Hi everyone,
I was happy to see so many forum members gushing over Dutta's "solicitude" for Nakusha today. I will admit that my romantic self revelled as much in the electrifying chemistry and bond that unites our estranged lovebirds despite the terrible tragedy that has shattered the dream of a beautiful life together. However, my other self, the pragmatist that I cannot repress could not help align itself with the angry and unyielding Dutta. I, fully, empathise with the turmoil that the FR has thrown in his life and will for that reason abstain on dwelling at length on his frustration or sense of betrayal as this element will probably be the key of many discussions/threads that will keep cropping up but rather explore yet another facet that justifies Dutta's anger and uncompromising stance vis-a-vis Nakusha, an unfortunate girl he saved from a life of indignity/possible depravity and placed on a pedestal as a model of virtue, selflessness and purity of thoughts.
In one my last posts in the thread, "Dutta's lucid drunkenness merges the images of KN & GN", I grazed on the subject of Dutta, as a law onto himself when it comes to moral rectitude and his perception of truth in relation to what is right or wrong. The same applies to his perception of love which should be absolutely devoid of any pretence or grey element, This may easily be termed as a paradox when one thinks of Dutta, the underworld Don who has "sinned" and chosen to walk on the wrong side of the law. He might have killed, robbed and been the root cause of lots of misery for many unfortunate families (the inconsolable black saree lady cursing him for her son's untimely death for instance) but never totally gave up on a sense of humanism, hence his acknowledgement of regrets over the loss of innocent lives in one of his many convos to the Koyal Naku.
The latter was, all along, the privileged witness of the unfolding of a man who despite his voluntary isolation remained honest and true to himself and all those who came in close contact with him, Nakusha, Baaji, his mother, his sisters, people from his village. I do not need to do a recap of all that transpired between Nakusha and Dutta up to the second marriage where he chose to give full and formal recognition to the woman of his dream/ love of his life. Nakusha had by then acquired an almost godlike status in his life. She had in his eyes proved that she was not only a woman of substance by virtue of her countless sacrifices but also a worthy companion for her silent and unquestionable acceptance of Dutta and his flaws despite all the tribulations she had gone through because of him. So much that he went to the extent of breaking all norms by taking her away from her parent's quarters to protect and give her the respect that befits his wife. He did not even pay heed to what seems to be a fairly conservative view of marriage by his revered AS, the matriarch in PN. His only concern was Nakusha who needed to be protected not because she was a weakling (far from it) but because she was the one who had re-defined the term trust, respect, truth sometimes through gems of practical philosophy about life, and more often by her actions which, eventually, made her a "model of virtue (as in Dutta's perception of truth). For the sake of the woman he loved, he even went to the extent of giving the last of reprieves to a dying father who had abandoned him to the worst possible fate that could have befallen a defenseless child of 4 had he not been rescued by AS.
Many may not agree, but someone who is put on a pedestal because of his/her seemingly selfless, true, and compassionate nature does not have the moral right to err, that too when it comes to her husband that she had placed above all in her short existence. In the Koyal Nakusha, Dutta had seen/fallen in love with the same sense of moral rectitude that he has fought to uphold in his life, hence the ease with which he accepted her as a friend/confidante/wife. And this is where the test of fire resides for the fair Nakusha. She erred by choosing to give in to the elders' pressure and went through the gimmick that was Kala's trap. She never stopped to think about Dutta's virtually impregnable resolve when it comes to truth as a moral entity or his perception of truth and love, and equally important, his expectations from someone that he has chosen to be his companion for life by defying all odds, himself, the family and the society at large. Nakusha failed him. I am sometimes tempted to go along with many forum members and put it down to Dutta's massive ego, pride and sense of self-importance but that would be unfair as despite all these characteristics, our Gadha has also shown an almost child-like innocence in the way he accepted every advice and lessons of life that the guileless Koyal Naku threw at him.
Dutta, actually, surrendered his whole being to this elevated Nakusha who could do no wrong in his eyes and we saw that beautiful journey recounted on his wedding night in his shatteringly beautiful confessions of love and loyalty. In that conversation, Dutta reiterated his complete and total belief in what he perceived as the embodiment of virtue and truth. No husband/lover/partner on earth would after that accept any deviation from there onwards and Nakusha commited the ultimate sin. Firstly, she made the fatal mistake of not evaluating the importance of coming clear before the ultimate union at the right time. Secondly and most importantly, she digressed from the very tenets of the vows she made once she became Dutta's wife post the Sups fiasco and the second marriage as per all the rituals and traditions. To moot that she had jeopardised the sanctity of marriage to a husband who adulated/idolised her, may sound harsh. But when one looks at Dutta's perspective of the life he dreamt of with her and his expectations of truth and honesty, one is, regretfully, forced to side with our Gadha. It was not just his pride or standing in the society at large, but it was the very foundations of his basic beliefs that had been shattered, hence the need for Nakusha to go through the ultimate agnipariksha (test of fire) to purge herself in her husband's eyes.
I will now tread very briefly on sensitive grounds by drawing a symbolical parallel to Nakusha's journey to that of Sita's in the Ramayana, (please accept my sincere apologies should I err as I am by no means an erudite of the Ramayana or its teachings). Like Sita who remains a personification of perfect womanhood for humanity, Nakusha almost embraced death to be with her husband. The latter also saves her from an almost certain life of depravity when she is kidnapped by the evil Anna and brings her back to Patil Niwas where he does everything to give her her rightful place in his life. Dutta, at no point, asks or even suggests that she should prove her innocence or chastity as Sita had to, despite her Goddesses' attributes. And yet it did not dawn on Nakusha that she owes loyalty, first and foremost to the husband who trusted her so completely as to risk everything for her and proved that he was worthy of being Nakusha's Ram.
To come back to yesterday's episode, I would like to comment (my personal opinion) on the solicitude shown by Dutta towards Nakusha interpreted as the love that he does not want to admit. But for the sake of moving the story forward in LTL (read dragfest), I would equate Dutta's attention towards his wife to the humane side of his character, an assertion that he even throws at the clearly yearning Nakusha. Dutta may venture and offer his "husbandly" assistance to his wife as symbolically highlighted by the background score of the sacred marriage vows.....and that was beautiful... but he is not ready to forget. We, regularly, (myself included), harp on Dutta's redemption on the forum but Nakusha also has to pay/suffer for her personal redemption in her husband's eyes. We, still, have a long wait ahead for the ice to thaw unfortunately and if we go by what is supposed to happen over the course of the next episodes, Dutta will go further by reminding Nakusha that she has already done enough damage by demeaning herself in his eyes and that she should not, now, commit the sacrilege of demeaning herself and her husband in public, hence the slap that I personally do not condone, but is probably a demand of the script. CV's know better these days and we want to be able to live the LTL story for a long time yet. The only danger I can see though is an attempt tantamount to emulate the dreaded Ekta story line with the perpetual plotting and scheming by the ET. And to add insult to injury throw in the shifty Suds as an unwanted bonus....(I needed to get that out)
PS: I realise that I have been testing the patience of fellow members by the sheer length of my posts but I would be grateful if you would contribute to the discussion with comments, even critical ones, Our main interest remains at the end of the day long innings for LTL.đ
Cricket
