Well, folks, I see that tempers are raging high, and Purvi is, no question about it, firmly in the doghouse. As a charter member of the PAP (Protect Arjun Project), I feel that this is a curious turn of events. Even more curious is that my take on Purvi's behaviour in today's episode is somewhat different, not just from the rest, but also from the way I have been seeing her all along. I am not , as you know, a Purvi-groupie, in fact quite the opposite, and I have always been accusing her of not fully reciprocating Arjun's passion for her, and in fact of not being even capable of it. So, when I say this today about Purvi, it should carry some extra weight.
I think she refused Archana's offer of a meeting with Arjun not out of an obsessive respect for her mother's diktat, but for a different reason. True, she is generally scrupulously obedient (though she does NOT shrink away from Arjun at the hospital), and the latest evidence for this is when she decides not to call Arjun to thank him (it would have been useless in any case, and they would have taken away his mobile in the police lockup, but that is besides the point). Her not insisting on being taken along to the police station means nothing, she would have been verbally slapped down if she had done that and it is pointless to invite yet another snub. Sulochana helps her out as always.
When she does not even try to look at Arjun at the police station, it is not a gesture of subservience to her mother, rather the opposite. She knows that her Arjun is in this mess because of Archana, and she cannot face it precisely because it hurts her too much to see him there, when she cannot run to him, hold his hands and caress his face to comfort him.
But it is different when Archana tells her she can meet Arjun if she wants to, and she sidesteps it without actually turning it down. The way she looks at Archana when she says that she wants to go back to the hospital is a curious one, and decidedly ambiguous.
My reading is that Purvi does not want to be treated like a foolish child any more: slapped and told to get lost one day, screamed at and dragged to the door another day, and then, when Archana feels guilty about the mess Arjun has landed in because he helped Sulochana and saved her life, to be offered a meeting with him like a lollipop.
Her refusal is, I feel, a first step towards independence from Archana, and not a slavish display of obedience. She does not want to be treated like a puppet or a piece of property any more, to be abused one day and indulged the next. liked that little gesture of quiet, understated defiance, if not actual anger, or so I read it. Archana did not know what to make of it, for she is sure that Purvi must be dying to meet Arjun.
I hope at least some of you think, on reconsidering the matter, that you might agree with me (and Arvi_licious) ? I do not claim to be an expert at decoding the minds of the CVs, but I do feel that this is a case of Laurie's "cautious caterpillar" moving to the chrysalis stage, if not spreading her wings in triumphant freedom as a butterfly. I hope, at least for the sake of my poor Arjun, that I am right about this.
This apart, for those across the Atlantic who are yet to see the episode, please don't worry about any police excesses against Arjun, He got off very lightly seeing that they suspect him of being a gang member. A couple of slaps, that is all, and they seemed much less forceful than Manav's, and there were 3 slaps then!
In fact I thought that today's PR was a good advertisment for the Mumbai police. They not only listen to Arjun, who, as usual, is not very coherent, but then actually take the trouble to go to the hospital to get Sulochana's statement, and as she is there in the hospital at that time, Archana's as well.
They do not let Arjun go just the basis of Archana's character certificate, or DK's confirmation of his identity, but in their place, I would do the same. Being a very rich man's son does not automatically mean that the boy cannot be a gangster as well. They are on the track of that gang, and they need to be VERY sure about Arjun before they release him.
The catch here is whether the man in the boot will ever regain consciousness at all. I have so far fallen flat on my face with all my meticulous analysis of The Mystery of the Body in the Boot, which I had hoped would be at least a proper, exciting whodunit, with a cliffhanger of a court case with Arjun in the dock. The CVs have reduced it all to a damp squib, as (our) Archana had anticipated, and it only goes to show how little I am able to enter into their thought processes. That is probably a blessing, seeing how nutty they are most of the time, but it is a serious stumbling block when reading the tea leaves for PR. But all is not lost, and there might still be some fireworks if the chap kicks the bucket without ever regaining consciousness.
I loved DK today. When speaking to the police, he is all patrician reticence, and he offers the only sensible proof of Arjun's identity, to check against his photo in a business magazine (though he intends it, at that point, to prove that the detainee is not Arjun).
When Archana turns up to seek his help to rescue Arjun, as DK knows perfectly well that it is Archana's folly that has brought his son to this pass, he wants to rub it in. He has no notion of letting her escape from the burden of guilt so easily. He puts Archana in her place so smoothly and effortlessly, without a single word spoken in anger. Like a hot knife going thru butter.
Now that is class. Not like the fishmarket style screaming of the Ds and the Ks alike – whether it is Savita, Manav, Teju, Ovi, or Archana. I have never heard DK raise his voice no matter what the situation was, and the post-Purvi Arjun is patience and good manners personified, no matter what the provocation, and he faces plenty.
However, I am not sure that this is an entirely good thing, and I was pleased when the old, autocratic Arjun Kirloskar surfaced for one brief moment at the hospital reception desk. But he vanished all too soon, and 'just Arjun' was back to sirring everyone in sight, and apologizing for his own existence. When Manav barks at him and demands to know why he is here, this Arjun does not even have the presence of mind to inform him that it was he who had brought Sulochana to the hospital. These are not good signs. Discovering yourself does not mean eviscerating yourself and letting anyone and everyone trample over you.
In fact, I did not at all like the way Arjun panicked when he was being taken away by the cops. In such a calamity, one has to keep a cool head and that is what I would have expected of DK's son. Just a few days of being a garage hand seemed to have reduced Arjun to one, or almost so. Some more time doing the poor man act and he will completely forget how to be Arjun Kirloskar, which would be a great pity.
While of the topic of putting people in their place, Sulochana did a splendid job with Teju today, turning a cold shoulder and conveying in no uncertain terms that (a) Teju has been most ungrateful, and (b) that she cannot be abysmally rude to her and Purvi one day, and then turn up another day, and behave as if nothing had happened and expecting that Sulochana should behave likewise. Manav's daughters need lessons in handling relationships, as also in common civility, and this was lesson no.1 for Teju, one that she is unlikely to get from her fawning and over eager aai.
The other person who deserves not one but a whole volley of claps is the garage owner Farooq. His unquestioning trust in such a recent recruit, and his readiness to help Arjun to any extent, show not only his generosity but, more important, his ability to judge character accurately, something that is sadly lacking in Archana. It is this kind of heartwarming relationship with a simple man that will be the true khazana (treasure) that Arjun will gain from his exile, an exile comparable to the agnyaatavaas of his legendary namesake in the Mahabharata. And it is this that will teach him to cherish what matters the most in life, and when he finally returns to his own world, enrich his existence with the warmth of uncomplicated comradeship, and of affection and caring given without any thought of return.
Shyamala B.Cowsik
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