Manik & Nandini | What went wrong? | Analysing.

"Hearts will break and people will hurt you, darling." Her mother said. "But when you let those people control your outlook on the life, you only allow them to have a greater hold on your happiness. Once you accept the fact that every day is a new day to begin again, life becomes a much easier path to walk."
Courtney Giardina, Holding on to Georgia

I often form opinions in the blink of an eye. Circumstances, situations, people, reactions, actions, expectations, decisions; sometimes, it's an inevitable mess. But given the time to ponder, and reflect on it, there are so many things you see clearly in the light of your new understanding; all those vague chronicles form a chain of events.

I know a lot of us haven't been very happy campers with the recent unfolding track; all of us with different set of problems. Some of us are furious with Manik, some of us are completely frustrated with Nandini, and some of us find things unreasonable; most of us interpret it in different ways. But that's the beauty of perceptions I think. Every person sees the same thing in an entirely different way, and none of them entirely wrong in their judgment.

But why did it happen? Why react the way they did? I wanted to dig deeper. And here I do that. You can agree with me. And, hopefully, correct me, like you always do when I'm wrong about something.

''Wo Ai Ta."

Can anyone of you tell what's written up here? ^^ Try. Give it a thought. Can you now? Give it some more time. What about now?

Not really, do you? Not until you know traditional Chinese.

That simply simplifies Manik and Nandini for me. Sometimes, we expect things from a certain person. Expectations, are, and have always been, natural. The more you trust someone the more you expect from them. But how healthy are they for a relationship?

It always depends. There's no certain answer to that. It depends on your relationship.

Manik and Nandini's togetherness happened in a whirlwind. Manik is a difficult boy; he always has been. There are so many facets of him that Nandini is still unaware of, so many secrets, the burden of which makes him who he is, she still is oblivious of. And the same goes for Nandini. There's so much to her, Manik simply doesn't know about; a past full of struggles and a blinding aching pain that still lives inside her. Again the Chinese. Can you understand something you know not?

Their past is full of black holes; ugly scars that only hurt and blemish. We're often find saying how self destructive Manik is. But, come to think of it, it's not stubbornness. It's who he is. He doesn't know care. As a boy, he was this lonely child, who when fell, wasn't comforted by the arms of his mother, telling him to take care, to not run too fast, bandaging his wounds, kissing his tears, teaching him to be careful. All of that, all of this, is alien to him. You do not learn ABCD on your own just one day. Anything and everything, we're taught. I read somewhere that love and hate are the only exceptions that come to us instinctively. No matter how we fight these two, they are unconquerable. But for someone who'd never had any good memories of love, it was hate, he decided to take as a friend, hate, with which he covered himself. He'd vowed, vowed to never be penetrated, vowed to never be hurt again, to never be lost again, to take control of his life.

But love does that, takes all control when you think you've everything in your grasp. She happened to him and he happened to her. She showed him the good side, the good side, she for the first ever time, called him a savior and a hero and lightened up a hope in him. He made her a different girl. From the soft, shy Nandini he brought out a new girl in her. He made her a roaring lioness; he inspired the will to fight in her. Whenever her confidence faltered, he indirectly, with enough sarcasm injected, strengthened her will, gave her the courage to be the person she wanted to be. He made her believe in herself and things she wasn't sure of. Together, they slowly, peeled off many layers of each other.

But did they ever stop to ponder? The ugliness of their beginning was still there, under the surface, lying dormant. She felt something for him, but was it enough to counter for every act he'd ever done? For all the wrongs that weighed so high? He wanted her, but he decided to fight it because she wasn't good for him and the walls he'd built around him.

But it happened. He couldn't keep himself away. She gave it all to him. Manik has always been in the moment, now, what feels right, impulsive. He gave into what he felt for it was much stronger than anything else.

Did any of them ponder? Did Nandini ponder whether their differences will interfere with their relationship? Did Manik ever ponder the wrong he'd done to her? The harshness of his acts that must've hurt her immensely? He didn't ponder because he didn't think much about it. It was of little importance to him and that's because that's the man who he is. And Nandini forgave and loved him because that's the girl she is.

Their relationship began. And maybe that's where they went wrong. They expected too much. Together now, even newly so, they expected too much of each other all at once. They forgot that they're two different people. They forgot that they've different ideologies about a lot of things, they forgot that their relationship was beautiful but not strong enough, not just then. Relationships form and they build, stronger each day. Manik expected her to trust him too much, to see through everything, to see through his soul. Nandini expected Manik to now put her above everything else, to share with her everything.

Only, they didn't dig deeper enough. The insecurities, the ugliness of the past, the uncertainties, the clashes of their personalities, all of it was just lying under the surface. Had Manik not chosen Dhruv then, it would've been poetic but untrue and shallow. His love for Nandini was new, but his love for Dhruv had been old and since forever. He'd owed him his life, there was finally something in his reach that he could've given to Dhruv. There was no one to guide him. And he was still Manik; impulsive, hot headed, selfless when it came to the people he cared about and most importantly a closed book, who hardly ever shared things with people until he was coerced into doing it. Just because Nandini now became a part of his life didn't mean he'd turn a new leaf all so quick. It needed time, their relationship needed building and more understanding.

Manik expected Nandini to understand when he apologized or to see through his lies. He was frustrated when she didn't forgive him because he simply, simply, did not understand the gravity of her hurt, the depth with which he'd torn apart her trust. Manik, did not also, understand because he never pondered the amount of hurt he'd caused her. It all came erupting, all of it which lied dormant woke up with a vengeance when he tore her apart with his lies on the night of Musicana. It started from the moment he bullied her to every soul gutting moment till the musicana. And she crumbled beneath the weight. Their newly born relationship crumbled beneath the weight. When she learned the truth, she was even more crushed. To have had that little importance in someone's life? To be crushed and thrown away like a mere toy. To have had no right to decide in their relationship, to be played with like that? Why will she trust him again? What if next time he decides to leave her for Mukti or Aliya or any other of his friends?

Unstability. Lack of trust, it all came rushing back. She was just a girl. And she was hurt beyond repair. From the start till the end, all of it became too much.

Manik didn't understand the amount of pain he'd caused her because he never acknowledged the first half, like he'd blanked it in his memory, like it's something he's afraid of revisiting. He didn't understand because this is who he was. Taking decisions for everyone and deeming them right and Manik didn't understand because he'd never been taught how love, respect and care work together. All of these concepts were foreign to him in so many ways. From give and take to another dimension of emotions he couldn't even fathom. He apologized, and for a man who never apologized, he tried to do it again and again. It always had been so for him. Apologize and get over it if you're somehow wrong. He wanted to start anew because he didn't understand that the weak, feeble pillars on which their relationship had begun to stand had crumbled.

And Manik still won't understand until he experiences it, until she tells him, point blank like she'd always done straight to his face, like a roaring lioness. She'd always been the one to set him straight when his arrogance and ego got better of him; Aliya or Dhruv ki wajah se nahi tooti friendship. It's because of you and your ego. Keep aside your ego or Fab5 will break.

She was never afraid to hand him his ass when nobody could get through him. Their individualities are and were the reason they fell in love in the first place.

When they broke up, Manik did what he always did best, acted right there, on impulse, to control things like he always did. He gave her an ultimatum. He saw things in black and white. He'd apologized, to him; he'd done it all to stop her. He didn't understand her reasoning because for him, she was good for him. She didn't understand his reasoning because to her he'd broken her trust. There was a gap of communication between them. Communication that was supposed to happen. All that built up aggression, frustration, pain and hurt should've come roaring out. She should've told him why this relationship had made her cry more than smile. Why, no more, does she have the will to put her energies into it. Because, he'd always hurt her more, even if unintentionally at many times. And Manik needed to explain to her the gravity of his sacrifice, why he had to do what he did, why he couldn't have chosen her over his friend, why he still believed Dhruv was better for her than he ever would've been.

"People aren't always what you want them to be. Sometimes they disappoint you or let you down, but you have to give them a chance first. You can't just meet someone and expect them to be everything you're looking for and then be angry when they're not every hope and aspiration you projected onto them. It's foolish to believe that someone will be what you imagine them to be. And sometimes, when you give them a chance, they turn out to be better than you imagined. Different, but better."
Chloe Rattray, Sacr Noir

There's still a lot of gaps between them. None of them can be exactly blamed. Both of them have different takes on the same thing. We cannot expect Manik to have changed completely, or even remotely so, and understand her, because there's so much that she represents, he's been alien to all his life. There's so much about Manik, we cannot expect Nandini to understand, because she's been unaware of its why' all her life. I still believe that a relationship grows more when together than apart. Because that's what a relationship is.

But for that to happen they've to grow as individuals. Nandini has taken a decision. And it's time. It's time she picks herself up, sets herself firm, strengthen her will and make for herself the life she always wanted. Be that individual, strong headed and firm willed. Smile, for reasons that have nothing to do with Manik, find in her life, a goal that gives her a different perception, something that proves her as the Nandini Moorthy she wants to be.

I want those tears to stop; I want my roaring lioness back and I know it'll take time and sheer will from her side. But that our girl has. She's strong enough. She's strong enough to be who she wants to be, to teach Manik the lessons he needs to learn but not with tears. With hard words and lessons.

There's so much more for them to learn yet. About love, about them, about second chances. Both of them have a lot to learn about relationships, about each other, about adjustments, about apologies and most importantly they've a question to answer. Is there love strong enough to weather any storm they face, any obstacle that comes their way? And are they willing to face it all to be together?

When both of them, without a doubt, will know the answers to these two questions, they're togetherness and their happiness will be inevitable. Because this time none of them will come into the relationship with illusions and too many expectations. Both of them will know what it entails and they'll be ready because being apart would no more seem a possibility. And that's when, that's when, love in all its entirety, would shine upon them and bless them, with a forever that's beautiful and full of hope.

"Some things just couldn't be protected from storms. Some things simply needed to be broken off...Once old thing were broken off; amazingly beautiful thing could grow in their place."
Denise Hildreth Jones

Ignore The Typos. LMAO.

I be so lazy to recheck.

RIDA.

btw that chinese sentence means "I loved her." s
🤣

I realize how I always try to balance both Manik and Nandini but always end up talking more about Manik.😳

#imsuchagoner

#idwhattodo

#manikshipper

Originally posted by: MaybeSomeday...

I realize how I always try to balance both Manik and Nandini but always end up talking more about Manik.😳

#imsuchagoner

#idwhattodo

#manikshipper

Originally posted by: ZAHARA.

What a post! Had to read it twice to decipher it. i was unclear?🤣

I just think Manik & Nandini were doomed from the beginning; yes, true love can make the fireflies shine but but what if there is a wall of ego and immatureness blocking it?

Exactly! Love is not enough to sail the boat, not when its own self isn't so firmly estabilished. Yes it's the main factor but we need so much else too.

I feel like Manik and Nandini are two completely different people, yes there is that attraction, that pull that brings them together, but there is also no ground of reason as to why they should get together. I mean as in, they don't really have a common ground do they? All we saw of them before Nandini helped Fab 5 to take down Harshad was them meeting behind everyone else. They really didn't get a chance to show WHY they fell in love (if you can call it that) but they did. They both need to do some soul searching and work out the reasons why he likes her or why she likes him.

I think things with them happened too rapidly. We never got those shots of them individually sitting somewhere and pondering, of that turmoil of nandini thinking of the past and present alike in respect to manik or manik pondering over how nandini was completely changing his life or him battling that hate with the emerging love in some vocalized way. it was too fast in my opinion and there was so much unsaid and unexplored.

It's like you said, everything happened in a whirlwind. It was like what? 90 Days or something from what Dhruv said? Only about three months. They don't know about each other. Manik thinks he knows her, and she thinks she knows him, but do they really? I'm actually okay with the fact that they're not getting back together soon, only because they really do not have a healthy relationship. They both need to sort themselves out, forget about others for once (Manik needs to stop thinking about Dhruv and Nandini needs to stop caring about others for once and care about herself), they need to think about what they really want. Manik needs to find out Nandini's importance in his life before they get together.

exactly! I believe that people can fall in just weeks but that's not the matter here is it. It was about building what they've found. It got tested too soon, but knowing the people Manik and Nandini, it was bound to be tested, and it crumbled. there's so much about one another they've to know, some they've to tell eachother but some they've to just observe more and more. Communication, clear and cut is also needed. but like you said so aptly ^ they both have to sort themselves out first. Nandini has to stop thinking of only Manik and his hand or following him. she has to give her the space she wanted and for which she'd broken up with him. she has to become that person she wants to be. Tearless and with her own goals. and Manik has his set of learning to do.

I really do like that metaphor you gave to their relationship: he made her a roaring lioness. See, I've noticed from re-watching the early episodes that Nandini never really made the first move, even when stopping Shahid from jumping, it was Navya who was more assertive. I guess, the time she snapped was when she first punched Manik. That really ignited her inner roar. But that also meant, there was an unbalance between them because they became someone completely different, Nandini became more confident, able to give back what others throw at her and Manik, he began to accept other people outside Fab 5. But like you said, it happened in a whirlwind - I feel like both of them didn't get a chance to think over the changes in their lives and changed within them.

Both of them changed each other in many ways. But they never got time to process it, understand it, to process what it is to be in a relationship, to be in a relationship with a person who's rather much alien to you in his/her ways. you have your set of expectations and they theirs. We never realize that most probably the other one, at this stage, is not capable of standing upto those expectations and relationships crumble.

And yes, Manik is impulsive and hot headed but I feel like he was always the one who had to lead things. Even when bullying others, he had the upper hand behind the scenes by making Dhruv make sure they were okay after or something, he is also the leader of Fab 5, I feel like Manik feels like he as to get everything under control. And that's why he wants control over Nandini, that's why he doesn't understand why a simple apology is enough. It isn't. For Nandini, even if he did it to help Dhruv, he made her lose faith in fireflies, in her mother's theory, in everything she believed in about love. He just doesn't understand what that meant to her. I guess as Manik can't control his own life with his family, he wants to control what he can control. He just doesn't know the right way to do so.

exactly ^ Manik has always been that. Having lost all of it in his life he became obsessive with having control, of never losing it, of having things go the way he wants them to go. But he has to realize that everything won't go the way he wants it to go. He has to realize a lot of things and I know there will be things he'll come around on his own but a lot if he'll learn from only her. They'll together and individually, find what they're meant to find.

For me, both of them need to grow. They need to figure out what they really want in life. Nandini needs a goal, and Manik needs to work out what he feels for her. Nandini knows its love, but does Manik?

They are both living in a fairytale land.

(I don't know if I made sense lol)

YOU SO DID ^^

(I just want them to think things through before they get together. I don't want her to forgive him that easily. I just want her to stop crying and think about herself for once)

same. I want her to stop crying and I want meri lioness Nandu back who'd kick his arse if need be :$ but most importantly who'll be happy firstly, for reasons that got nothing to do with manik.

😛