I agree with all of your post Tm.. and I admire your patience for listing it all out so elaborately once again.. it was a pleasurable read:)
but, I have come to realize that debate, the nature of which in an interchange of logic and reasoning to understand opposing views, with some semblance of integrity on the part of the debators , and not just blind belief , is not the norm on this forum.sad.Anyway, I do not see this story devoid of RK either. But he by no means, forms the other half or even any consequential fraction in any relationship whatsoever. Mb is not an exception for him .She again is the norm.Like with Deepali, with his mother.. he has never been able to cut them out of his life, but kept them around , just to stroke his ego by constantly belittling them . We may know that deepali deserves it and his mother didn't, but for RK , there is not difference.No difference because even after reconciling with her, her emotions, her pleas hold nothing for him. He can easily trample over them roughshod, and uncaring.Both Radha, and Deepali didnt leave him , instead stuck around despite his venom.. and that is only what sets MB apart. That she wanted to move on. so his obsession comes into the picture. No one leaves him. No one leaves him, intact.and that was what today was all about too. so it doesn't matter to his fans that he was the one who wanted Mb to prove her love yet again.. drove her to the point of jumping off that terrace.. nah.. they want to glorify that he 'saved' her.its totally incomprehensible. Not Rk. RK is so plainly understandable that its boring.incomprehensible is the fact that he is called a 'lover' , a true great(!) lover even after everything he has done , and is still doing.He was sickening today, as always. and there is no pronoun other than 'me , my , I and mine' in his dictionary.SO yes, this story may need a shallow superficial character to drive some of its aspects forward, but he definitely isn't a part of 'love', of any kind, in this story.