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The white elephant and whitish horse figurines in the Agnihotri living room were shown in the background many times, not just for Niranjan, but also for Vinayak and Ajinkya, as far as my memory serves me. Probably they mean different things for different characters and different situations.
Horses:
Horses are known for their energy and over enthusiasm. There are idioms like, "If wishes were horses..."and "hold your horses", which are coined based on this trait. Niranjan got over enthusiastic regarding both Aastha and Aditi and he almost lost his favorite son's life.
28/mar/2014
The idiom, "from the horse's mouth", means that the information is authentic as the person giving it is the trusted authority.
There is another idiom, "changing horses midstream", which means trying to change plans when its too late. Isn't that what Niranjan did when he tried to push Aditi into the equation? The horse was shown in the 26/feb/'14 episode behind Niranjan, when he was mighty impressed with Aditi's virtues and worried about Aastha's unwanted influence on Anjali and Shlok.
In hindu mythology, Hayagriva, is an avatar of Lord Vishnu, who has a human body but a horse face and he is white in color. He is a symbol of knowledge and wisdom. When Varad broke the news of the accident to Niranjan(above pic), the horse figurine was in the background. Is Niranjan finally realizing the importance of his family, at least a little?
Aastha rode a white horse in the recent episode. "riding the white horse" means to use crack/cocaineš. Shlok even called her a "crackpot"š. She is mad in loveš
Elephants:
Elephants are a symbol of wisdom. Lord Ganesha, is the lord of intellect and wisdom. There is an idiom, "to see an elephant", which means to become wiser. They show a ganesha portrait behind Kalindi and an elephant wall-hanging behind Avdhoot often these days.
18/feb/2014
Then there is the idiom "white elephant" which means something/someone is of little use but is very expensive to keep up. When Abhay was expressing his sorrow regarding the accident, there was the white elephant figurine behind Niranjan. It probably means that Abhay is the white elephant, which is useless but expensive.
29/mar/2014
The same elephant figurine was shown behind Ajinkya when Niranjan was praising Aditi's virtues in 26/feb/'14 episode. Does it mean Aditi is also useless but will prove costlyš³?
But in Hindu mythology, white elephant called Airavata is considered to be the best of all the elephants and as stated earlier, elephants symbolize wisdom. Airavata is said to bring rains so it is associated with prosperity and good luck. Once Vinayak had this white elephant in the backdrop, don't remember the episode or context though.
There is another idiom, "elephant in the room", which means that there is an obvious problem or difficult situation that people do not want to talk about.
That's all I could relate to the show from the information I found onlineš
Please share your views on these shots.
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Other posts in the series Symbolism in a Shot
Debate Mansion
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Book Talk
