Originally posted by: RadhikaS0
Nabiii
Thanks!
I muted Ruq but still I could feel her venomous anger against Jodha. I was quite upset to see Jodha being battered by Fate on one side and Ruq on the other.
First, Jodha lost both babies - one to Ruq and the other passed away. Thankfully she got to spend time with Hussein before he passed away. Just as she was beginning to heal from Hasan's demise, she had to go through the pain of loss, as the second child too was snapped by death. As if this was not enough, she had to bear the brunt of Ruq's accusations and insults.
True the royal ladies rushed to her first to console her. But they remained mute spectators to the drama that unfolded. I can relate to their silence because the elders in my family would remain in dignified silence too, if someone was going overboard in throwing a tantrum. But it still doesn't reduce my irritation with them, especially Hamida Bano. She should have asked Ruq to control herself, as Jodha too was suffering the loss, may be much more than Ruq. Hamida should have firmly told Ruq that Jodha was the natural mother and she would never harm her kids. One cannot reason with a deranged woman but that doesn't mean that one doesn't even try.
Bharmal's position is awkward and as the father of the accused daughter-in-law of the house, he can hardly be expected to say anything.
I know Jalal is in a tough spot. He is also going through the pain of loss of much-awaited babies. I sympathize with him and can understand how much he must have been shocked, anguished and felt guilt-ridden (not just for spending the night with Jodha but for failing to protect his babies from conspiracy) to become numb and freeze.
Yet, as the scene was playing in front of my eyes, I will admit, I was irritated by his NOT coming to Jodha's aid and asking Ruq to hold her tongue. Many may not agree with me. But tough times call for tough people. It was a moment for Jalal to be tough and control Ruq.
After all, can Jodha or any woman in her place admit publicly she had gone to spend time with her husband? Just a word from Jalal that Jodha was with him would have made a difference.
Tomorrow Jalal may capture and punish the accused. He may turn into a jallad again and go to fight wars and expand his kingdom, thus diverting his mind. Ruq may go back to her world for future scheming. But who will pick up the broken pieces that Jodha is today? Who will help her heal from not only the loss of her new born twins, her first born babies but also from the vitriolic accusations leveled at her?
Tomorrow Jalal may support her and take her with him everywhere. But if I were in Jodha's place, I would never be able to forget that First Moment when the world shattered around me and I was struggling to accept my child had died and hear accusations that I had killed my baby out of jealousy.
I can understand any argument put forth by any one in defense of Jalal, his mother, even Ruqaiyya as an aggrieved "mother". But I still cannot accept what Jodha went through last night.
She, who had made the supreme sacrifice of her first born child so that another woman could feel the joys of motherhood, is today labeled a jealous woman who can "eat" her own child. This is witch hunting at its worst. Even the witch hunters of medieval Europe may not have been so cruel. She was surrounded by "FAMILY", none of whom came to her defense. What worse humiliation can there be for a woman?
I have said this before and I repeat again - If Jalal cannot support Jodha when she NEEDS his support, all his platitudes, his support in private, his delayed reactions against those who hurt her are meaningless.
If it could enter his mind that Hussein had been poisoned, it should have entered his head that his innocent wife was being abused heinously and needed him. Hussein is dead. Nothing Jalal can do now will bring him back to life. But Jodha is still alive, and she can slip into insanity or the jaws of death, if he doesn't act immediately.
It is all very well to welcome the return of the ruthless king who can punish the conspirators without any compunction. It is all very well to appreciate the beginning of the transformation of Jalal to a spiritual ruler. It is wonderful to see the unspoken love between Jalal and Jodha.
But none of these touched me yesterday. The only haunting image I carry from yesterday's episode is of a lonely Jodha crying for her child, whilst being whipped verbally by a woman she had pitied and shared her child with, as the First Family of Agra stood by and watched.
Anupamaa
