Originally posted by: sashashyam
Dear bee5 and Janhvi,
I think we will soon be well on the way to having a whole PhD thesis on our hands solely on Arjun-Purvi, and of course I myself am a none too minor culprit in the matter!
As for what I felt after last night's episode, if, as Janhvi says, Purvi is behaving like a wife, she is in the best tradition of nagging wives, fixing Arjun with a basilisk glare, and following him around the room with menacing intent (bee, you are quite right in your criticism of this unnecessary tactic).
The worst is her going ON and ON and ON about how miserable she is and how betrayed she feels because this wretch has broken her trust so badly. Exposing her hurt and vulnerability? She wallows in it herself, and insists on rubbing his face in it without fail.
Once she has spoken her mind to him in full on this theme - and in the highest decibels possible while still remaining out of the ultrasonic - long back (at that tete a tete in the office one evening), where is the need to keep on saying the same thing like an LP stuck in one groove?
Arjun deserves all this and more, but this is about Purvi. Doesn't the girl have ANY pride or self respect or dignity? Why does she have to parade her sorrows before Arjun every chance she gets? In her place, I would have been coldly but impeccably polite, not alternately huffy and accusing. Why does she not keep off him (he never visits her cabin these days) ? Does she have to report to him in person and can it not be done on the phone? It is not as though she had anything earth-shaking to communicate anyway.
The fact is that Purvi feels better by making Arjun squirm, and by now it has become an end in itself. The "poor betrayed Ovi who loved you since she was 14" leit motif has always been there in Purvi's harangues, but now it is being embellished with Ovi's own declarations of unquestioning trust in Arjun,and this without Ovi's knowledge or consent. It might have been an unexpected windfall for Purvi, and it does achieve its purpose of making Arjun feel even more guilty, but to what end?
Then again, letting, indeed forcing Arjun to listen in on Ovi's conversation with her was downright unethical. To try to excuse Purvi by saying that she did not know all this soul baring was coming is not does not work. She had NO business doing it without Ovi's consent, and that consent would never have been given.
As for trying to impress on Arjun that "You are going to hurt her, you have already hurt me. See where your cowardice has brought all of us, I don't think you can get out of this as easily as you think however long you take. You let me down, make sure you don't let her down at least.", hasn't all this been hurled in his face at least 3 times already - in the office, in the dark room, and again in the office? (There may be more such instances, for my memory fails me when I try to keep track of these unappetising Arjun-Purvi scenes over the last 3 weeks - they seem to be all blurring into a single depressing mass). Yesterday, it DID make Arjun feel and look more guilty than ever, but to what purpose, unless, as I suspect, this is an end in itself for Purvi now?
More to the point, even if Arjun had been the epitome of courage and honour, and had 'fessed up right then at the engagement party, does Purvi imagine that all would have been hunky dory? If she does think that, she needs to have her head examined. The uproar and the condemnations would have raised the roof, and the scarring of many relationships so close to Purvi's heart would have been permanent.
Most important, as bee asked so pertinently, WHAT does Purvi actually want Arjun to do? She is decidedly ambivalent, and thus inconsistent. The result is that we are terminally confused.
Lastly, there was NO need for her to grandstand for effect and tell Ovi that she has never loved anyone. She meant it as a jab at Arjun, but it is bound to backfire on her badly when Ovi learns the truth.
It is a cardinal principle in diplomacy, as in life in general, that when you cannot tell the truth, you should avoid actual lies as much as possible. This blatant lie of Purvi's, spoken solely to turn the knife in Arjun's (metaphorical) wound, was worse than unnecessary, it was stupid. It is very likely to damage her credibility at a crucial moment in the future.
Arjun-Purvi is not merely in the doldrums, it is going backwards. Most of their interactions these days are as fresh and appealing as last week's buns.
And does Purvi have to repeat that lunch-with-Vinay outfit for the 18th time? (Well, I made up that number, but it would not be less that 12 times!). I am no admirer of Ovi's sartorial choices, but her buttercup yellow, flounced top yesterday was as least both cheerful and new.
Shyamala
