Posted:
Disclaimer: I am neither a fan of Ruqaiyya nor against her. She is a very important part of the narrative and an integral part of the puzzle that is the Jalal-Jodha relationship. I have tried to avoid comparisons with Jodha or references to Jodha deliberately. This is exclusively about Begum-e-Khas Ruqaiyya Sultan Begum. Please keep this in mind while posting comments.
When I was watching yesterday's episode, I felt how delusional Ruqaiyya is getting day-by-day. Her statement (after SB leaves her company) that Jalal has no "dil" left me undecided whether to laugh or cry. She still seems to believe that Jalal, who is searching high and low for Jodha personally, with just a few soldiers for his security and to take care of his comfort, has merely gone to bring back Jodha for the sake of the Mughal Sultanat's prestige and for the sake of the grief-stricken HB. She seems to still live in denial about the "mohabbat" between Jalal and Jodha. In an earlier episode, when she had gone to feed HB (who seemed to have lost her appetite in her grief), I had briefly felt that her redemption track had started and she was in the process of changing for the better. But the very next instant, she clarified to SB that her feelings for Jodha remained unchanged.
In the whole of Agra, apart from Jalal and Jodha themselves, the only person who is in denial about their love seems to be Ruqaiyya. Why should an, otherwise, intelligent woman fail to see the writing on the wall? Why is she unable to see the drastic changes in Jalal, his very obvious obsession for all things related to Jodha and his increasing distance from her? Why is she unable to see the subtle but dramatic turnaround in Jodha's attitude and behaviour towards Jalal? Does she seriously believe the "nothing but dost" theory put forward by Jalal and Jodha?
- She was the first person to whom Jalal confessed his love for Jodha (though he later laughed it off).
- She was the first person to whom Jalal confessed his friendship with Jodha.
- When Ruqaiyya was pregnant, Jalal allowed Jodha to give her kesar milk.
- In the false pregnancy track, he was willing to lie to Ruqaiyya that the child was his and that he had a relationship with Jodha. He was even willing to forgo his friendship with Ruqaiyya.
- In the Tasneem track, he accepted Jodha on par with Ruqaiyya for the first time and later was ready to even divorce her to support the law against child marriage.
- When Ben carried away Ruqaiyya as a hostage, he let Atga bring Ruqaiyya back while he stayed near Jodha.
My view is that in her heart of hearts, she knows the truth but does not want to face it.
Ruqaiyya has spent the better part of her life with Jalal and knows no other family or friends apart from him. Yet he has never offered her anything more than (a deep and abiding) friendship. He is ready to indulge her, forgive her little trespasses, play games with her or even discuss politics with her. He is ready to make her the "Mallika of Hindustan" and the "Begum-e-Khas" of the harem. There is only one thing he is not willing to share with her and that is his heart. She, on her part, is loyal to him, in return for exclusive and undivided attention from him.
There is only one thing she is not willing to share and that is Jalal. She both controls him and is dependent on him. She cannot accept another woman, an outsider in all respects, walk into her husband's life and heart, mind and soul. She cannot accept that a heart that had all these years been inert should suddenly start floating on Jalal's sleeve, and that too for someone else. Her insecurity with regard to Jodha speaks volumes for her own changed feelings.
She took Jalal for granted all these days and never made any efforts to take their relationship to the next level, mentally, emotionally, psychologically. She wasn't even equipped to do this. For instance, when Jalal lost Bairam Khan, she simply didn't know how to console him or even that she needed to console him. And even after perceiving a threat to her place in Jalal's life from Jodha, she has not changed at all. She still believes that she can control Jalal as before and that he will always be hers alone.
It might be better to say that she has changed for the worse since Jalal's marriage with Jodha.
- In the Moti-AK case, she was willing to watch the fun while a drunk AK chased Moti through the harem.
- She had the temerity to tell Jodha that Jalal would dump her after spending one night with her.
- In the Benazir track, she publicly humiliated Jodha several times and even attempted to throw her out of her hojra and spite her by forcing Jalal to marry a kaneez. This after Jodha had saved her marriage in the past.
- The Ruqaiyya insecurity track showed the depths to which a queen could sink to retain her audha and her control over her husband.
What she fails to realize is that she is herself pushing Jalal towards Jodha through her behaviour.
This is really sad because in the early part of the show, Ruqaiyya had come across as someone who was very regal and graceful, haughty but not rude. She is beautiful, intelligent, talented, with a deep sense of justice. She was someone Jalal wanted to spend all his time with, while in Agra. She had so much potential to be a legendary queen on the basis of the sheer force of her personality and the goodness of her nature. But she chose to become legendary on the basis of her audha and political ambitions.
Maybe, if she had been guided properly by HB and Gulbadan Begum in her childhood, she might have been better grounded and less vulnerable to manipulation by MA.
Let me end this post with a few scenes that are among my Ruqaiyya favourites.
1. The earliest Ruqaiyya interactions with Jalal when Ruqaiyya was played by Smiley. One particular scene is when she is scolded by Jalal for almost getting someone killed and he asks her to leave the DEK. She leaves in a majestic manner, head held high, doing sajda all the way out, till she is out of his sight.
2. Every time Ruqaiyya shows her sense of justice, even where Jodha is concerned. Whether her support for Jodha in the miscarriage track or later in the false pregnancy case when she slaps Hoshiyar for daring to suggest killing the child in Jodha's womb.
3. The letter Ruqaiyya writes to Humayun when Jalal is about to divorce her shows how emotionally dependent she is on Jalal.
4. When Jalal confesses that he sees Jodha also as a friend, she asks in a heart-wrenching manner whether his new friend will replace her.
5. I hated Ruqaiyya landing in the middle of the Kajri-Badal track. But now when I look back, I can only see her love for Jalal that made her shun the comforts she is used to and undertake an arduous journey. (Some may view this as her insecurity, but insecurity is present where love is present. And yes, Jodha fans, Jodha also undertook the arduous journey especially in her delicate health condition, but this is not about Jodha. 😊)
Ruqaiyya is at a crossroads in her life. One way leads to a state of happy coexistence with Jodha and the other way leads to an isolated but still auda-driven lifestyle. Let's see which way she chooses in the show.
