BC there are quite some things in your post I disagree with.Originally posted by: blackcurrant
Lets suppose Inder never died, I honestly don't think MP would have worked. Prachi completely sheltered and protected from the realities of the world (and she would have remained that way as long as Inder was alive) would have been intimadated and put off by Milind's brashness. While Milind would have been exasperated and irritated by Daddy's little girl. Furthermore, Milind would never have been happy playing second fiddle to Inder. Even, if Prachi got married, her father would still have had the greatest influence on her life. Within a month of marriage, Milind would have been driven mad and packed her off back to her parents. Neev would have been perfect in this situation. He is fairly easy-going, so he would have been fairly tolerant of Inder's influence and coming from the same world as Prachi, he really wouldn't have brought much of the harsh realities of the outside world into their secure, comfortable, wealthy lives.But Inder's death knocked up Prachi badly. She had to face the ugliness of losing their fortune, losing their respectability and most importantly, she had to realise her father far from being perfect was actually a very flawed man. But this in a way paved the way for her to fall in love with a problematic person like Milind. He need not do and say the right thing all the time but she could still accept him as he is. If her father was not perfect, no man was going to be. If Inder was still alive and she was still living with the illusions, she had about him, she only ever could be with a guy like Neev who is always the perfect gentleman.
Milind may have saved Prachi's family from financial ruin by buying her hand in marriage but even if he hadn't, he would still have been perfect for Prachi after Inder's death. He knows what it is like to be poor and without much respect, something Neev doesn't know a thing about. Crucially, he also knows what it's like to lose a beloved parent. No matter how much of a drama queen, he accuses Prachi of being, he has never once disregarded her love for her father as an act.
So, really does all come down to Inder and his influence in Prachi's life that has determined which is the right man for her.
I agree that Inder's death was pivotal. If Inder didn't die Prachi and Milind would not be together, but for me it's more because there wouldn't be any chance/opportunity for them to be together. Prachi would have married Neev and they would have been very much happy together. Milind would still be chasing Ayesha and maybe one day she would give in and maybe not. As for the characters compatibility, I think Michi would have clashed just like the way they actually clashed in their marriage after Inder's death. Because although they share things in common, they are also very different people.
I just think Prachi was a very obedient and refined girl even when Inder was alive. If theoretically speaking Michi got married while Inder's still alive, inside her heart maybe she would cherish her father the most but Milind wouldn't have been put off by her fascination for her father, because she had been taught enough that after marriage her husband should go first. I doubt she would run to her father if they fight or something. I mean her basic characteristic as a quiet, obedient and dutiful girl was not altered by her father's death. She is what she was. She was a dutiful daughter and would be a dutiful wife no matter what.
But yes Inder's death did make her tougher and stronger. She had to shoulder her entire family and faced things she might never dream of facing. But she didn't care for fortune or fame, as we know she actually helped Ayesha got everything thus losing it all by will. And I really don't think she had the moment to acknowledge that her father was a flawed man or had committed such terrible sin. She loved him too much to really care about that (and that's Prachi's precious trait that she executed in her relationship with Milind. I disagree when you said it's because Inder's a flawed man she could accept Milind's flaw. I think she had it in her no matter what). She was mainly crushed because her father had died with such a huge debt/regret regarding Ayesha. That became her regret as well because she loved him so much.
Prachi married Milind for her sense of duty. She cared for Milind at first for duty as well. However on very few occasions when they met before Inder's death I saw some kind of fascination (not in the sense of love at all) in her eyes when she looked at him. Maybe she was awed by his freedom and his bold, strong approach because that's something she could never be. I think she felt something similar regarding Ayesha.
So if Inder didn't die there's no story for Michi, but maybe somehow fate would have forced them to be together in some other ways. Because I'm a romantic.