Originally posted by: sashashyam
Dear aishu,
I hope you will take it in the right spirit if I say that I too am a trifle disappointed, but not in Teju. I am disappointed in all those who, in a knee-jerk reaction, condemn Teju for being 'selfish'. Let us just look at the facts of the case.
Teju learns about Archana having agreed to let Purvi marry Arjun when he can produce Rs.10000/- of his own earnings. This decision of hers is in flat contradiction to what she told Savita earlier:
1) that she would stop any meetings between Arjun and Purvi and
2) that she did not think he was good enough for either Ovi or Purvi. This, by inference, would lead anyone to assume that she would forbid an Arjun-Purvi marriage.
How can one then blame Teju for concluding that Archana is a two-timing cheat, who has not banned the Arjun-Purvi marriage at all, but instead has set such a low bar for him that his coming through, and thus winning Purvi's hand, is a given? Or, in a small step from this, concluding that she is out to get a rich husband for Purvi?
Such a conclusion by Teju would be further reinforced by the fact that Archana did not tell the truth about her challenge when Ovi was hysterically blaming Manav for Arjun's descent into temporary poverty.
Imagine that you were Teju and not aishu, that Ovi was your beloved sister, and that the Archana Aunty, whom you had slowly started liking, had been both devious (so Teju believes, and with justification, seen from her point of view) and mendacious (a matter of fact; she suppressed the truth that it was all her doing). What would you have done then?
Most likely, you would have behaved exactly as she has done. Remember that for both Ovi and Teju, there is all this back history of Archana as a totally neglectful mother, whom both the girls resent deeply. This resentment was temporarily blurred in Teju's case, but at any sign that Archana just might be what Savita always says she is, the subterranean resentment surges up again like lava. 18 years of acute resentment is not easily overcome even if nothing else goes wrong.
Finally, one cannot expect Teju to cut any slack to either Archana or Purvi when Ovi is concerned. Her sister would naturally come first. Teju is eminently sensible and she does NOT want Ovi to marry Arjun any more. She also tries her best to rescue Ovi from her delusions. But she does all this not to make matters easier for Arjun and Purvi, but to get Ovi back to normalcy as soon as possible.
One cannot ask Teju to rejoice in or even easily accept that Purvi is going to get what her sister has been deprived of. What is Purvi to her compared to her own sister?
And then, when Purvi's own mother does not seem to care for her feelings or her fate at all, and is instead obsessed with Ovi, the daughter who hates her guts, why blame Teju for not living up to impossible standards of benevolence?
It is also entirely natural for Teju to tell Ovi about the challenge once she learns (from Ovi) that she has overheard her conversation with Archana. Since Ovi knows everything worth knowing, the details of the challenge would hardly add anything dramatic to what she knows already. Once she had overheard Teju dressing Archana down, her irruption into the garage was a foregone conclusion.
@red. Where is there any question of 'now'? You must have heard Archana cross-examining Purvi yesterday about whether she had met Arjun, and Purvi falling all over herself to deny that she had committed any such jurrat. That exchange made it clear that Archana's earlier diktat, issued just before Arjun came to see her at the Karanjkar residence, that Purvi is not to meet Arjun any more, is still very much in force.
As for the comment that Archana "might start doubting Purvi for everything" , one only to listen to the whiplash in her voice and the hardness in her eyes whenever she grills to Purvi about Arjun to realise that she had started doubting Purvi since a good while ago. So nothing is going to get any worse there.
I was only a bit surprised to see her smiling acquiescence in what Purvi very hesitantly proposes wrt a new job for herself. This was such a sharp change from her glowering visage of the last few episodes that it leads me to suspect some hidden motive behind this unexpected show of benevolence.
I had written yesterday about what seemed like Purvi beginning to assert herself vis-a-vis Archana in the context of the Arjun-Purvi relationship. I was hopeful that she would progress, even if slowly, along these lines. Alas, one look at her timorous (not just timid) face today, and the tone of abject submissiveness she used while asking for her aai's permission for her job-related proposal, and these budding hopes were withered on the vine. Jyoti was right, we were counting our chickens before they were hatched.
This doormat syndrome is obviously catching; Archana is a doormat to the Deshmukhs, and Purvi is a doormat to Archana. Catch any kids these days, adopted or not, being so crushed under the burden of gratitude that they end up having spaghetti for a spine when the parent is concerned! Our sanskaari Purvi, however, defies this 21st century norm. One's heart goes out to poor Arjun!
Well, I had decided not to write a post today, and look what I have ended up doing- this response is almost as long as a regular post! But it is important not to expect characters to behave the way we want them to, even when that is not logical from their point of view.
Shyamala B.Cowsik
Pati Patni Aur Panga
Jaane Anjaane Hum Mile
Tum Se Tum Tak
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Vasudha
