Mahakumbh 73-76: Zig-zag;Episode 77:Page 2; Episode 78:Page 6 - Page 5

Dil khush kar diya, Arshi meri jaan! Tahe dil se shukriya!

Actually, these days, believe it or not, I seem to like the cocky Dansh a bit better than apna bachcha Rudra, who seemed to have, till last night, only one expression, or rather two: serene blandness and horrified anguish (with Shiva). But I wonder how Dansh, maut ka shaayar, would face his own maut.

Shyamala

Originally posted by: Arshics

Aaj toh Dansh Dansh Aapki baaton mein Chaya hai

Kahan aapka bhi dil uspe toh nahi aaya hai

Jokes apart, great analysis from you.

Esp about rudras leadership skills and his rishta with MB

The words about - Maut were superb hats off to writer ji

And as you rightly pointed out

Since they were coming from Dansh, Maut is supreme for him and not zindagi

My dear Shruthi,

One thing that I enjoy about your posts: they are always hatke. This one too.

As for what the script whispered to you, I feel that it is at times like the Delphic oracle, deliberately ambiguous and misleading. My comments against each of those points are in blue. Also, it is not a good idea to whisper too much and bank on the viewers to unravel the puzzles on their own. They might just get tired and quit!

Last night, there was something that I notice, or perhaps, to use your charming phrase, the script whispered to me, which does not seem to have struck anyone else that I know of.

So overwrought is Rudra that he does not even grasp a key point that is crucial to his under standing of what is really going on.

This is about what MB is saying when she hisses at him not to discuss the Two Books in front of Shivanand, for then they would not be safe. For that one instant, as Shivanand's face was shown in the gap between Rudra and MB, I thought I spotted a fleeting look of sly satisfaction in his eye, as if someone else were looking out of his eyes and observing the MB-Rudra spat with malicious satisfaction.

The next instant it was gone, and I wondered if I had imagined it. But after factoring in MB's warning to Rudra, I am sure that I was correct. Even otherwise, Shivanand's weeping and moaning and yelling seem greatly overdone. I now feel it was all a sham, with purposes that need no explanation.

The blowback of Rudra's lack of faith in MB will be terrible, and then he will face an enemy in his own camp, his former Baba. It might then be almost too late. But only almost , as this is a fairy story, not real life!

Shyamala Di

Originally posted by: shruthiravi

Shymaladi from the writing itself I could feel your anger on the episodes. Real anger more than that of Dansh😃. By the way I didn't get the mail from you today that you wrote this analysis and it was when I browsed through the forum I saw it.Sorry, my dear, I do not know how I missed ticking your id, and that of seedhibaat too. But I did send the PM afterwards.

Yes you have pretty much covered all the points of last week. But understand that last week belong to Nagas and it has to be like that. But then there will be some vital mistakes the Nagas make in their quest for Amrit. In every scene logic is asked and in some cases from a story telling point of view you cant reveal certain things. As a person who writes stories myself I know how important it is to keep certain information till the right time. Because certain things happen for certain reasons and if those reasons are given upfront, then those actions will be fruitless. Hence the script has to shout out certain things, while whisper certain other things. Everyone notices the shouting, not the whispers. You have covered everything the script shouted, let me try to cover things the script whispered this week.

Point no:1) What was Dansk's real intention on the swap. I had also earlier said he would not have got any intention to give back Shiva as the bombs that detonated later show. As you rightly said he might not want to harm Shiva, but of course he would have to wanted to harm Rudra. Suppose the other Garuds had come with Rudra. Dansh would have aborted the mission then and there itself. With Shiva Dansh had the upper hand at that point. Risk was to be taken by Rudra only. It is the unexpected turning up of other Garuds that made Dansh do something which he had not planned.

I think if all had gone smoothly, he would have exploded those buried mines just before Shiva had been handed over, so that he would not have been in harm's way. He would then have grabbed Shiva and made off with him in the ensuing confusion.

Point no:2 ) Rudra's smile on seeing the vish syringe from maya. What did that mean? second his mediation? why in the world he mediated and immediately after that understood where his father is, I want answer to both these questions. I do not know about the syringe, but there was a glow behind him as he meditates, and I had guessed that it was the glow of his chakras. Maybe that revealed the location of the naga hqrs to him, but that is mere guesswork on our part. If that is what it was, and the viewers are surely meant to grasp that, then it should have been shown that way.

Point no:3 ) Nagas know when and where Amrit will come. But have no clue of how to reach it. So they are going to make one elaborate plan to reach Amrit. And no plan is fool proof. So if something goes wrong in that plan with their focus to grab Amrit, Nagas will do some unexpected action which is gonna back fire. Because their focus will only be on the plan they create and nothing else, they will not care about the consequences of their actions in their hurry to align to the plan

Point no:4) MB's dialogue Ishwar ki Leela, samjahte samjahte his samj aayengi. That means there is a time to understand why Leela came to them and this I will tie with MB's other dialogue with Maya" Jab tak teri saas chalengi, iski saas chalengi". What does that mean, till he breathes Maya the girl will breathe, or illusion will breathe. Does that means his breath is gonna stop. I will wait.I have no idea, Shruthi, and in any case, one has enough headaches with this story as it is!

Concluding now. Will put more after watching today epi

My little Mishti,

You are wrong, my dear, there was a lot of material, only I did not like most of it. For example, the 3 scenes with Dansh were very interesting and revealing about his character. But most folk are interested only in the thrills and chills.

As for your very valid question as to why the synonym of innocence and goodness to them is dumb and directionless, I think that is the standard format for bhalayi in our national psyche, which is reflected in our epics - see the Pandavas, especially Yudhishtira! - and our folk tales like that of Raja Harishchandra, and thus in our TV soaps as well, the archetype in which is the eternally suffering bahu, the epitome of goodness and dumbness!

This is the second season, Mishti, the second 60 episodes, only there was no break!

And yes, don't bang your head no matter how infuriating this script is. Remember that it is always better that what our favorite show is like right now!😉

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: mishtidoi

Fab post Aunty...how can you write with such detail, when there's nothing much?👏

I have only one question to the writers...why the synonym of innocence and goodness to them is dumb and directionless? 😕😡

I tell you Aunty...Garudas will get to protect Amrit coz of destiny and not coz they DESERVE to protect it...and till the end we'll be left wondering and banging our heads.

Seriously, I don't wish a second season of MK, with this kind of treatment continued If the show was meant to be thought provoking and for niche viewers, the least writer can start with, is to respect their viewers while writing the show.

Sorry to rant on your thread, am so disillusioned with MK...was waiting for this show to start and all I get is disappointment, one day after another😭

Fascinating, Shruthi, especially the part @blue.

But I am not sure I understand the bit about Rudra's emotions being completely opened up. What more of opening can there be? And what is it about Rudra ceasing to breathe, facing his death and losing all his illusions? It sounds beautiful and esoteric, but I am not sure how it will work out in practice.

Never mind, let us wait and see what happens next.

I am pleased that you found Shivanand as OTT as I did in his scene with Rudra. My own take on last night too is different from that of most others here and closer to yours. I will see if I can manage to put up a mini-post on that.

Shyamala Di

Originally posted by: shruthiravi

Shymaladi I agree to the over drawn emotional last scene yesterday. I agree to you. More than Devdas it reminded me of the scene in Kabhie Alvida Na Kehna when both SRK and Rani being expelled from their homes and tells everything is fine and the already irate viewers are bombarded with a song " Tum ko bhi hain yekin song". I still remember the guy sitting behind me remarking " Please tell you are standing on the other side of the bridge. Only if you both are together we can get out of this theatre". Like you I am not a fan of such scenes. I hope you will read my indepedant post on Head and Heart.

I completely agree with you on the part that Dansh is going to plant Leela and I would say that is the absolute stunner by UN if that happens. You know why because Leela as I said is purposeful action and Maya is illusion. By saving Maya or illusion, Leela is going to hide her real intention. In other words Leela is using Maya and Garuds will once again be under the influence of illusion or Maya. They are already working with their hearts because of the force given by Bairavi and if she goes and with no further push they will continue to work under emotions.

Bairavi by giving such a harsh punishment to Shiva is opening up Rudra's emotions completely just like Arjun's emotions were running high after Abhi's death. He is going to go for the enemies with a vengeance without thinking of the consequences seeing the desperate condition of his father, just like Arjun took the stupid vow of commiting suicide if he cant get Jayadrath by sunset. And a time will come when the enemy opens up completely in front of him and he will be in a bind for sure facing death. That will be the moment he will understand Leela, but that will be also the moment Dansh will understand Maya.

" Jab tak teri saas chalengi , iski saas chalengi" tells MB. So till Rudra breathes illusion will breathe, once Rudra stops breathing or faces death illusion will go, power will emerge. And that will be the point Rudra will learn when to use dil, when to use dimaag.

Dansh is using his ultimate weapon Leela and without having the right power that weapon cannot be blunted. Blunting of Leela will be the turning point of the game is what I feel.

Mahakumbh 78: A contrary view

Folks,

I could as well have titled this In defence of MB, for that is what I felt like doing after watching an episode that had many here up in arms about MB's excessive violence towards not just Shivanand but also the other 3 garuds, her haughtiness in refusing to explain anything to her fellow garuds, and her generally dictatorial behaviour.In short, the consensus seemed to be that MB had flipped her lid.

I do not believe any such thing, nor would I accuse MB of excessive violence. Let us take the shindy in the library first. The whacks given to the 3 garuds in the library were straight out of the 1960s mythologicals, especially the blows with a (magic) staff, that used to have kids in whoops. 😉What was there so serious about that?

Yes, MB could have explained a bit more to the garuds, and perhaps even she seems to be falling prey to the TV soap mantra: never explain even the simplest things in time, and end up fomenting misunderstandings galore.

Rudra falls short: MB does try to explain her modus operandi to Rudra, but does not manage to carry conviction to him, partly because it is his father who is being thrashed so hard, and partly because Rudra turns out, in a crunch situation, to lack the samarpan towards his guru, and the faith, the vishwas, the shraddha, in the guru, that are the hallmarks of a good shishya.

As Shreya (sp108) has put it beautifully in a post on Arshi's latest thread,

Here is Bhairavi who gave you enlightenment, who made you see the true purpose in your life. She gave you punarjanma. Have faith in her. Without Shraddha or faith in the Guru, no one can reach a higher level of understanding. And why doesn't Rudra question himself - can he have more compassion than his Guru? No. Absolutely no. If Bhairavi is beating up Shivanand, it only reflects her compassion. But what kind of Shishya are you who can't see the compassion and concern of your Guru?

I agree with her cent per cent. But then Rudra has always been a weakling in the spirit, unable to think a thing out for himself, swayed by instant emotions, and always having to cling to someone else's mind in order to be able to formulate his own ideas. The sole exception to this rule was the bombs incident, but it now seems to be the exception that proves the rule. In this, he resembles the invariably mahaan TV soap bahus, except that he is the wrong gender! 😉So it not surprising that at crunch time, he is found wanting.

Instead, he is, as usual, facilely emotional, babbling about insaaniyat and how he cannot see anyone in pain. I begin to wonder why they ever made him the Garuda Pramukh. It is ironic that his first sally into insaaniyat is directed at a non-insaan, the naga mole Leela.😉

Sinister hint about Shivanand: Besides, so overwrought is he that he does not even grasp a key point in what MB told him, a point that struck me. If he had grasped the significance of her warning, it would have been crucial to his under standing of what is really going on.

This is about MB hissing at him not to discuss the Two Books in front of Shivanand, for then they would not be safe.

For that one instant, as Shivanand's face was shown in the gap between Rudra and MB, I spotted a fleeting look of sly satisfaction in his eye, as if someone else were looking out of his eyes and observing the MB-Rudra spat with malicious satisfaction.

The next instant it was gone, and I wondered if I had imagined it. But after factoring in MB's warning to Rudra, I am sure that I was correct. Even otherwise, Shivanand's weeping and moaning and yelling seem greatly overdone.

I now feel it was all a sham, and that Dansh's poison is slowly eviscerating the garud in Shivanand and replacing with a sinister substitute, a naga mole. I have not seen the latest promo, but I am told it hints at something like this.

If this is true, the blowback of Rudra's lack of faith in MB will be terrible, for then he will face an enemy in his own camp, his former Baba. It might then be almost too late. But only almost , as this is a fairy story, not real life!

The pitayi: But as for the beating Shiva got, it was nothing, but nothing compared to the way in which Dansh murdered Daadi, with intense relish, and then killed 2 gagged victims in cold blood just to addle Shiva's brains. Not many here were bothered with that truly sadistic violence, whereas MB's pitayi seems to be raising a lot of hackles. I cannot comprehend this.

In fact, after the first shock to the viewer, it seemed to be straight out of the (invariably violent) Tom and Jerry cartoons. I was in stitches, and for two pins I would have given the relentlessly OTT Shivanand a couple of whacks with that lathi myself, for boring me half to death😉 - though not on his head, poor thing! Here they are with just 42 episodes left, and almost 2/3 rds of an episode, spread over yesterday and today, has been devoted to a snivelling, weeping Shivanand!

Then again, we know that MB is acting for the good of the garuds, which is a crucial factor.

Need for faith : I do agree that it looked very off-putting simply because the perpetrator was MB, the epitome of wisdom among the garuds. But for that very reason, should we not avoid reacting like Rudra and condemning her out of hand?

Given that she is wise and all knowing - something that she has proved repeatedly in the recent past - and that but for her presence and her powers, the garuds, beginning with Rudra, would be in an even sorrier state than they are now, should not Rudra have had more faith in her? if she does seem to be thrashing his Baba with what looks like unacceptable harshness, should he not have tried to find out why she is doing this?

It looked to me too strange that one can leach poison out of a person by beating him, but Shreya has pointed out that "when Bhairavi is beating up Shivanand, he tries to put all his strength to break the shackles. And that gives Bhairavi hope and she continues beating him up. It is the poison which has made him unaware of his powers. And Bhairavi is beating the bhoot/poison out of him".

Even without noting all this, Rudra, who owes his punarjanma to her, should have never assumed that she is doing wrong. On the contrary, he should have taken it for granted that there had to be a valid reason for what she was doing and he should have asked her what it was.

But he does nothing of the kind, and literally drives her away with a Garud Pramukh ka aadesh. He will soon find out the consequences of his lack of faith.

Red carpet for the naga mole: Rudra then proceeds to commit his first new folly: accepting Leela into the garuda fold, and ordering his fellow garuds (minus MB) + Rao to forget who Leela is and where she has come from, but you can bet your bottom dollar that she will not!

So I was right and Dansh has smuggled her into the garud camp, after slapping her hard enough to draw blood and make it convincing for her to pose as a shoshit abla naari, no, shoshit abla naagin. Now there is a chap who knows what he wants and how to get it. The garuds, headed by Rudra, know neither.😲

The Naga tunnel: Drish has started drilling in the Mahakumbh area, which reminded me of Ocean's Thirteen and the tunnelling under the Las Vegas casinos. Well, we mock our scripts, but there, they mentioned specifically that they had brought the Chunnel tunnelling drill. Can you imagine that digging under a casino? The whole gaming floor would have collapsed first thing. But they were not at all bothered with that huge bloomer in the script!😉 Nor, it seems, were the audiences that made the film a hit!

Shyamala/Aunty/Di/Akka

Shymaladi here you go, when I talked about whispers, you yourself noticed a whisper. Though I missed that look of Shiva, when I heard MB telling him not to talk about books what I felt was, Shiva's brain mapping has been done right. Was it only temporary or Naga Alchemy has made it permanent. In other words, whatever new info Shiva's brain will get into the Naga system( Anyways Nagas seems to be using advanced technologies)

Shyamala,

Thank you Shyamala Di, for the pms to such a detailed view of last week's episodes which was so disappointing and these last two episodes that could have been better shown. Loved reading your posts and the titles so apt.

Agree with you that MB is an excellent guru. She has foreseen the troubles ahead. She is the only person who knows what harm a Vishful Shiva can cause to the Garuds. As she says yesterday, Shiva has so much knowledge filled in him and yet he is in this condition. The situation needs correction immediately. Infact am happy that she has hidden the books from all those places that Shiva has access to and also all the Garuds who are feeling overwhelmed with Shiva's condition.

Rudra has been a disappointment from the time that he has grown up. He has been granted spiritual awakening and even then he commits the cardinal sin of being overemotinal and irrational. Just being awakened is not enough to sustain it one has to practice intensely daily, only then can a person have the clarity that is so much needed in this situation. At first he never gave importance to Shiva's suffering and now when he needs to be clear headed he is behaving in such a way. He is doubting on MB as you and Shreya have said that he should have kept faith. Rudra has so far to go to understand the nuances of the war waged by the nagas and yet this is just the start.

The other Garuds have been ignored. They have neither been taken into confidence by either MB or Rudra nor explained the delay for knowing their purpose. What would have been great is if all of them knew their strengths and purpose. Still hope that this is the crisis that would lead to them knowing their purpose. As there is a saying right place plus right time is equal to Huge transformation.

In the case of Shiva. I too feel that there is something hidden behind the helplessness that Shiva portrays. As MB said all that vish has to come out of him before she can help heal him. Would love to see how this comes about now.

The Nagas for all their cruelty are better prepared and have the means to carry it out at the right time.The sheer brutality of the violence shown is gory . They seem to know that the Garuds main weakness is emotionalism and have struck right at their heart.

In the Mahabharat the Kauravs were well prepared but it took Krishna to prepare Arjun to fight for the righteous cause. Hope that the Garuds to realise this in the right time as they have so much to catch upto.

Prof. Rao and Tiwari, I still feel should have done some more preparations for the Garuds and not have been dependent on Shiva only. What happened to Sector 53 in the start Prof. Rao was adamant on keeping it with them and now there is no mention of it.

MB should have hit Rudra too, to bring out of his brahms.

Hope all the giant loopholes are filled atleast partially as then we can attempt to fill in the blanks here to satisfy ourselves.

There, there! Don't take on so, my dear! Here is an extra big 🤗 to make you feel a bit better.

I am not going to trot out the old chestnut about this being just a show and that one should not get too het up about it. One does get het up, and then you are extra sensitive, with a very thin skin, so things like this get under it easily.

So let me try another tack to make you recover your mood.

What if - as is surely going to be the case, don't ask why or how! - there was NO way of curing Shivanand of this infectious poison bar this kind of beating, what then? It is like they way they used to cauterise wounds with a heated iron rod in old days when there were no antiseptics and no antibiotics.

Then MB would be perfectly justified in doing what she was doing, for she can hardly risk the lives of not just the other garuds but of all the pilgrims at the Mahakumbh just so that Shivanand can be spared these blows. Left alone, he will not only get steadily worse, but he will soon begin to infect the rest as well, beginning with Rudra.

I think, from that sly look of his that I caught, that he is not weeping and wailing in truth at all, but the devil inside him is shamming it. The overall cringing and whimpering is totally unlike Shivanand as we have known him, and as he was even while driving the shav vaahan. He was badly disoriented and confused then, but he was not weak nor did he cringe and wail as he is doing now. Why the sudden change? It is surely the incremental effect of the poison, changing him into a sly naga mole.

You are reacting from the sentimental point of view. It is not a question of good and bad. It is a question of unavoidable harshness.

I do not see Bhairavi as capable of being needlessly cruel; she is not the kind to enjoy inflicting pain. So if she, who is totally dedicated to the Mission Amrit, does this kind of thing, it is because it is necessary. She is not thrashing Shivanand, but the demon lurking inside him, and this only because there is no other way. Avoiding this beating is a luxury she cannot afford.

The other garuds hardly know her, but Rudra the Garuda Pramukh, who exists only because she picked him up, healed him, boosted his morale and guided him, surely should understand her better and have more faith in her actions being rational.

If he really reveres her as his guru, surely he should at least think that there has to be a reason for her totally uncharacteristic behaviour, and ask her why she thinks it necessary to do this? But he does not, and it is here that he fails. And the consequences, for him and for the others, are going to be very dangerous, in good part because he will now have no one at hand to guide him and correct him, and his natural instincts, guided solely by his dil, are mostly all wrong.

Feel better? Kam se kam mera dil rakhne ke liye to haan keh dijiye!

Shyamala

Originally posted by: Arshics

Shyamala,

Today I am heartbroken, and very angry

Bhairavi and maimui are my role models and adarsh guru and ma

This violence from her, is far more cruel in my eyes than what Dansh does,

For Dansh is meant to be cruel, the more sinister and gruesome his acts

The more we hate him, the more we shall revel in his defeat

But cruelty from a mother - a teacher - iska toh koi nidaan nahi hoga na ...

Mere toh dil toot gaya...

I'd observed that sinister Shivananda from the gap Aunty...I did grasp the whole scene...there was definitely some catch there...I hope we are not wrong.