Originally posted by: sashashyam
Oh, what an unfair advantage the author enjoys! She can turn anything on its head any time she chooses.
You have simply shaken the kaleidoscope, and the whole pattern has changed, though the pieces are the same. There is not the slightest cheating, for there were no misleading passages at all. In fact, there was actually very little that dealt directly with Akbar and his mission, so there was nothing that could be exasperatedly labelled a red herring or red herrings by those of your readers who can look beyond the Akbar-Heera angle to affairs of state and political intrigues.
It was all fair and square, only so ingeniously, devilishly clever. Truly a coup de maitre, a masterstroke. Something worthy of the specialists of spy fiction genre, Le Carre for choice, for in his smoke and mirrors world, no one and nothing is what he or it seems to be.
Lashykanna, for that, you get as many standing ovations and curtain calls as Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn did for their iconic Romeo and Juliet ballet! That was a record number, 27, if my memory does not fail me. I cannot even begin to tell you how delighted I am with you, child! Delighted, and proud too.
But what a wicked little wretch you are, my pet! When I read the passage below, and came to the last line, my brain just froze as the true implication of that last little sentence sank in.
But then you left me dangling, with deliberate, maddening cunning, while you went on and on about that stupidly treacherous Mahendar. If he actually thought that Khalil would have even tried to persuade the Shehzaade to go halves with him, Mahendar, from the revenues from the iron ore mines, he must be a fool or worse. Even Tej Raj is smarter. Enough of him; I do not want to wear my fingers out on such creatures. 😡
The whole session between the Shehzaade and Akbar needs a separate post in itself. It is so beautifully scripted, like a close fought game of chess, not ganjifa, without a single false note, psychological or mental, that I was moved to abundant admiration.
Plus it is written even more beautifully, as the Shehzaade and the Ustaad both vie for the mental edge over the other - the former at times overtly, at times covertly, the latter diplomatically masking his advantage in the passage of arms, for that is what it really is, with a deliberate show of humility and loyalty. Lashykanna, you have hidden depths, and each time I check, the depth is only greater!
Now as the knife edge on which Akbar is walking has become all too clear - and who could have guessed that it would be so murderously dangerous? - I can see that my heart is, from now on, going to be more often than not in my mouth, ever on the lookout for the slightest misstep on his part that might prove fatal. No wonder Akbar 2 was so vociferous as he ranted at Akbar 1 the other night.
And Akbar 2 was not far wrong either, for the stakes are too high, and the consequences of what would be seen by the Shehzaade as betrayal by Akbar would be horrendous. Already, when Akbar, almost involuntarily, hides from his master the information about Heera's letters seeking support from fellow Rajput aristocrats and royals, he has taken a long stride closer to the edge of the precipice.
But then, as the French, who are so wise in matters of the heart, say, Le coeur a ses raisons que la raison ne connait pas. The heart has its reasons, of which the mind has no knowledge. (It reads better in the original, because of the punning on raison, which can mean ;reason' and ;good sense' or 'intelligence' as well).
I loved the latter part as well, and normally I would have been delighted with my favourite Heera's conquest of my other favourite, Bahadur. Moreover, after the dizzying revelations and the coiled tensions of Part 1, the change of tone in Part 2 was perhaps necessary. But the impact of the earlier part lingers, and so the Akbar-Heera segment did not, for once, charm me as much as usual.
That, my pet, is not a failing on your part. It is in fact a major compliment to you for your coup de maitre in Part 1.
Shyamala Periyamma
Marathi TV
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