Friends, yesterday something important happened before the episode. I made a call to Zee and got two major bits of information. What the Zee man said to me and what happened in the episode, if they are matched, it will come to you as a huge revelation, as it did to me.
What the Zee man said about Jalal going into the war with such meagre troops ...
As is my usual trick I had to start the phone conversation with some bahana to get information. So I told the Zee guy that since I have exams next week I may not be able to watch the serial, so can he tell me if the war will be this week or next week. He said it will only be next week, but for just two or three days.
I then acted very sad that I would miss the war and I said "Tell me, how is it that you are all showing such a big Shahenshah of such a big Sultanate as having not enough troops to fight this war? And why is Jalal always crying about this? And at least could the Amer boys have not come quickly enough with their troops when people are coming from Kabul to Agra overnight?"
For this the Zee man replied "SEE THAT IS THE GREAT THING ABOUT AKBAR, HE MUST BE HAVING SOME REASON WHY HE IS GIVING THE IMPRESSION TO ALL THAT HE HAS NO TROOPS, NA?"
I got a small shock when I heard that because I had never thought of Jalal following that teda angle of having some ace up his sleeve and giving the impression that he had too few troops. I shared this info of my phone call with Ela first and then for a long time chatted on phone with Diksha.
Suddenly so many things seemed to fall into place. Do you all remember that when Todarmal and Atga discussed this lack of troops and later Jalal also emphasized this lack of troops in their war planning room, there was always Hakim Mirza there listening to this information? That is one point to note. I am not saying Hakim Mirza is against Jalal or not as yet, but the fact is that this troops insufficiency issue was said aloud twice in his presence.
Later in the Wednesday episode Maham goes to meet Shehnaaz sneakily, and there she mentions to Shehnaaz that Jalal does not have enough men to fight the war. Shehnaaz also has a laugh with Mali that Jalal has brought more women than men! So clearly Jala & Co. have made sure even their own people like Maham believe that their troops are inadequate, maybe in the hope of this news travelling out via the stealth network?
Much later in the scene where Jalal gets sentimental with Jodha (again in the Wednesday episode) he again says to her "This war I am fighting without sufficient men ... I don't know if I will come back alive". He then pauses ... before he continues with even more sentimentality that tomorrow may be his last day in life. Judging by what the Zee man said, it now seems to me and Diksha that Jalal could have been talking aloud all this to Jodha in the expectation that someone may be overhearing? For if you watch carefully there is a heavy pause in the scene at that point when he says he has too few troops ...
To add to all this, in yesterday's episode Diksha noticed one big revealing moment when Jalal so contradicts himself that we are left wondering what his game is. He is standing next to his war armour suit and looking at it as Jodha comes and holds his hand. Till the previous episode's last scene, Jalal was saying to Jodha he doesn't want to fight this war. But when he is in this scene with the armour suit he says quite the opposite. He tells Jodha "What do you think as to why I am trying to avoid the war?" Was Jalal trying to judge Jodha's reaction? The same man that in the previous episode sounded like he was getting sentimental and was unwilling for the war throws up an unspoken challenge to Jodha and asks whether she thinks he fears losing the war because he has a lesser army than Nigar and Mahchuchak? Where did this sudden confidence come from, that he showed glimpses of yesterday, in the context of so much crying and whining and sentimentality in the previous episode?
Folks, after the Zee man opened my eyes, and after I had a talk with my friends, I am now convinced that Jalal may be deliberately slowing down the start of the war because he may be buying some time for more troops to join him which he has confirmed and may be just awaiting their arrival. Could be the Amer gang, or could be even more troops from somewhere else too. Even the ploy yesterday of buying time by sending a paigam of talks to Nigar may have been a ploy of his - which unfortunately got neutralised by Adham and Maham killing the paigam-deliverer and sending a reply paigam of their own!
To top it all there are the words of Jodha ringing in my mind in that last scene tonight , as Diksha again pointed out to me ... while leaving, Jalal promises Jodha that he will come back to her safely, and Jodha knows he never breaks his promise.
The big revelation I am having is that between the Wednesday episode and the Thursday episode there is a marked change in Jalal's readiness for war. With every passing moment he is getting to sound more and more confident. If the Zee man had told me nothing I wouldn't be thinking along that direction that Jalal has some ace up his sleeve. But after the Zee man told me that a Shahenshah of such a great Sultanate would surely not be a bewakoof and go with such few men unless he wanted to give that impression to the enemy, it all seems to fit in a new way after seeing yesterday's episode. So is Jalal waiting for some stealthy arrival of a huge bank of troops to stun the enemy with, after systematically giving them the feeling that his forces are weak and too full of women?
Acccha, now listen to the second part of my conversation with the Zee man ...
What the Zee man said about the Todarmal trenches being dug ...
I asked the Zee man "What about this Todarmal digging trenches and surangs now near the encampment of the Mughal harem ... does this mean next week I will also miss seeing the Mughal women fleeing from the battlefield via these trenches?"
For that the Zee man said "AAP THEEK SE NAHIN SOCH RAHE HO. THINK WHY TODARMAL GAVE THE IN-CHARGE OF THE SURANGS TO ADHAM AND WHAT WILL ADHAM AND HIS MOTHER DO? THEY WILL FIND IT EASY NOW TO SHIFT CHAND BEGUM TO THIS NEW SURANG WHICH WILL BE UNDER ADHAM CONTROL, NA?"
Boy, this was revelation No. 2 for me yesterday - for in a spot I got the drift of this clue. This much was certain that Maham would use this surang dug by Todarmal as a place to hide Chand Begum.
Diksha went even further and predicted like this ... she said "From the precap, I have a feeling, that Jalal will leave Todarmal at the base to take care of the harem as he goes to fight ... Todarmal has taken Adham's help to make that surang, which may lead right back to the palace ... so maybe Maham will try to shift Chand Begum through that new surang and maybe Todarmal will see this and keep track of Chand Begum's movements and Maham's machinations ... and once Todarmal gets the chance, he may free Chand Begum and take her to the field in front of Nigar. At this point Chand Begum may drop her madness pretence and thus Nigar could turn with Jalal".
Ela had another idea that perhaps Jodha may get to know that Chand Begum has been secreted in the surang by Maham, and when Jalal (as per promo) gets caught by Abul Mali, Jodha may bargain that she will release Nigar's mother only if Jalal is realeased.
All these are great possibilities, and I really don't know what to think, for the options are numerous. The gratification I have after speaking to Zee is that Jalal is not perhaps going to be shown as the crying, sad, helpless King, and he is going to be shown as having some teda methods of handling the enemy with sizeable troops hidden or arriving from somewhere to swell his ranks. And secondly, the trench that Todarmal is digging has been given in Adham's in-charge and he and his mother are surely going to use it perhaps to keep Chand Begum under cover?
This much is clear. More than this the Zee man would not share with me though I said I will miss all the action because of my exams and I openly asked if he can tell me what will happen exactly next week. He told me to call him next week and he will tell me what happened! Hehehe ...
Anyway, guys I just wanted to share all this with you all to stir up your imaginations for today, and now for those who wish to know what all happened, here's the gist of the whole episode.
By the way, this morning I had a heartfelt and beautiful PM from "akhdalover" like this:
"Hey mansi, being a regular follower of your posts, and i love what you write, I have a small request to make. I hope you dnt mind. Can you plz describe that aadab scene in today's epi in detail. It was the best part of the epi for me. It moved me to the core and It gave me shiver down my spine. Those 10sec were so impactful it had the power to make me cry. I never felt so much heavy with all emotions simply overflowing.Their eyes spoke so much, like saying i was is and will always be with you no matter what. Time stopped. It was just both of them. Jo telling him by this gesture m yours now fully you have to come back not just for me but for someone for whom you are also eagerly waiting. Agh Im just so much into the scene i simply cnt control. The background music simply added magic. M sure if you describe this scene in your words it will be even better than the scene. I request you to fulfill my this wish plz. Looking forward for your analysis :)"
After receiving a PM like this how can I say "No!". So "akhdalover" I dedicate the description of this last scene to you and I just hope I can describe it better than you have described it in your PM!
What all happened in the episode ...
Adham and Maham are in their khema when Maham lets slip to Adham the news that she had gone to see Nigar. Adham was stunned to hear that she had taken this huge risk. But Maham told him "Now that the winds are changing, I expect Nigar to win this war and become the Queen of the Sultanate. So our allegiance has to be to her."
Meanwhile in a sort of DEK at the military encampment Jalal was surrounded by all his family and his courtiers. He said to them "I have been thinking. I think we should give this war another chance by setting up an opportunity to talk to Nigar to change her mind. I would like to give it another try."
As expected some people were for this idea and some were against. Hamida, Jodha and Salima lauded the idea of Jalal. But on the other hand Maham vehemently opposed it and so did Ruq. Maham obviously had everything to gain if she thought the war would go on and Jalal with his meagre troops would lose the war and Nigar would win it. Ruq must have felt that if Jalal tries to postpone fighting he will be seen as lily-livered. But Hamida, Salima and Jodha felt clearly that if war and bloodshed could be averted and talks could avert war, then a last chance at reconciliation has to be given, to spare the loss of many sipahi lives and the misery of their families. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, I am now wondering if Jalal was buying time for the arrival of his troop reinforcements by doing this "talks idea" to lull the enemy into thinking he was indeed afraid of fighting! Anyway finding the majority to be of his view to try out the talks, Jalal asked Atga to prepare the paigam to be sent to Nigar Apa!
Meanwhile at the enemy encampment, in a very suggestive symbolism, Nihar was talking revenge on Jalal and she unsheathed her sword with vehemence as if she was ready to attack him then and there. But in the process she slashed her own hand. Was it symbolic of the fact that she would end up fighting and maiming her own plans and expectations if she thought she would be killing Jalal? Anyway what happened then was that Abul Mali scoffed at her and said that since she was a woman, she was unfit to take Jalal as shikar, and she should leave it to him to handle Jalal. Nigar's hackles rose at this demeaning remark, and she held her sword at Mali's throat as if to show her own capability to be ruthless. She then reiterated to him that if Jalal was to be anyone's shikar he would be hers!
In Maham's khema in the camp, Javeeda was on the bed snoring away loudly as she slept while she had relegated Adham to a small bed almost barely off the floor level. Maham hastily tried to wake up the reluctant Adham. "Wake up fast," she said "this Jalal has decided to have a try for talks with Nigar and is trying to send her a conciliatory paigam. We cannot afford this twist as all our hopes of the war going ahead will go for a toss. We have to do something to stop this and bring on the war!" Adham awoke to it all, and mother and son no doubt set out to plan their paigam-thwarting strategy.
In another part of the encampment Jalal was looking at his suit of armour laid out in readiness for the war, when Jodha joined him in the room. She entwined her hand in his in solidarity, expecting a continuation of his sadness of yesterday at the prospect of war with meagre troops and the high chances of losing it. But the Jalal she found there was of a slightly different mood. "You showed me my dil Jodha Begum" said Jalal "but do you know when I wear this armour, I just lapse back into being that heartless, merciless jallad who knows nothing else but the slaying of enemies. I lose all sense of my heart and my soft feelings, and all I thirst for is the blood spilling on the ground of battle and victory over my enemies." Jodha looked alarmed at the level of barbarism that entered Jalal's voice. "If that's the case then we must try to avert the war" she said. That's when Jalal pointedly asked her "What did you think? Why did you think I wanted to delay this war?" He paused there for a while ... and then he said to Jodha "That's why I want to send Nigar Apa this paigam." He then explained "Earlier I used to find a thrill at the prospect of war. But since you showed me my heart all I think now is of the needless bloodshed, the loss of lives, of families losing their men, their brothers, their sons, their husbands. Hope I am not one of those to die myself."
Jodha looked aghast and put a hand tenderly to his face and said "No, you will not talk of such ashubh things. I have prayed for your success, and you will succeed." Jalal however continued " A soldier's mind has only two thoughts - one is to become a shaheed or the other is to return successful. If I was to become shaheed I am surely I will have Allah's name on my lips and pride in my heart that I fought this war for my awaam. Even if I am a shaheed I will die with my head held high and not with my knees to the ground."
Just then Atga summoned Jalal and everyone to see that he had prepared the paigam, and Jalal put his mohur on it. A sipahi was then despatched on a horse with the paigam with the admonition that he must hand that paigam to Nigar and Nigar only. Alas en route a major act of treachery happened.
A hidden hand sentan arrow deep into the sipahi's back as the poor man collapsed. The man in the shadows then made himself visible by going close to the body - and it was Adham Khan. Soon his mother joined him and together they grabbed and read the paigam that Jalal had sent. It was full of conciliation and soft words to Nigar that Jalal would help her find her mother and Jalal would give her her due inheritances from their father. Maham clucked with disapproval. This paigam would never do for her cause. There had to be war and nothing less. She then told Adham they should write their own paigam and send it back to Jalal with the dead soldier.
Jalal meanwhile was tapping his feet impatiently waiting for the reply paigam from Nigar when suddenly the horse returned with its dead rider heaped upon it like a sack of potatoes. Jalal was totally enraged at this spectacle and Todarmal and Atga could not believe the depth to which the lethal arrow has sunk into the sipahi to kill him. It had been a barbarous death! But they also spotted the paigam in the soldier's hand and when they read it to Jalal, his rage and fury knew no bounds. For the paigam, ostensibly from Nigar, called Jalal a coward for trying to ward off the war and said to him "It will be jung ... so try and be brave and come and show your face on the battlefield." Jalal then let out an anguished cry of hate and ferocity and swore revenge on Nigar and her cohorts. "They want war? They will get war!" said Jalal through clenched teeth and rock hard jaws!
Everyone was then presumably discussing this event, for in a room Salima , Ruq and even Jodha seemed to agree that all options to stall the war had gone by and Jalal now had no choice but to go to war. Jalal too saw his soldiers standing in their straight lines praying to God with raised hands, and in his own heart he too prayed to Allah. "I am sorry my Lord", he said to God, "but I have no other choice now. Forgive me!"
In the final scene of the episode, Jalal is seen in full body armour and with his trusted sword facing all the women in his life for a last goodbye.
His eyes are heavy with distress as he faces his mother. "I am sure you will be successful Jalal, " says a tearful Hamida, "God will not allow so much as a scratch upon you". But even as she says this she is unable to look her son in the eyes, for fear of betraying the fear and sadness in her heart. "If that is all so, Ammijaan, and if you trust your son to be the best there is, then why is there this fear in you, these tears in your eyes?" asks Jalal, holding her hand. "Do you want to say goodbye to me with tears brimming from your eyes?" He wipes the tears rolling down her cheeks as she says "No Jalal, this is not alvida!". Maham is watching all this with a look of mock-concern, but her eyes are alert and anticipating the defeat of Jalal. Hamida continues "I am sure by this evening my Jalal will come back to us successful". Jalal says with deep determination "Inshallah, I will return to you a successful man!" Hamida then kisses his head with a lot of feeling as his wives smile through their tears
Jalal then turns to Salima and says to her "Salima begum, today I need your prayers". The gracious and soft spoken Salima says to him with a note of certainty in her voice "Not just my prayers, you have the whole awaam praying for you. Now in fact you have no other choice but for war, and especially for success in war. Go and get that success now!" Jalal nods at her sage advice.
He then stops before Ruqaiaya. For a very brief moment there is tension as he slowly raises his eyes to hers, and she takes a moment longer to be able to face his eyes with her own. "I have said every prayer I know for your success in this war", she says to him. He replies "I too have faith that Allah will not douse your and my hopes." But then Ruq drops all pretence of softness and with rage in her eys and with her typical fire she says "The hopes that are to be doused are those of the enemy, who have dared to declare war on this Mughal Sultanate. It is they who will suffer who mistook your brave heart to be that of a coward. Go Shahenshah and break their gurroor mercilessly with your sword." Jalal feels the spike in his adrenalin after this exhortion by Ruq and says "Inshallah" with a deep and hardened resolve.
Jalal then approaches Jodha and in her finds none of the tears of Hamida, nor the wise words of Salima nor even the hardness of the speech of Ruq. Jodha just matter-of-factly turns to Moti behind her to take the aarti platter from her. She silently then performs aarti for Jalal, and applies the tikka on his forehread. He doesn't forget to unsheath his sword and show it to her for the shastra puja.
No words are needed between Jodha and Jalal. There is nothing but courage and conviction in her eyes, and his own eyes keep looking at her drawing strength and valour from her. Jalal then takes a moment to gather his words and tells Jodha "You know how hard I tried to avoid this war. But now it's become inevitable. I promise you that I will return to you successful ... "sahi salamath aap ke paas".
Her eyes do not flinch at all for her belief in his promise is unbreakable. "Aapko aana hi hoga Shahenshah" says Jodha filling him with the fierceness and the ardour to return to her. "Come back not just for me, but for everyone, for your praja". Jalal's voice is barely now above a whisper but it's a whisper of such immense strength that his whole breath seems absorbed in his saying "Inshallah, waisa hi hoga!"
He then turns towards all his wives and his mother and does the adaab saying "Allah Hafiz". They return his salutation - all but Jodha. He looks one last time up at Jodha for her goodbye and finds her hand raised to her head in adaab!
What more does a man need than to know that the one he loves most is in such deep sync and solidarity not just with his words but his innermost core of consciousness. By echoing his prayer of "God speed" with an adaab just like him, Jodha signaled a complete oneness of mind and heart with him. She seemed to speak to him in the language of the God he knew and prayed to, in the customs he followed. It was as if she was saying "In this moment I will not let you feel in any way that I am different from you. We are one, and our heartbeats are in total harmony".
How loud actions speak than words. In that one gesture it was as if everything everyone had said so far to bolster Jalal's confidence had been gathered and given to him as a parting gift by Jodha.
It is for these moments of stirring love that we watch this serial. Some of the best moments between Jodha and Jalal have been wordless and silent, where just a look, a smile, a locking of eyes or a simple gesture have spoken volumes. What an eloquent moment!
One last thought from Diksha as we wind up ... friends, Diksha's eyes never miss anything!
Diksha has pointed out that in that last goodbye scene, Jodha was wearing the same pushtaini necklace that her mother gave her at Amer (the one which got broken and she repaired and wore it just in time to save Jalal's life when Abul Mali was fighting him at Mathura).
What profound symbolism it offers when right now in the goodbye scene with Jalal, Jodha is wearing the same necklace? If we all want shubh sankets here it is ...
Hope you all saw how proudly Jodha was holding aloft her head and neck, and what confidence she displayed as she sent off her beloved husband to war. I suppose that kind of Rajvanshi faith and bravery is what this generation-old necklace is supposed to remind her of ...
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