Mahakumbh 37-40: A triangle of an unusual kind: Episodes 42/43 on p.9 - Page 2

Lovely post aunty, as usual. Your posts are like the chocoand cherry toppings on icecreams. Makes serial viewing all the more delicious.😃

Originally posted by: sashashyam

Reams have already been written in this forum about this struggle between the unbending matriarch of the Brahma Nisht Panth and her pragmatic visionary (no, these are not always a contradiction in terms!) of a son for the heart and/or mind of Rudra. Their confrontation is sharpened, and its gripping power enhanced by the fact that both Daadi and Shivanand are played by exceptionally talented actors in top form.

True, both the actors have class and this makes viewing a delight.😃

-Daadi: I called her a delightful ostrich in my last. I still stick to the noun, but I am no longer sure of the adjective.

🤣

Shivanand: These days, it is he who stays with me long past 8:30 pm. He is the prototype of a misunderstood prophet-cum dauntless warrior, ready to stake everything, including himself and his loved ones, for the greatest of all causes, to save the world and its inhabitants from the clutches of a murderously greedy and destructive cabal. He is the stuff of which legendary heroes are made, for all that he will be fitted into a supporting role here.

Yes.⭐️

Rational commitment: Shivanand has been accused of being arrogant and suffering from a superiority complex. Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is that he is superior, and what he says is a simple statement of fact, that his family, with a long line of garudas down the ages, are the chosen, with the duty of protecting the amrit at any cost. That Rudra is the sarvashresth garuda. He is, so why would Shivanand not tell Rudra so? He needs to know it. Why should Shivanand pretend that Rudra is any less than he is? As Sherlock Holmes used to say, undue modesty is not a virtue.

To quote Darcy, 'Nothing is as deceptive as the appearance of humility. Most often it is carelessness of opinion and sometimes an indirect boast.' It is absence of pride that would be misfit here. (I have always been reminded of Darcy's lines when I have heard JB's Pravachans on uchith/anuchith)

The other accusation against Shivanand is that he concentrates only on the ends and not on the means, and is unduly obsessed with winning . But in such a titanic struggle for the soul and the very existence of humanity, the garudas have to win, and it they lose, they are failures.Of course Shivanand has to be obsessed with the end result, for if he and the other garudas fail, humanity is doomed. What point would there be in his focussing only on the means, or the action, and then failing disastrously?

In serious and important situations, isn't everything fair? Hasn't our Mahabharath taught us this - it is okay to say 'Ashwathama is dead', okay to hide behind Shikandi and pierce Pitamah, it is okay to kill Karna when he is lifting the wheels, okay to cross the rules of gadhayudh. The means are justified if the ends are fair.

My heart went out to Gautam, stuck with this weepy, self-pitying Devdas-in-the-making. He does his best, especially in that last scene with a guilt-ridden Maya off to do prayaschit, but the script cramps him badly and boxes him into this straightjacket.

He reminded me of Jalal at Mathura. Somehow so much of the serial leaves a sense of deja vu.😕

Pot pourri: 1)The Sholay fixation. Earlier, there was Charles doing a Veeru and pretending that the Ganapati idol was speaking to Katherine. Now we had the Yeh dosti take off with the mobike-cum sidecar, with Thappadiya Mai as the third wheel.😉

🤣

2) What does the Brahm Nisht Panth do in between the Purna/Mahakumbhs? Daadi only refers to their serving the kalpavaasis. Do they continue the same services for the regular inhabitants in between? And where did they find the resources for that grand punarsthapana of the Panth?

The resources were also doing yoganidra.

3) For the DM to bend and touch Daadi's feet twice, at what was an official meeting, was strange and not at all plausible. He is an IAS officer, and quite a senior one, and he would have never have done any such thing in public, no matter how high his regard for her and her Panth might be. He would have reserved any such paanv padna for a private meeting, like the one when he was calling on his guru Prof. Rao.

Our TV serials always hoist these do-gooders on pedestals.😡

4) Daadi's account of her husband's death raising the interesting question of how she came to do the Sleeping Beauty act down there where Rudra found her. Did she go and lie down there on her own and slip off into a 24 year long yoganidra? Intriguing, as also the companion question of whether the 'Veshes knew that she has survived, and where she was all these years.

I too wondered how she was not found. She sleeps close to the source of Saraswati Kund. The 'Veshes would have surely found her there in their search for the holy waters. Why would they leave her alive?- to tell the Bramha Nisht Panth tale to her grandson?

5)Given that Naanu & Co. were doing 24 saal ka tap for the amrit, and Balivesh has had his eye out for Rudra since 1989, it follows that they knew of some connection between him and the amrit. But not about the garuds, nor about the amrit being real and emerging at this once in 144 years Mahakumbh, judging from Balivesh's reaction to Greyerson's revelations about their researches. Nor about Shivanand being, or having, the key to the whole arcane mystery, for otherwise, Balivesh would never have handed him over to the Cardinal. It is all very confusing right now, what Naanu and Balivesh knew, and what they know now.

True.

6) Why has it become accepted wisdom that Pandey killed Udiya Baba? Now Naanu is also, as I had noted in earlier posts, taking the "credit" for having got Pandey to do that. Whereas, the fact is that Pandey was targeting only Rudra, and Udiya Baba got killed trying to save him. And for targeting Rudra, Pandey lost one eye.

Goebbels doctrine.- 'Pandey killed UB, Pandey killed UB...' , somewhat like the iron-strong vachan of Jalal not touching JB without her permission.

Ok,that is it, folks. I am headed for a full knee replacement as soon as I can manage it, but till then, I shall have to limp along, literally as well as figuratively.

Shyamala B.Cowsik

@Sandhya you know Harry Potter very well, may be more than me. Still I find it confusing you are comparing Shiva to Snape. Shiva is no Snape. And you are missing the most important point in Harry Potter I guess you too Shymaladi when you are all along praising Shiva and his mission focus.

Originally posted by: shruthiravi

@Sandhya you know Harry Potter very well, may be more than me. Still I find it confusing you are comparing Shiva to Snape. Shiva is no Snape. And you are missing the most important point in Harry Potter I guess you too Shymaladi when you are all along praising Shiva and his mission focus.

@Sandhya as I said some finer points on Shiva's chara I am keeping aside now and that important point in Harry Potter also about that only. I am sure more than 90% my analysis is correct. But then experience with TV serials have taught me that for TRP anything can happen even if it doesn't connect . Hence keeping it with myself as of now as I do not want to discuss about it unnecessarily.Because I believe it is better to explain certain things with proof for people to understand POV. So when I get more points to substantiate my theory I will reveal it.

Very interesting analysis on what is indeed an unusual triangle. I loved the way you have analysed each character.

And as you rightly pointed out - Dadi is too obsessed with her Panth. And I have nothing more to add, because you have described her very well and accurately.

Someone described to me the word "swarth" - as "swa ka arth" - meaning of the Self. So to Daadi I would say, it is always good to be swaarthi - because there can be nothing greater than knowing the true meaning of the Self. Shiva knows the purpose of his life, of his Self. If that is selfishness, then so be it.

Shiva - You have described him very nicely 👏. He has that "Shiva" kind of quality about him. Beyond everything, almost like nothing can touch him, or distract him or conquer him. I feel that the writers have given him the name with good reason. To get all the Garuda's on board, Shivanand will need to do a bit of Lord Krishna as well - me thinks.

I feel Shiva's wife may have an important role in shaping Rudra's realisation.

Rudra - He is eternally seeking affection and anchors. The few resemblances to Lord Shiva, is that like the Lord, Rudra was raised in the Smashaan and his anger can have devastating consequences (ok...not always the case with Maimui's bachwa). To me, Rudra is turning out be an anti-climax. I was clapping for him when he said "Kaasi ko bhasm kar doonga" and look at what we got. I was cheering for him when he told Dadi that he would take revenge, and look at what we got. Anti-climax thy name Rudra. I strongly feel Rudra needs to grow up. He needs to find his sense of security within and not from other people. I do not mean to say that human relationships weaken one's self. In fact they provide a silent strength at all times. But if they are weakening the self, it is more because we ourselves are not strong enough. In fact he can learn a thing or two from Daadi. Look at how she is anything but self-pitying. In some ways Shiva too has inherited his mother's inherent strength of mind. Shiva too doesn't waste much time pitying himself. Strangely, even his Guru - Prof Rao, does not seem to drag Shiva into pitying mode.

Thapadiya Mai - How well you described her. She has the remarkable ability to see that which is not obvious. Is it because she knows a lot more than it seems, or is it her ability to read people well? Either way, Ketaki Dave has done a fantasic job with Thapadiya Mai. Inspite of spouting the "narak ke keede" line a zillion times, we take her words seriously.

Katherine - I loved Katherine, the Garud. She skilfully handled the goons, and then showed off her tattoo. Loved her re-introduction. But I still feel that she is Greyerson's mole. She needs to be in Rudra's good books rather than Balivesh's good books if she needs to deliver the Amrit to Greyerson. I think it would be interesting if she is aware that she is a Garud and also siding with Greyerson.

Charles and Tiwari have a nice chemistry 😉. Looking at the Garud Chinha positions, looks like the 7th Garud will have chattees ka aankhda with Thapadiya Mai 😛. My sympathies with Shiva 😉

My dear Shruthi,

I am glad you were the first!

You are spot on wrt Daadi, and your take is far sharper harsher and more clear-eyed even than mine, which is blunt enough! I have italicised the parts I liked the best.

She is very shrewd, is our Daadi, and she knows exactly what she wants, as I had noted myself.The way in which she runs rings round the naive and confused Rudra is like a master's class in the art of manipulation. I love your term for her sophistry, Daadi's Mayajaal, which it is literally, as most of it is about Maya!😉

You are absolutely correct while interpreting her constant refrain about Maya - if one studies all that she injects into Rudra's consciousness, there can be no other conclusion. As I have noted in this post, she wants him to be tied to her hand and foot, and she wants to distance him permanently from Shiva and all that Shiva wants to do.

It is fascinating to have such a character around, and to have her played so expertly. What I am keen to see if how she handles her inevitable defeat. Sulk and take sanyaas,or grin and bear it? I would bet on the former! And I wonder how poor Daada coped, tied to this lion tamer of a wife!😉

Your interpretation of what Thappadiya Mai says to Maya is very interesting and I am sure it is the correct one. It is a neat loss vs gain transaction, and Rudra will benefit from having a second woman around (the first being Thappadiya Mai), who will not want to manipulate him and will want him to give of his best always. I am looking forward to having Rudra's mother back with us with more screen space. She is a very charming person, Shruti Ulfat.

I am responding here itself to the part of the other post of yours on the next page which is addressed to me. I too was struck by the fact that not only does Daadi say she does not know what happened to his mother, adding that she was not in the ashram when it was attacked, but then neither she nor Rudra seem to follow this up. I had noted this in the post where Daadi's hospital conversation with Rudra was covered. Nor do either of them even think of informing Shiva that she was not consumed in that fire. If they had, he would have moved Heaven and earth to try and locate her, with the help of Sahadev.

I agree with you about women like Daadi being worse than the regular MCPs. She does not seem at all bothered about her bahu. Even after the Brahma Nisht Panth has been revived, it does not even occur to her, or even to Rudra, to do anything to try and track her down. Strange.

Shyamala Di

Originally posted by: shruthiravi

First one to write reply to you Shymaladi. I like your Top 5. Frankly quiet logical questions. Especially Tiwari bending in official meeting and Dadi's sleeping beauty act.

I completely agree to you as far as Dadi goes. She is one extreme. Unfortunately it is becuase of people like her our traditions, our culture and our ethinicity has been lost over the years. Because as you rightly said they dont like questions, it is more like my way or the highway. They are manipulative to the hilt and if you look the words Dadi use you can very well see this play of words. You yourself have used many of her dialogues in your post. People like Dadi never want to lose the power they have and for that they will not move one inch from their conviction, but place their point of thought in such a way that unless you are a person very analytical and see below the surface you miss the larger picture.

Unfortunately her deception has gotten into Rudra over his father's straight forward words. If you look Shiva is very straight forward. He understands the grave danger. But when he talks to Rudra he dont mince words. He is matter of fact and straight to the point. But look at Dadi. She took from where Maimui stopped. When Maimui was supporting Maya, Rudra didnt believe her and he was in his elements. But now Rudra knows the truth of Maya. He remembers Maimui's words and feels he could have done better. I wont say he yet feel love for her, but he has some tender feelings mixed with guilt. Now our dadi is harping on that to keep Rudra by her side. See her sweet words. After getting your family after 24 years you seem so incomplete. Then in the banks of Ganga you are not married, but you look like a man who have lost his wife. I hope you are understanding the power of those manipulative words on our bachwaa. His Dadi understands his dil ki haalat whereas his father is talking about some big big things which he cannot relate to 😆😆😆 .

Now coming to Shiva. I will continue to say his knowledge is incomplete and I will continue to say jho apno ki raksha nahi kar saktha woh duniya ki raksha nahi kar saktha. Suffering will continue in the world one way or other whatever you do. Power will end up in wrong hands and wars will fought. More and more families will be broken and there will be no lasting peace. I will delve more on this topic after the revealtion of 7th Garuda and Shyamaladi till that point let us agree to disagree on this.

And coming to what Tapadiya Mai said this is my take. Maya will be the means through which Rudra is going to get back the woman who gave birth to him. I mean his real mother. That is her penance. Being indirectly responsible for the death of his adopted mother, she has to return to him that love once again this time from the woman who might have yearned to have a look at him for 24 years. Rudra's mother in all FB has been a very loving lady. I am really interested to know her equation with dadi and her husband. How she managed the conflicts as I am sure she would have had to go through a lot seeing Dadi's nature and Shiva's way of doing things.

Now last coming to Rudra. He is my leader. Because a true leader never follows anyone. He cuts a path I would rather say a radical path for others to follow. Path of true leaders always withstand the testimony of time. Whether it is Krishna, or Gandhi the path they created was revolutionary. No other book can beat BG in life's lessons, neither can you disassociate with Satyagraha that bought down the empire in which the sun never sets.

Rudra I am sure will create a similar path for others to follow by correcting the mistake both his dadi and father did. But first he has to come out of Dadi's Mayajaal. I hope Tapadiya Mai places more than an anchor role here. Because she has the wisdom that she has learned from her experiences. Every sentence of her speaks volumes about how much the woman has understood life for what it is. She is a mature version of Maimui and knows how to handle things.

Thank you so much, my dear Arijit.

Yes, it could very well be that Katharine is negative, though I would imagine that a garuda, once he/she learns about this identity and all that it implies and demands, cannot be a traitor to the cause of saving the amrit.

But this kind of mystery, and the puzzles involved, are precisely what make this tale so fascinating!

Shyamala B.Cowsik

Originally posted by: Arijit007

shyamla jee, thanks for your in depth analysis and review. i have my doubt for catharine. she could be the evil ranger here.