Any similarities to anyone’s work are completely coincidental. No intention to copy.
The scene is inspired from a Telugu film I was watching recently (Athadu: 2005).
I am no writer but wanted to give this a shot. Please forgive typos or errors. FYI this is amateur work!
As usual, Avi and Inny- Credit theeskondi!
Epiphany:
“Dhara Di! Aap ghar pe ho?” Raavi said as she entered the Pandya house with some kachoris she grabbed along the way.
The door was left wide open and no one was in the house?
“Arrey koi hai?” She said loudly again as she heard a thud from Dhara and Gautam’s bedroom.
She walked over to the room to find Shiva on a ladder replacing the tube-light in the room.
“Shiva tu yahan? Kya kar raha hai? Sab log kahan hai?” She asked as she made herself comfortable on the bed.
“Aagai Princess” He thought to himself.
“Cricket khel raha hoon gadhedi, dikh nahi raha kya kar raha hoon?” He asked as he got off the ladder. “Krish college gaya hai, Dev aur Gaumbi dukaan, Dhara bhabhi aur maa mandir, ab chal nikal yahan se” He said as he grabbed a kachori from the packet in Raavi’s hand.
“Shiva main ghar nahi jaa sakthi, tujhe pata hai na aaj ladke waale aaye hai Anita di ko dekhne ke liye.”
“Toh?”
“Bade ho jao Shiva, sirf height aur weight ki baat nahi kar rahi hoon mein. Mera matlab, akal se bade ho jao” Raavi said as she pointed to her brain.
“Shuru ho gayi iski bakwaas” Shiva thought to himself as he sat on the chair next to the dresser.
“Soch Shiva, agar tu ek maruti gaadi lene ke liye gaaya aur uske bagal mein ek.. Hmm.. BMW hai, tu kaunsa lega?” Raavi began to say.
“Socho ki tu ek portable TV khareedne gaye aur tujhe ek..”
“Plasma” Shiva finished her sentence.
“Haan, plasma TV dhik gaya, tu kaunsa lega?” Raavi continued
“Kya bol ne ki koshish mein hai tu?” Shiva asked, annoyed.
“Shiva, samajh na, Anita di Maruti hai, aur main BMW, Di Portable TV hai aur main Plasma” Raavi said cheerfully. “Anita Di, Lifebuoy soap hai aur main lux!”
Shiva let out a sigh.
“Main toh Somnath ki sabse sundar ladki hoon na, Main nahi chahti ki meri khubsurti unke liye problem create kare. Issi liye main yahan aayi.” She continued praising herself.
“Bhagwan ki kripa se Anita di ke zindagi mein life aur boy dono aajaye. Phir toh mere liye Ranveer Singh, Hrithik Roshan jaise ladkon ki line lagne waali hai.”
Shiva stared at her in disbelief.
“Dekh le, tu bhi acche se dekh le, teri nazar bhi nahi hat rahi hai na mujhse” She said, teasing him.
Shiva averted his gaze.
“Hey Bhagwan, mujhe itna sundar kyun banaya” she said looking above while taking another bite of the kachori.
“Itni superficial? Isko abhi zameen pe leke aata hoon” He thought to himself.
“Ay, Chipkali, kutta paal, billi paal, par galat phemi mat paal”
“Tu kisi bhi angle se toh mujhe khubsurat nahi lag nahi” Shiva said flatly.
Raavi lifted her head up and looked at him, baffled and perplexed.
“Aankhein teri kuch zyada hi badi hein, naak aur …” Shiva stopped as he saw Raavi beginning to tear up.
“Shiva? Kya keh raha hai tu? Maana ki humari banti nahi hai par tu mere looks ke baare mein..?” She asked slightly sobbing.
“Ro mat, Ab tu soch Maami ki behen ki beti” Shiva began
“Log BMV ki tareef karte hai par end mein Maruti hi khareed the hai. Log plasma TV ki sapne dekhte hai, pan asal zindagi mein portable TV hi dekhte hai.”
“Sach, Shiva?” Raavi asked innocently
“Sach, Raavi.” Shiva responded.
“Padai mein toh vaisi hi nalli hai. Log tera dil rakhne ke liye teri khoobsurti ki baatein karthe hai. Meri baat maan Raavi, Itni tension mat le aur ghar jaa, Samjhi? Chal Nikal.”
Raavi got up with her eyes filled with tears, left the Pandya house without uttering a word to Shiva and began to head home.
Shiva shook his head slightly and wondered why Raavi was so affected by his words. Taunting each other was normal, right? “Isko kya hua? bina jawab diye nikal gayi? yeh rone kyun lag gayi?” Shiva shrugged the thought and went back to his chores.
On the way home in the rickshaw, Raavi reflected back on the conversation she had with Shiva. This was not their usual banter, Shiva had just broken all her illusions and delusions.
Shiva made her realize how superficial she was, she realized how much she must have hurt him since childhood by calling him names and taunting him about his clothes and she realized there were a number of people she wanted to apologize to.
“Meri identity sirf ‘somnath ki sabse sundar ladki’ ka hai kya? Agar mere chehre ko kuch hua to meri kya value hogi? Ab dekho main kaise padungi aur kuch banungi. Muhje logon ko galat prove karna hi hoga, nahi nahi Shiva ko galat prove karna hoga. Bilkul bhi nahi, mujhe yeh apne liye karna hoga” She decided.
That day she had an Epiphany!
Note:
I got this idea after discussions on various platforms about yesterday’s episode that showed Raavi comparing her skin tone with Disha. The point that irked me the most was that the WRITERS used colorism to portray superiority. That’s not okay. The WRITERS indicated that Raavi for a second, felt superior as she had a lighter skin tone.
Women in real life already are conscious about their bodies, so makers didn’t have to reinforce THAT notion. Women don’t have it easy anyway.
Entertainment has the power to shape opinions.
The pen is mightier than a sword.
Writers have to be sensitive!
I will end my rant here before I offend anyone!
PS: I dont mean to bash any character, I love both Shiva and Raavi. My criticism is for the creatives and the writers!
Music Corner
