@bold:
While logically I get this based on what they did show before todays episode.
The dialogues they gave him today implies a bit otherwise. I'm not talking about first love v. current love. I'm hung up on his use of the words "soulmate" and "perfect partner".
Maybe I want the writers to be more nuanced - but I don't think saying things like "she was my soulmate" "she was my perfect partner" about your ex to your wife is the smartest or best way to describe an ex that you supposedly have no feelings for anymore.
He should've said "at the time, I thought she was my soulmate". That implies that she was his soulmate in that period of life before Pallavi bc he hadn't met Pallavi yet.
I wholeheartedly admit I could be nitpicking here.
But those are heavy words - "she was my soulmate" What, does he think he can have two soulmates? That doesn't even make sense. If your soulmate is the one sitting across from you right now (his wife), would you tell them "i used to have another soulmate". Like? IDK. The words used implied it was bc of circumstances that E could no longer be his soulmate or perfect partner. And I just didn't vibe with that implication because if that circumstance is reversed, and any MU is cleared between E & R, is E now his perfect partner again? Is she again his soulmate?
He wasn't thinking of being smart or tactful at all. He just let out what his raw feelings were, that he'd been trying to put a lid on since he saw Esha again.
I watched the scene twice and clearly he was talking about how he felt then that she was his soulmate and perfect partner so when she left him it broke him. The thing is, he hasn't moved on from that feeling of betrayal and that won't happen until he forgives her because he'll keep letting his hatred cloud his judgement.
In the dining table scene, even if it was just a couple of lines, he made it very clear where Esha and Pallavi stood in his life. I'd use that as a point of reference.
Also consider this. What if Raghav had been a widower? Would him talking about his first wife as being his perfect partner and soulmate bother us that much?
This track is reminding me so much of Punar Vivah where the ML was a widower who loved his first wife like crazy. He remarried for the sake of the kids but over time he fell in love with her too. He didn't stop loving his first wife and the second one made a different place in his heart. It's not about replacement.
In Esha's case it's a bit different because she betrayed him (or so he thinks), and she's still alive. Raghav loves Pallavi and considers her to be his present and future. Once he gets closure after finding out the truth about Esha, His current memories of their time together have been colored by her betrayal and have made him question his self-worth in terms of money and status and he doesn't want to be sucked into that quicksand again. The day he knows the truth, the memories will be colored differently and he'll be able to move on. I expect he will just remember her as a memory of the person who shaped his present and future.
Anyway, this is my read of the situation but I respect that people have different interpretations.