddin Mohammad...without whom he wouldn't have been alive to capture his throne, to become the Shahenshah of Hindustan, to become Akbar ultimately. Someone who was ready to sacrifice her life to save the boy...yet someone who killed his child...someone who saved him from every harm and alleviated his pain always...yet gave him awful blows herself...someone whom Jalal trusted completely...yet who shattered his trust beyond repair.
Yes, she is a dichtomy - I still remember how she cried seeing her Jalal in pain after Ruq's MC - we thought she could have done the crime ... But then she cried/laughed as she admitted - it was creepily well done ... As if she lived two realities
They say that school friendships and childhood friendships are always special. The friendship is formed without knowing what the other person is going to become, how big they are going to make it in life and without any hidden agenda.
So was Maham Anga in Jalal's early days. She did not know that he will become a powerful Emperor one day. No, the first hold that Jalal and Bairam Khan got in India was after the Second Battle of Panipet when Jalal was 13 years old. But MA risked her life umpteen times before that to protect Jalal. She sheltered him ignoring her own son, who carried this grudge for years and years. She protected him when he was most vulnerable and suffered for him. She filled the void caused by the absence of his mother. There is no Jalal without BK or MA and their efforts and sacrifices.
But then what went wrong? Why did she stoop so low? Slowly the nasha of power blinded her and she lost all humanism thinking that she could do anything and get away with it. She started trading her mother sentiments to achieve her ends and to retain power. This is what unlimited power does to people who are carried away by it.
It is to Jalal's credit that he was fair always, even before Jo's entry in his life...he retained his humility even when he was at the pinnacle and that is why he became Akbar, the Great.
MA's greed got the better of her love for Jalal that she decided to forget the sanctity of motherhood and took Jalal for granted. She was like the kite that flies high without any regard for the dor, but Jalal has just cut the dor and MA landed on terra firma with a resounding thud. Now she has realised what she has risked, what she has lost. The mother-son relationship that was the basis of all the power she enjoyed...she risked that precious connect to achieve her ends and pat came the reply from God. When He hits, there is no noise but the pain hurts most.
Loved the kite analogy ... 👏
But how could a woman who certainly loved a boy more than her own son, kill his very child to retain power? Is power such a maaya that it destroys the soul of those who are blinded by it? Kaikeyi is also supposed to have loved Raam more than Bharat initially. But power hungriness made her risk and lose everything that was precious in life. She lost the love and respect of her King and her countrymen, she lost the regards her own son who hated her for what she did. She lost her suhaag. She lost name, fame, everything and the delusional power also slipped away after causing havoc. But she did not lose the love of her Raam, who bore no grudge towards her.
I also thought she did it ... Seeing Adham Khan in pain, in the spur of the moment. Not only her power ... But Adham's accusation that she loved Jalal more
But ShriRaam was divine. Our Jalal is human afterall, though a great human being. He cannot be so magnanimous. But he will consider MA's sacrifices too, but the lost regard for his badi ammi is lost forever. He will cry in solitude, but as an Emperor he will give her a befitting punishment for all her evil.
MA too is going to lose her name fame respect and the power as well. But above all she is going to lose her son, a precious son who considered her next to God. A son who bestowed so much of love and affection on her...something that even real sons don't, atleast not to this extent. She is going to lose the very ground that she stands on and weilds her power. This foolish woman has traded her eyes to buy paintings. She is going to pay dearly. She will realize what she has done, but it will be too late. The strong relationship that existed between Jalal and MA has come to an end.
Loved that saying- trade her eyes to buy paintings.
Kudos to Ashwini for portraying the various shades of Maham Anga so beautifully and forcefully.👏
Agreed! And kudos to you to write this post to her!
Kumkum Bhagya
Anupamaa
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