NOVEL~*Hiding behind a Stranger*~Thread 10 - Chapter 15 - UPD 11th SEP - Page 24

Originally posted by: karkuzhali

Good morning aunty

Originally posted by: sashashyam

<font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">Thank you so much, my dear Bindu ( are you by any chance my young friend Bindu_nhbr?). I am very pleased that you liked this one so much.

Shyamala Aunty</font>

Good morning aunty
OK I am not expect your reply in my simple reply ,in front of your awesome post
of course I like your post ,not only this one l like all your post
but yes I never reply because I am very poor in words so that's why
and Bindu_nhbr , I know her because of these thread
we both are different person

and I really really glad that you notice my reply

Originally posted by: karkuzhali

<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3"> A serious discussion about HBAS chapter15.</font>

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<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3">Participants: Sandya, Divya, Baubles and Lashy.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3">(It is a beautiful morning. Divya,Sandya, Lashy and Baubles are chatting.)</font>

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<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3">Lashy: Hi friends..</font>

<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3">Divya: Hi Lashy, Thank you for the wonderful chapter...It was like you are playing cards with us.. You were holding the cards close to your chest...</font>

<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3">Sandya: Yes Lashy, You have played very well.. Even I couldn't guess that Akbar was Ustad..You have moved the story so cleverly..</font>

<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3">Baubles:But from the information I could gather from the earlier chapters, especially chapter 8, when Ustaad was introduced to us for the first time., I had a hint that the person's characteristics resembled close to Akbar... He was shown as a perfect warrior having great knowledge about weapons and all that..and his immediate reaction at the mention of Heera's name by Khalil and and what he would do it to her ..</font>

<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3">Lashy: Yes ...I knew.. but at that stage, I didn't want to be open about it...I had to keep it away from the attention of the readers for some time to maintain the suspense about Akbar and his back ground..You might have noticed that I revealed information about him only in bits and pieces.. He was known to the Parnagarh folk only as a horse trader with lots of money but no family background... and then I informed the readers that he had a bitter childhood..</font>

<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3">Sandya: Yes Lashy! We know Akbarkhan only as a horse merchant with a torn childhood , simple tastes, loyal but a recluse..But both these men are the same one is a twist that can challenge any author of a suspense thriller.. We can now understand that the forest encounter and their riverside meeting were only planned coincidences!</font>

<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3">Divya: Yes..Lashy is very manipulative with her cards!.. but, I guess, that , Akbar will be in a dilemma about his loyalty towards the Shezaade and his attraction toward Heera whom he is asked to protect and to spy at the same time..</font>

<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3">Baubles:Yes.. for the first time someone had come between him and his duty..The shezaade has done a lot to this tortured 13 year old boy..I feel that Akbar does all he has been asked to do by the prince and is even ready to lay down his life for this man..more because he is indebted to him for everything he has been made into..than because he has that kind of high regard for him..</font>

<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3">Divya: And.. what will be Heera's reaction when or if she comes to know of it? Her giggles did not realize that the person who she feels has brought back life to Aidabad is actually a Shezaade's spy against her and her homeland.. I feel that the best place for her is to stay at Aidabad , which is the safe place from Khalil and Mahendar..</font>

<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3">Sandya:Yes.. he wants to run away from the charms of Heera- may be to save himself within the cocoon he made for himself...He couldn't be loyal to two people at the same time..The Chief Intelligence Officer is going to face the biggest battle not just of his mind and heart, but of his loyalty and love! Duty versus humanism! Poor Akbar!</font>

<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3">Lashy: Well.. Well... my dear girls.. if you go on like this and predict the future of the story, I'm afraid I may not be having anything to show as suspense and hold the readers in my grip!😆That's why I have not written the whole novel in one complete shape, but chose to develop the plot as and when situation changes..If I want to maintain the suspense, I need to carefully restrict the flow of information to the readers..I very firmly follow the rule," Show and don't tell"..Something interesting has happened to my hero, that has changed his fate, and I have shown it in my battle camp scene. It is up to you to read the interesting part of the story from the scene..So my dear friends.. wait patiently for the future chapters with your fingers crossed..Okay?</font>

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<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3">Karkuzhali.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3">( This is the outcome after reading the wonderful reviews, comments and analyses of the beautiful chapter 15 of HBAS by the readers. Sorry I had to use the I/D name "Baubles" here , as I do not know her actual name. Hope she doesn't mistake me..</font>

<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3">KK.)</font>

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Love it aunty
thanks for sharing this

Not just that, where did he choose the right thing in the end? He stands by Duryodhana to the very end, and worst of all, he does not refrain from joining the others in surrounding and murdering the young Abhimanyu. The only thing good he does is a concession to his mother, that he will spare her other sons apart from Arjuna, for he is not really interested in any of them.

Still, Karna, with all his flaws, which were mostly rooted in the humiliations suffered during his growing years, is a gripping and magnificent character. He was played to perfection by Aham Sharma in the recent Mahabharata. But you are spot on, Lashykanna, there can be no comparison between the sootputra's sufferings and those of our Dickensian waif.

Regardless of my nitpicking, my dear Jahnvi (have I got that right?) , it is a fascinating comparison that you have thought of.. Such is the greatness of our epics, one can refer back to them for parallels to so many very different situations.

Shyamala Periyamma/Peddamma (my latest!)

Originally posted by: lashy

Yes... I can see the similarity between Karna and Akbar's (I've felt part of their situation similar too - character of Karna fascinates me...)

Now, I know your comparison is in totally another angle.. Love Vs Duty... 😳 and 100% makes sense..

But just adding a point (that was in my mind before, and mention it now since you brought it up)... I've compared their natures... and wouldn't you say, AMK a far better of a person by nature...

Karna had a good-enough upbringing... he had loving parents... he wasn't happy with his caste of 'Charioteer's son' and was treated unfairly...

What AMK has gone through is a completely different spectrum altogether... it was routine torture... and unthinkable...

And unlike Karna who goaded his friend during his villainies, AMK is actually raising a voice against Shehzaade's other men... 🤔 he wouldn't stand for the kind of things Karna stood by Duryodhana for... and I think the one person who actually helped him retain that 'humanity' was Chacha jaan...

But yes.. the 'choice' was tough for Karna, will be tough for AMK😊

🤗

My dear Bindu 2 (!),

How would I not notice your response to my post? I always respond individually to all the comments made on my posts, but of late, because of my rheumatoid arthritis, I have slowed and I am not able to do that all the time.

Never fret about what you describe, needlessly, as being poor with words. What matters is the feeling behind the words, and that comes thru clearly! So I hope you will come to my Chandra Nandini threads and comment on my posts there too.

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: binduprasad41

Good morning aunty
OK I am not expect your reply in my simple reply ,in front of your awesome post
of course I like your post ,not only this one l like all your post
but yes I never reply because I am very poor in words so that's why
and Bindu_nhbr , I know her because of these thread
we both are different person

and I really really glad that you notice my reply

Originally posted by: sashashyam

<font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">Thank you so much, my dear Bindu ( are you by any chance my young friend Bindu_nhbr?). I am very pleased that you liked this one so much.

Shyamala Aunty</font>


⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

👏👏👏

Why did you not flag this for me, you careless creature? I was on the verge of moving out of what is undoubtely going to become a 200 pager after completing a few responses - to Akka, Divya and Lashy - and I stumbled on Lashy's reply to this one and the next. Then of course I had to go back and dig it out.

NEVER do this again, young Sandhya, if you know what is good for you!😉

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: Sandhya.A

The Ustad we knew so far...

Shehzade's trusted man, and in the author's own words, this visitor was a man who knew more about weapons and warfare than all of his other generals put together. Serving on the battlefield until 2 years ago, this man's loyalty and expertise had been put to even better use ever since. He was now an appointed mentor, an 'Ustaad' - who recruited fresh trainees and coached them into becoming the fearsome warriors that the Shehzade's powerful army needed. A master of many arts and yet a man of few words, Ustaad reserved his compliments for the absolute best.

The Akbar Mahmoud Khan we knew so far...

A rich horse merchant of Aidabad, with a torn childhood, simple tastes , loyal and just, smart, yet someone who was a recluse and an introvert, who felt the first flutters of softer feelings when he saw Heera, someone with a secret agenda, someone doing something important, perhaps a part of a secret society, working for a noble cause for sure...he is the hero afterall, who respects women and is fair minded.

That both these men are one and the same...is a twist that could challenge any of Alfred Hitchcock's! And the hints were practically non-existent. Wrt, Mahender, there were telltale signs. Little reactions that strengthened my suspicions, but here i didn't suspect at all!🤓 I expected AMK to be entangled with Royalty, in some secret mission, but THIS close to the Shehzade, THE USTAAD himself...Lashy, you are a clever little witch who with one wave of the wand, superimposed these two seemingly different characters and merged them into one! And now every piece of the jigsaw puzzle falls into place and all the incidents we have come across so far appears in a different light!

The forest encounter was a planned co-incidence!

The riverside meeting too. Perhaps AMK saw Heera slipping out all by herself and thought that she was planning to handover the Farmaan to some confidant...hence the secrecy! And followed her. When he saw her drown, he HAD to save her, lest the FFM (Find Farmaan Mission) fails! And in order to give her an excuse for his presence, spoke of broken bridges and bandits! This was no lovey dovey first meeting.

His precision with knives and aiming that surprised Heera, (but not us, as we presumed that being the hero and a secret agent, he had to be skilled, but so skilled that he was the master! )

His apparent anger at Heera's enquiries about him, lest she gets a whiff of his truth...not that he is not capable of covering up, but he couldn't risk at that point when having her under his supervision was a must.

Chapter 8: As a frightful stillness pervaded, Khalil glared at the hand that'd challenged his speed and strength. Here I had a slight suspicion that the Ustad might not be an old man after all, as a man like Khalil submitted to his strength. But never guessed that it was our touch-me-not AMK.

His guilt on seeing her - may be as he had begun to fall for her and couldn't raise himself to her level of purity. Yet, this guilt was perhaps one clue that could have raised an eyebrow. But when romance was in the air, all kinds of warranted and unwarranted feelings and thoughts are common!

His wanting to run away from the charms of Heera - maybe to save himself within the cocoon he has enclosed himself, given his tatteredchildhood, this reaction too was not unexpected! But the real reason as we understand now is that he couldn't be loyal to two people at the same time! One was a person who picked him up from the scraps and moulded him into what he is today, who gave him life. The other was someone with an aura of purity and sunshine who could make life worth living. The all so capable and courageous Khan Sahib who could fight any war with supreme skills feared the prospects of this internal war and chose to escape, atleast temporarily!

Chachajaan Ibrahim all of them knew that AMK was the Ustaad and were working for him under the cover of companions! Chachajaan's closeness with Maharaj Kakasa was all just a pretext to needle out information!

OMG! One revelation and the whole shade of the story has changed! This is indeed the work of a wand and not a pen! Take a bow Lashy Granger!

Lashy, have you heard of the novel 'Parthiban Kanavu'? The Pallavas defeat the Cholas in a bloody war. The Pallava king is so impressed by the Chola king's bravery that he visits the dying enemy king as a sadhu and promises to raise his young son. But the readers are not told the real identity of the sadhu, till the last chapter of the novel. The king keeps up his promise and raises the son guiding him in the guise of the sadhu. The revelation in the last chapter actually pulls the rugs from under the reader's feet! This revelation of UAMK was no less a twist, though revealed as early as chapter 15. The book was a superb read, but it didn't play out that well in the movie, where even the best disguise couldn't hide the fact that the Emperor and the sadhu were one and the same! This is the distinct advantage of the print over the screen! ⭐️ When HBAS is filmed, the suspense would be lost!

Originally posted by: sashashyam

<font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">My dear Bindu 2 (!),

How would I not notice your response to my post? I always respond individually to all the comments made on my posts, but of late, because of my rheumatoid arthritis, I have slowed and I am not able to do that all the time.

Never fret about what you describe, needlessly, as being poor with words. What matters is the feeling behind the words, and that comes thru clearly! So I hope you will come to my Chandra Nandini threads and comment on my posts there too.

Shyamala Aunty

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thank you aunty for your kind word
you know everybody here is so good and kind to me so now I am comfortably comment here
I feel so good now
and of course I visit your thread in Chandra nandini
and try to comment there
once again thank you so much
your words means lot for me

See, Sandhya my pet, you have accumulated enough questions, pitfalls and dangers to keep any writer busy for another 100 chapters, not just 45. And Lashy being Lashy, I am sure she can conjure up even more, So there will be more and to spare for all the rest of us!

One more thing. While your Harry Potter comparisons are spot on, especially the Voldemort-Snape one, my poor Lashykanna is clearly all at sea! I saw her making plaintive enquiries about Umbridge.
What you are to do about this I do not know.

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: Sandhya.A

The Changed Equations!

Shehzade:

He is as smart and capable as our AMK! He values Ustaad as much for his skills as for his lifestyle that assures him loyalty. AMK cannot be tempted by any of the 3Ws! He doesn't yield to temptation and is extremely loyal! Shehzaade knows AMK right from his childhood and has contributed a great deal to make him what he is. And he doesn't forget to remind him that whenever he finds it essential! AMK is precious to him, but not indispensable! The moment he learns of AMK's zest to protect Heera, he wouldn't hesitate to do what Voldemort did to Snape! To him NOTHING matters more than power!

Khalil:

A man who learnt only warfare from Ustad without one moral bone in his body! He is like Adham Khan who gloats on his war-skills and stoops to any level to achieve what he wants! Now that his ego has suffered a triple blow, first by Durga who fooled him with a fake farmaan, and then by Shehzaade who asked him to step down from an assignment, and lastly by UAMK who was always the better soldier, more trusted, and who was given the chance to win where he lost. He would make finding the farmaan his first priority and raising himself in the eyes of Shehzaade. What I fears is what he would do when he finds that AMK is protecting Heera and withholding information from Shehzaade. - Perhaps everything in his powers to excpose him, to grab his coveted closeness with the prince, and achieve what he has always wanted to do - defeat AMK. AMK is in as much danger form Khalil as Heera!😔

Mahender:

So this scum did go cahoots with Khalil and reveal the palace passages, to help Khalil gain entry and find the farmaan! But I wonder how that would help HIM! Wasn't marrying Durga and producing the farmaan himself and getting a bargain a better option!

Heera:

My poor princess in distress! She is in for a double shock too! First when she realises that her would-have been Jijasa, the perfect Mahender Kunwarsa, was a rascal of the first order, the one actually responsible for her jiji's death! He was the Peter Pettigrew!😡 And then, her first love, (surely she would have fallen in love with AMK before she realise that he was UAMK) was the person assigned the task of retrieving the farmaan and that he has been hanging around her for that sole purpose! What a blow it would be for the girl! Would she believe if AMK revealed his changing intentions! Mahender would surely turn her against AMK! He might even misguide her that Khalil attacked Parnagarh and murdered Durga on AMK's orders! 😡 What emotional turbulence she is going to go through! 😭And Gauri is going to say 'I told you so' even if not in as many words!😕

And then the final farmaan hunt from the urn! With everyone hovering around her! Lashy I'm waiting in all eagerness for the next 45 chapters for the action, drama and heartburns to unfold and the triumph of goodness and love amongst it all.👍🏼

AMK:

Finally to the trumpcard of the chapter - UAMK.

He is as adept at playing mental games, as Ganjifa! And with such high stakes! He is walking on tight rope across the mountains! One slip, he falls to death! The conversation between UAMK and the Shehzade was a humdinger of a scene where every word was measured, by BOTH the parties. No tussle is interesting until it is between equals. And both of them were masters of the game. The first breach of loyalty - hiding of information about the scrolls...that seem unimportant to the FFM as of now, the protectiveness, that is bound to grow...

Every word of anguish and self reproach in the last chapter is justified. How each line appears valid:

'What have you been doing?' it seemed to ask 'Don't you realise that the ground you're treading on, is extremely risky? One step more, and you'll fall... worse, you'll pull her down with you. The Sahiba doesn't know the truth... that's why she's breaking out into fits of innocent giggles... and inviting you to a luncheon... but YOU are aware of the truth, aren't you? Then, why are you indulging her smiles...'

... so, what are you trying to prove, Akbar Khan? And, to WHOM?'

'Ridiculous!' his conscience jolted him out of the lull 'It IS your fault... you shouldn't have allowed it get to this... because it's YOUR decision to adopt a lifestyle so dangerous, that it has no place for women in it... and, why are you bridging gaps now... that too, with THIS Sahiba, out of all ladies! What would you gain by knocking on this door now? Is it to find out if she holds the cure for this never-ending pain of yours? Even if she has the secret remedy, you'll never live to enjoy it... you'll die and get her killed too! So muster that adamant determination of yours... don't let your wall of resistance show cracks... you need to show discipline... fight temptation, now more than ever!'

PERFECT👏👏👏

What appeared as a rant of frustrated love till the day before yesterday, now has assumed such a different hue! UAMK, Chief intelligence Officer of the Shehzaade, will now face the biggest battle, not just of his mind and heart, but of his loyalties! The man who picked him up from the dust and hoisted him to such heights, versus, a woman who made him feel human for the first time! Duty versus humanism. Loyalty versus love. The poor man is stuck! And I feel more pity for him now than the hungry boy fed by chachajaan!