Genie always says that no one gets Manik the way me and Rida do but no one ever delves into the fact that why is it so? Why do we get Manik so well, so well, that when whole forum goes against him, we'll be defending him with all we have and giving out his reasoning, his logics, his road to the situation, his plight, his feelings, his situation, his real self behind the barriers? Has anyone ever wondered why? Why we get Manik the way Nandini gets him? Have you?
Rida goes around saying that she has hots for badass guys and I go around saying that Manik, with his flaws, was all I'd ever wanted as my mate, as someone whom I can rely on with my emotional-self. But did we ever stopped and thought why only him and why not Nandini or Cabir or Mukti for that matters. Even they are complicated and Cabir and Mukti are toh, full on badass. Maybe the answer lies in the question itself.
Because, they are not Manik.
They cannot be wronged. They cannot be broken beyond repair. They cannot be left unaided. They cannot build a wall so fierce as to not have any cracks. They cannot look beyond their own grief to look upon the grief of others. They cannot look after themselves as much as to go around covering for others.
They cannot, because... they are not Manik.
That, people, is Manik Malhotra for you. The ever evil, uncompassionate, callous, atrocious, uncouth, discourteous, dominant, scheming guy who doesn't deserve even an ounce of empathy.
But... could anyone be filled with so much of irredeemable qualities without a crack? After all, even devil was once an angel.
Go, check in once and there, yeah, just right there, you will find a boy scared, vulnerable, lonely, detached, wounded, scarred, devastated and... lost.
Get out. Can you imagine this all-mighty man be the same boy you met inside? No, right? But that is the truth, the harsh reality behind this crude farce. The blatant lie this guy lives.
But, why, now you may ask.
He does it because he is responsible for his friends. He lives it because he has this undying urge to protect them from the uncanny world around them. He lives it because he has to be insoluble to act as their shield. He lives it because he wants people to fear him, to let him have his way. He lives it because he feeds on their fear. He lives it because... he needs it to survive.
Now what will happen if that fear is conveniently taken away from him? What will happen if someone barges in and exclaims that he doesn't instill fear in her? What will happen when someone tells him on his face that he isn't almighty? What will happen when someone starts to find pores in his insoluble shield?
The man in question will roar. He will roar like a wounded lion ready to pounce on anyone and everyone who dares to step on his territory and he did. He pounced on her, made her his slave, made her see why she should be scared of him, why she should not challenge him and his strength.
But she? She ignored his harshness, his ruthlessness, bleakness, mercilessness for she found a light, just like at the end of tunnel. She saw hope, care, concern, warmth, security, possessiveness, and love this man was capable of. She just saw a glimpse, a mere glimpse that let her know that he is just not the complete lost case. She gives in to that light.
And just as conveniently, she holds on to someone he so tenaciously tries to hide.
He writhers. He shivers. He tremors. He fears.
Of the vulnerability he hides. Of the scars to incise. Of the wounds to bite. Of the hope that arise.
She waltzed in and sensed it. Sensed his discomfort. Sensed his unwillingness. Sensed his concerns. Sensed his uncertainties.
So she assures his the only way she knows. She gave him a free reign. She gave him his hope. She gave him his desire. She gave him his smile. She gave him his favourite gift. She gave him her prayers. She gave him her trust.
He played around. He joked. He pranked. He let the child in him out. And the child also knew that he would be lost, his fears would gnaw him again if he didn't hold onto his light firmly, if he didn't clutched his guide precisely, if he didn't seized her, securely.
The child grew more dependent, more alive, more hopeful, more carefree, and more... vulnerable.
He clunged onto her. He hoped. He prayed. He wished. His only desire - her. He would want nothing but her comforting words to engulf him, her assurance to guide him, her acceptance to lift him, her support to walk him, her trust to free him.
But, he let go of her. He realized his scars too grave, wounds too wide, darkness too copious. He realized his growing monstrosity could never compare to her glow. He realized she shone too bright to be his. He realized he was too dark... to deserve her.
He cried. He agonized. He shouted. He tried. He resisted. He ignored. He died.
But she wouldn't go away. She would still be there. Her tears would still stab him. He words would still stake him. Her distrust would still shake him. Her disappointment would still shatter him. Her disgust would still stir him.
The vulnerability gets better of him. His fears rule him. His restlessness guides him. And he drops off his act. Sheds off the hint to his darkness. Discard off the way to his truth. Peeling down the path to him.
But the ruler miscalculated it all. He forgot it's not a battle of wills he is playing; it's the battle of demons that he is fighting with his angel. He didn't saw it coming. Her disappointment. Her anguish. Her dejection. Her unwillingness. Her stubbornness. Her tears. Her pain.
Then and there he took reigns back in his hand. He took it on him to make it up to her. He made it his duty to make her realize that he is truly sorry for what all she had to suffer. He made it a point to not let her go through the same pain again. He decided to wipe off those tears permanently. He resolved to get back her faith - her fireflies.
But again, he misunderstood it. She never wanted his apology. She didn't accept it. She walked away a several times. She showed him she didn't cared yet she did. She showed him that he didn't mean anything to her yet ran to his aid every time something happened to him. She told him off that there can never be anything between them yet she shone for him, as promised.
He grew mystified. He couldn't understand her. He couldn't understand the unexpectedness of her behavior. He couldn't understand her choice of path. He couldn't understand her ignoring of what they share when it was painfully obvious. He couldn't understand her reasons because the girl he knew, as much he did, would forgive him. She would accept him back already.
He didn't understand... because he didn't know.
He didn't know of her fears. He didn't know of her pain. He didn't know of her baggage. He didn't know of her scars. He didn't know of her dark.
Now, when she tells him of her fears, when she tell his of his most admirable quality instilling the fear within him, he is perplexed. He never knew of this side to her. He never knew of the child in her. He never knew of vulnerability in her. He never knew of her walls.
When he knows, he knows that she is too precious to be lost. She is too careful to hurt. She is too compassionate to let go. She is perfectly bright to shine, for him.
And just like that, he hands over - his reigns, to her.
Indian Mythology
Chakravarti Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Shiv Shakti
Anupamaa
