NOVEL~*Hiding behind a Stranger*~ Thread 5~CHAPTER 10 - Upd 10th JULY - Page 130

Originally posted by: .rainy.

@shyamala aunty

I am an old admirer of you aunty . I always wait for your review aunty because you paid attention to even minor details which I left out.Your knowledge always surprise me.You are like a sea of knowledge for me.Your review held a great importance for me aunty. When I read first your analysis of Jodha Akbar episode at that time I thought why you don't like Jodha.When I further read your review then I understand your point of view .After reading your analysis I start seeing Jodha Akbar from your point of view and it changes me from Jodha lover to Jodha hater.From long I want to comment but I wasn't member at that time.Because of lashy Di's HBAS I join the forum.If Because of your RA you may not be able to comment aunty then please like this post then I will come to know that you read it.Take care of yourself aunty.😊Sorry for grammatical mistakes aunty.

Regards,

Jyoti.

Originally posted by: Kalgi22

WOW... As usual another master piece of writing from you Aunty. 👏👏👏 As Lashy said, Keeper of the flame... Very beautifully you've said it. ❤️

And so apt pic Chellam. 😳 This remind me of Tamil film 'Kushi' where leads meet at first time 😉

The talents still hidden, adventures untold

"The Prince of my dream ( who)

Stands far away

From my life

for so far as we have been told,there is no such thought in Heera's mind.

The one about the fragile lie is very good as well, though I am not sure that Akbar is really waiting for someone to come and break down the wall he has built around himself, or remove his mask. Of course one cannot expect a 100% fit in such cases!

The nadavu reference is very interesting. Who was the director of that film? It is all a question of kairaasi!

Finally, the gardener is of course my Lashykanna!

Shyamala

Originally posted by: karkuzhali

Originally posted by: divyavm

Writer-e-khaas,

I love how each chapter flows so seamlessly from the one prior ... if Chapter 9 was "Changing Equations", Chapter 10 unpeeled the depth of how much those equations had changed ... what was hidden behind the poise, formality, and decorum of our leads.

And hence, experimenting with a different style, the theme of this take (10) is "Hidden behind the zergul flower"

1. Hidden behind the zergul flower, was the perfect palms that stopped Bahadur and his Master from continuing on their solitary path

2. Hidden behind the zergul flower, was the healing touch, not only of its own but also of the Heera who was nurturing it

3. Hidden behind the zergul flower, was the soil that seemed as rough as its Master and his words

4. Hidden behind the zergul flower, gifted fresh, bright, and blooming, was the truth that perhaps the soil nor its Master was as harsh as the facade

5. Hidden behind the zergul flower, in the guise of a gift, was the tit for tat that captured the tension of all those entangled together by circumstances

6. Hidden behind the zergul flower, when gifted to her, was a new flutter of excitement that ruffled Heera's poised and composed surface

7. Hidden behind the zergul flower and its associated distractions was Harka's bout of tears and sadness in remembrance of Durga that no distraction could evaporate

8. Hidden behind the zergul flower, was a healing vibrance encased in fragility ... like the Heera that Akbar felt an instinct to protect

9. Hidden behind the zergul flower, were the hazel eyes that Akbar wanted to discard from his thoughts like the ring on his finger

10. Hidden behind the zergul flower and the memory of its nurtuter, was a darkness that was compelling Akbar to erase the very healing touch that had entered his life

That was a different type of take so hope it worked out. Thanks again writer-e-khaas for engaging us so well into the lives of Harka and Akbar. And of course, I am eagerly awaiting what is hidden in Akbar's past.

Originally posted by: sashashyam

My dear Bindu,

I am flattered by the warmth of your comments about this post, my child,and especially about the two parts that I personally loved: the opening para and the part about the keeper of the sacred flame. Thank you!
>>🤗🤗
It is only rarely that I know, when I begin writing, how a post is going to turn out. This is all the more nowadays as I do them in parts to spare my fingers. The "keeper of the flame" concept came to me quite suddenly this afternoon, as I was midway thru this post, and I was myself fascinated by it.
>>This comparison gave a divine feel to their relationship😊
I am delighted and touched that you reacted to it the same way. It takes a perceptive mind and heart to grasp and respond to such delicate interpretations, and you have both.

>>Thank you so much,aunty.Compliments from YOU,means a lot!

I knew that right from the time we exchanged views on one of Donjas' threads (?) on the Jodha Akbar re-run.
>>Yes,it was Donjas' thread on 'Why Mughul princesses didn't marry Rajputs',we interacted for the first time😊.You have a sharp memory,aunty⭐️ So,you proved 'age is just a number'😃

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: sashashyam

he keeper of the flame:

Was it because his subconscious knew her spirit was unique, too unique to allow it to be extinguished? Was it because he knew she was a noble soul - a soul so noble that it would make any man want to protect its essence from dying out, though she'd never ask for such protection herself?

No, this is not, not yet, romantic love. It is something better, purer, lovelier.

For it is very rare for a man to value a woman so highly not because of what she means to him, or what she could become for him in personal terms, but because of what she is in herself.

A creature so evolved that she is far above the common run of womankind , in fact of humankind itself.

His nascent protectiveness towards her is not just that of a man towards a woman who has, all too soon and against his own will, ensconced herself firmly in his zehen.

It is the protectiveness of the keeper of a sacred flame that he is determined shall not go out. And that is going, unless I am badly mistaken, to be the leit motif of your fascinating tale.

👏

The rest: This is going to be a bunching together, in no particular order, of all that struck me specially in these chapters. Naturally, a good bit of it will be about Heera!

😃

-The incredible courage with which she forces herself to relive Durga's horrible last moments, and then to actually put that down on paper for others to read. It is difficult to even imagine what that must have cost her. I could not have done it.

😭

- The untiring focus with which she drafts and redrafts her appeal for help, and then fine tunes and polishes its text. I have done this sort of thing, testing every phrase and every word both for content and for their not being, even inadvertently, negative or capable of being misinterpreted, so often that I can understand perfectly what kind of effort that exercise would have called for. And I am not referring just to her stiff neck! Heera does it, despite the additional strain of having to peer at the scrolls thru her reading stone.

Heera is not an extempore perfectionist who can bring out the most high sounding bhaashans and words at the drop of the hat. This makes her human and earnest and lovable.⭐️

-The astuteness and the grasp of human psychology that she displays in first trying out, and thus testing the impact of her missive on her guards. And then concluding that if her account of the outrage could have such a strong effect on those familiar with all that happened, then its impact be on those to whom it was unknown would be far greater, and so the letter would do its job.

Isn't she incredibly insightful!😳

-How good a leader Heera is was demonstrated once again when she listens patiently to all that Gokul reports so enthusiastically to her: about his having found out all about Chanda and Parvez, and that the meeting behind the marketplace was innocuous after all. She of course knows all this, having been told of it by Akbar himself, but she takes care not to let her guard know that.

She has the courage for the greatest of actions and the patience for the smallest. I am loving her more and more.😳

-The girlish curiosity with which Heera discreetly peers across the fence at Bahadur and Akbar. The way in which her concentration for once wavers when she realises that not just his men, but the Khan Sahib himself is watching her at work with her herbs. And most of all, the sudden quickening of her heartbeats when she feels " a coincidental thrill" at having received, as she assumes, such an exquisite floral offering from someone as remote and introverted as the Khan Sahib.

I found all this most appealing, for it shows that there is a real, normal 16 year old as well behind all that unbelievable maturity and that patient courage.

Exactly. This was what was missing from Jodha begum completely. She was inert passive and sounded like a pravachanist whenever she spoke. She has no thrills, no exhilirations, no yearnings that too with such a dashing chap beside her. Even post grina phase. That made her a mahaan moral science teacher.😡

-But what moved me the most, more even than Heera's unfailing strength, which she dredges up for the sake of her people and of Parnagarh, was the way in which she lets go at last, and weeps helplessly, clutching the ashes of her dead jiji, as she thinks of the last farewell she will bid Durga on the morrow. I felt like gathering her up in my arms and consoling the poor child as best I could.

Lashy has created a very moving image of Heera's poignancy, without being dramatic.👏

-I like Akbar's Three Musketeers and their saucy chatter far more than I do Heera's chaffinch-like bunch of maids, Gauri being the exception.

The three musketeres - apt name.😆 They are a cheerful jaunty group, the kind of which get along fabulously with the likes of Akbar and Jalal with equal ease. It is when you see such a group that you miss being a boy.😕

NB:Again, this reminded me of an identical relationship between two sisters in one of Agatha Christies's best mysteries, Five Little Pigs, where this abiding feeling of guilt in the elder sister for having damaged the other's face for life is the determining factor behind her otherwise incomprehensible behaviour . To those of you who have not read it, I would recommend it unreservedly.

Haven't read ANY books of Agatha Christie.

Originally posted by: sashashyam

My dear Lashykanna,

You know, this time around I am curiously uncertain as to how to approach these two latest chapters (though I am sure No.11 will be out before I get this done!).

I do not like dissecting a delicate, gossamer weave, so fragile that the slightest pull can tear it. Or a very tender bud, with all its petals still tightly furled, with one little edge opening up, near the top, just a very little. There is the promise of a full bloom some day ahead - and no, I am not taking off from that dratted zergul flower - but I am almost afraid to delve too deep, to try and prise open the tightly closed petals too soon.

...

-I have very little to add about Kunwar Mahendar or Maharaj Chitranjan, except that it cruel to expect the young man to get over Durga's death so soon and get on with his life, if only for the sake of her beloved Parnagarh. It would have been so even if she had died in an accident of or an illness, but given the awful circumstances of her murder, it is doubly cruel.

"You never said you are leaving

You never said goodbye

You were gone before I knew it

And only God knew why

A million times I needed you

A million times I cried

If love alone could have saved you

You couldn't have died

In life I loved you dearly

In death I love you still

In my heart you hold a place

That nobody could ever fill"

Shyamala Periyamma/Aunty/Akka/Di