In Arjun's Defense... - Page 3

Originally posted by: jdronamraju

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Shyamala,

I am honored to be initiated into the PAP to be in the company of the elite group of the Arjun family !! I am glad that you like it, as it was the result of a quick outburst of outrage that I felt reading another post yesterday.

You are right, it seems like Arjun can do nothing right. If it was someone else, even a single act of what he did, would have been lauded beyond belief. What he has done to redeem himself and proclaim his love for Purvi, is an absolute act of courage, which I doubt, if under the same circumstances, even Manav would have been able to do. He just cannot seem to get a break...

You are absolutely bang on when you say, "he is, above all, an honourable young man, even if impractical and non-savvy in matters of the heart."

But, that is alright..😊. Despite all, Arjun shall overcome all obstacles and be proclaimed the winner.. !!!

I just wanted to add something more to my initial thoughts after reading some of the responses. It has been mentioned that he "caressed" Ovi's cheek. That is not how I interpret it. When you have been friends with someone all your life, you tend to demonstrate some show of affection. He could see that Ovi was concerned by this decision of his, so it was just a casual comforting gesture to reassure her. I definitely saw it that way.

To give Arjun credit, he has not seen what we have all seen. Ovi's outbursts of craziness, her dillusion, and ranting. All he thinks is that over time, she will accept it.

Anyway, as you say, this is an ongoing battle of PAP, and will keep going till the end. !!!

Loved this !!

Archana's collateral damage record would beat that of the US in Afghanistan any day. Of Manav, the less said the better.

Originally posted by: jdronamraju

There is a lot of Arjun bashing going on in lot of threads that he did not take Purvi's name in his conversation with Ovi. If you hear him carefully, he is doing it now to find himself..granted that Archana challenged him and that is how it started. But, it actually made him realize that he needs to do it for himself. That is why it is clear in his mind that he is not doing it for anybody but himself. Which is why, he doesnt take anyone's name in front of Ovi. He was not overly friendly with her as someone mentioned, he even takes her hand out of his face. The tone of his voice and demenaur was just cautiously friendly and to the point. We do have to remember that they have been friends for life. So, if she shows any concern for him, and his decision to leaveeverything, I dont think that it is going send off any alarms to Arjun. Moreover, after her emotional meltdown and knowing how she feels abour Archana, why would any guy bring upArchanaor Purvi's name in front of Ovi in this regard?

And, Ovi was a witness when he told everyone that he loves purvi and not Ovi. How many times do you want him to keep telling her? And being an old friend of hers and knowing how emotional she is, he really would not want to hurt her more. It will be like rubbing salt into her wounds...

What is Ovi's family doing in this regard? Manav knows very well thatwhen Arjun leftthe company he told them that he is leaving it for his love. So, why couldnt he say that to Ovi today? So what if it would have been harsh to Ovi? You can clearly see that she is dillusional now about Arjun. As a parent, isnt his duty to tell her the facts even if it makes her unhappy? why let her continue to think that there is still hope? Forget Savita, who is of no use to Ovi.

Archana's main concern should be to take care of Ovi, help her get out ofthis mess. Has she even discussed this with Manav? NO..She is just worried now that what if Arjun succeeds...What will I answer to Manav and Ovi. Which is why, I think she is being the prediciton of doom - of Arjun's Failure...

My two cents...

Originally posted by: sashashyam

My dear Jyoti,

Welcome to the Protect Arjun (now not Arjun Kirloskar) Project (PAP)!

This is a chronically understaffed and forever overworked outfit, and no one is better placed to testify to its endless efforts to explain, argue and otherwise debunk unwarranted attacks on Archana's boy than I. And Archana of course, but then, unlike me, she can be accused of a maternal bias.

However, despite all our eloquence, logic (well, we do not believe in any undue modesty!) and persistence, I doubt whether we have been able to dent the strength of the Critics of Arjun Group (CAG) to any significant extent, even of those who always preface their salvos with " It is not that I do not like AK, but..." (a pronouncement strongly reminiscent of Sir Humphrey Appleby in Yes Minister explaining that he is not against women).

You have made an entry into the PAP in style. Though this latest post of yours is, sensibly, limited to countering the latest salvo against him - that he did not handle Ovi correctly in his chance meeting with her on the road - it is crisp, comprehensive and entirely convincing to all those who keep an open mind on the subject of the bizarre goings on in PR. No wonder you have garnered a unprecedented amount of support.

I used to think, at the beginning of my PAP accreditation, that the persistent hostility to Arjun was directly related to the strength of the pro-Purvi lobby, which can be conservatively placed at about 95% of the forum. Those were the days when Purvi was shrieking (now, after watching Archana in action, I see where she got this high decibel addiction from!) at Arjun every other day for his acts of omission vis a vis both herself and Ovi (who, she affirmed, had loved him since she was 14 - a Goebbelsian pronouncement if ever there was one, of unknown origin and eternal life).

Since Arjun those days was invariably tongue-tied and totally ineffective, as also very stupid in his handling of the triangular mess, my above-mentioned misconception was understandable, and even I could not condone Arjun's follies at times.

But then came his confession of his love for Purvi to Manav and the rest of the Deshmukh clan, followed by his rain-drenched rendezvous with Purvi, where he managed to override all her reservations, and topped off by his bearding Archana in her maternal den and coming off triumphant, with Purvi gazing at him as if to say "My hero!"

I thought that now the pro-Purvi lobby would at last be appeased, and the PAP could be quietly disbanded.

To my surprise, this is not what has happened. The CAG merely shifted ground somewhat, and instead of accusing him of betraying Purvi (a manifest impossibility now), they now accuse him of not just betraying Ovi, but of continuing to mislead her and push her deeper into her world of delusions. Poor Arjun, he can just do nothing right!

The only interludes when he gets a good press are when it is totally unavoidable, as after the three instances mentioned above, or when there is a nice (or even an abysmal, like the Shirt da Button) song that provides a romantic Arjun-Purvi diversion from serious business. However, these interludes are just that, and at the first opportunity, it is open season on Arjun again.

So you see, there is no winning this contest. This latest instance, for example, can be countered with 3 points:

1) If Arjun had told Ovi, out there in the street - as many in this forum have been advocating - that he was doing all this to win Purvi's hand, firstly, there would have been a hysterical scene that might have brought the police down on him for apparently harassing a girl.

2) Secondly, those who complain do not take sufficiently into account what monomania is like. Ovi would have attributed any such statement he made to some "majboori', exactly as she interpreted his confession to Manav. She would, next, have probably gone for Purvi with a kitchen knife a la Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. It was thus wise of Arjun NOT to have told her the true reason for his setting out on his own.

3) Arjun just wanted to get away from her as quietly as possible, and that is what he does. He also thinks that she will not be able to get at him in the future as she won't know where he is, and that makes him even less inclined to upset her and have a scene created on the spot.

Similarly, the idea of either Arjun or DK or both having a 'quiet' talk with and apologizing to Ovi is a non-starter. Ovi is at present in a delusional state of total denial, and if she can persist in believing that Arjun still loves her after he has said, loud and clear, to her face and Manav's, that he does not love her and that he loves Purvi, what can be expected from a 'quiet' meeting with her, except that it likely to be anything but quiet?

Arjun has repeatedly expressed his regret for having, in effect, ditched Ovi. But then this is something that happens all the time in real life, and the person breaking off cannot be hung drawn and quartered for it. Nor is here any point in saying that he should have broken off with Ovi before he said anything to Purvi. These things just happen, and cannot always be sequenced like a business meeting. Shakespeare does not clarify what Romeo did with Rosalind, but he surely did not ease her out before he fell headlong in love with Juliet. Does anyone pillory Romeo for that?

Agreed, Arjun should have told Ovi the truth much earlier, but it is not that he did not try. If DK had not fed all that guff about Arjun loving her to Ovi, she might have been a bit more sane now, but that was not Arjun's fault.

Arjun's bad luck is that Ovi is not the kind of girl who would scream at him for ditching her, perhaps throw a flower pot at his head, and then storm off and rub him out of her life. She will just not let go, and NOTHING that he can say or could have said will change that. Even if he was rough and blunt with her, she will attribute it to some 'majboori' (compulsion), as she does wrt his confession to Manav, and carry on as before. And I suspect that this would have been the same if he had managed to tell her the truth about Purvi that very first morning after his interlude with Aashana.

His worse luck is that he cares genuinely for Ovi, and that he is, above all, an honourable young man, even if impractical and non-savvy in matters of the heart. If he had been a cad or a real two-timer, he would have emerged from this mess spotless and unscathed.

He has made many mistakes, but then who in PR has not, and FAR more destructive ones than he? Archana's collateral damage record would beat that of the US in Afghanistan any day. Of Manav, the less said the better. Arjun's tenacity in fighting for his love, at times with his love herself, and his readiness to give up all that defined and protected him so far for the sake of his love for her, should normally compel admiration, even if reluctantly given. It is a pity that even if it does so, it is all too fleeting. The PAP is obviously not going to be able to hang up its boots any time soon!

Shyamala

PS:@red. You are spot on. I have always felt this, and you might have seen my latest on this in my response to Tulsey in the Brief Update of June 29 thread: "Thank heavens she does not live in the Karanjkar chawl these days; she would have been busy trying to hex Arjun into becoming a failure, just so that she can be proved right, and Purvi's happiness be damned".

Dear Shyamala,

Take a bow! Can there be anything more explanatory than this I wonder?

I agree to all the reasoning that your have detailed, more so the ones in blue. Some are a sad state of affairs, but can't help it.

@pink, that is funny, but I definitely would be more interested to read your thoughts on "US in Afghanistan" any day than Archana's dealings in PR.

Originally posted by: bee5

JD,

If this is the "result of a quick outburst of outrage" as you stated in your other post, then I must applaud you even more for such a thought-out and concisely written post. Agree to each and every sentence in the 1st 3 paragraphs. The last one, I really don't care much about what Archana does or does not do with Ovi or Manav. I know for sure Arjun will pass the challenge and very soon Archana will be walking around with the pride of achieving a trophy SIL without a thought to what all words she used against him.

Originally posted by: soapwatcher1

Arch, not against your poor boy at all! 😉 I want to give him the benefit of the doubt on everything since he has given up everything for the sake of my ladli! True love hath Arjun for Purvi! I am not denying that. Also not questioning that both Manav and Archana need to take matters into their hands and get Ovi out of this delusional thinking. But, and that is a big but to me (I will forgive Arjun as he is going to be my damaad and maybe because of his years, he is still a bit wet behind the ears) BUT as Ovi is his childhood friend and this was not just an arranged marriage that he could get out of by telling the bride's dad "I love another girl", I think he owed it to Ovi to tell her he cannot marry her and why. Manav asked him "do you love Ovi" Arjun's answer was "no, I love Purvi". He didn't say I cannot marry Ovi because I love another (implied, understood, yes but he got into the engagement loving another so the crazy girl might think he will get married to her loving another - she needs it spelt out). As Ovi's friend and as Arjun himself realized and told Purvi "manaalunga usko", he does need to apologize to her in person, explain the circumstances of how his love happened and why he is backing out from marrying her. On principle, this would be the right thing to do. Just my take on it.

Originally posted by: soapwatcher1

Arch, I mentioned elsewhere that your ladla was to be applauded, he not only removed Ovi's hands off him on Friday but made impatient faces at her, not once but twice!! baby steps but he is learning!😆

I too agree that Arjun did not have a reason to mention why he has left his house and name behind or bring Purvi's name into the conversation, that is none of Ovi's business now. It is too late for him to tell her anything at this juncture. He should have explained it to Ovi after the shoving incident at Manav's, maybe even when she met him on the street near her house that he was sorry, had fallen in love with another and so could not marry her.

It was a shabby affair at the Deshmuck residence that day, maybe if Manav had not reacted like he did to Punni's venom, DK and Arjun may have explained the matter more sanely to Ovi and Manav. Now, Arjun better stay as far away from Ovi as possible, I hope Purvi loses no time in telling about the check incident so that he is warned to be wary and mind his words around Ovi.

Shyamala. had a hearty laugh over your beautifully satirical post, need to come back and relish it! Mysore pak calls me so I better go grab some before all is gone!

Originally posted by: Kalapi

Edited by Kalapi - 13 years ago