Friends, it was another Jodha-less episode yesterday till almost the very end of the episode. I thought it would just end with Jalal saying in the precap that "I hope Jodha is happy with my decision to abolish the Teerth Yatri Tax and remembers me at least once because of this news". But lo and behold, there was one more precious bit to the precap - and it was a return-ready Jodha! She told her father "Hum apni bhool sudhaarna chahte hain. Hum wapas Agra jaana chahte hain". I don't know if you all heard a deep sound after that? That was me in Chennai letting out a huge sigh of relief and satisfaction!
The episode itself was not much more than three scenes. In the first scene Jalal, Atga and Todarmal, in the disguise of common townsfolk roamed the streets trying to gauge the measure of public unhappiness with the way things were. They spotted shops overpricing goods (because "audheddars of the king needed to be paid bribes and cuts), they spotted Hindu yatris being double taxed mercilessly for the teerth yatras they made to pilgrimage spots, and when they asked for access to the King they came close to being flogged by the King's sipahis. All in all the news on the ground was dismal for Jalal. When he saw all these scenes, Jalal was reminded of his Sikri trip when he had come close himself to being beaten for not paying this pilgrim tax. He had heard Jodha crib about the injustice of it, but had done nothing about it since he came back. It was time now to really act.
The second scene showed Jalal again spending time in Jodha's hojra, asking MotiBai to leave him alone, and then looking at all of Jodha's belongings. His eyes fell on her cashbox where he remembered her saying (in flashback) that she stored her saved cash and unwanted jewelry here to be able to pay taxes on behalf of Hindu pilgrims who couldn't afford their pilgrimage trips. Jalal especially remembered Jodha asking him "How would you feel if every time you wanted to go to the dargah, you were asked to pay heavily?". Then and now Jalal had no answers. He caressed the portrait of Jodha and all that he was able to say was that he had acquired a new hunar - that of talking to the portrait!
The third scene was one long scene of two whole segments of the serial. It was the court scene where Jalal takes stock of all that he has learnt by his disguised trip into the market ... and he decides to abolish the Teerth Yatra Tax despite heavy opposition from his own Mughal clansmen. I am going to detail this scene, because a lot of folks wrote PMs to me yesterday asking for this scene to be written out. After that as usual I've added my comments on the whole episode.
But please be sure to read the spoiler at the very end that I saw this morning (thanks to Ela's prompting) which has made me feel a bit depressed, despite Jodha's return being anticipated.
Jalal abolishes the Teerth Yatri Tax amidst heavy opposition
The whole court was assembled at the DEK, when Jalal summoned in the group of Hindu yatris who had been suffering abuse and punishment and double taxation at the hands of his sipahis just outside his palace gates. "Pranaam Shahenshah" they all chorused. Jalal addressed them. "I want to know what you all were discussing about vehemently yesterday with my sipahis. Were you all planning a "bhagavat"?" Jalal asked. "No Shahenshaha" one of the men said, "We all respect you a lot. But we have severe problems of our own." Another man piped in "Yes Shahenshah, in this Sultanate we Hindus are not being treated equally. It feels like we are not being perceived as part of the praja at all! We are being looted and beaten. We are being heavily taxed for going on our Teerth Yatras." A third man then said to Jalal "For sure we are of a different religion from what you are. But are we not part of your praja? Are you only the Badshah of the Muslims in the Sultanate?"
Atga, who couldn't bear a word against Jalal jumped in saying "Watch your tongue. Don't forget you are standing in front of the Shahenshah!" But Jalal said immediately "Atga Saab," and nodded to him to stay quiet. The third man who had spoken continued "I beg your pardon, Shahenshah, but each time we try to bring our problems to you this is exactly how we are chided and made to keep silent. Is this justice?"
Jalal deep in thought and empathising with these folks said "No, you people need not stay silent and neither will any injustice be done. Tell me whatever you want to say without fear." The second man in the group who looked more despondent than the lot said "What is there to say Shahenshah? Sometimes if feels better to try and commit suicide than to suffer thus. Or maybe we should just let go our ancestral homes here and go and live in the Kingdom of some Hindu Raja. Is it our sin that we have been born in Hindu families?" Jalal looked very concerned at this. He said "No the gunaah is not your, it is mine. Despite being the Shahenshah, I have not been able to see how unhappy the awaam in my kingdom have been and what they have had to suffer. I have myself seen and experienced how this Teerth Kar is such an unjust penalty on the Hindus, but done nothing about it so far." Maham, Adham and the Maulvis looked aghast at hearing this from Jalal while Hamida beamed in pride.
Jalal then made a determination with a look of steel in his eyes "I have hereby decided that for any Hindu to travel anywhere there will no more Teerth Kar." The Hindu men, Hamida, Salima and even Mansingh looked very astonished and pleased. But Atga still had a question "Shahenshah, this tradition of levying this Teerth Kar has been there for ages. It has been in vogue from the time of your father Badshah Humayun!" Munim Khan, the rat, piped in "Yes Huzoor, the Kar is legitimate". Jalal didn't deign to reply Munim Khan but told Atga "Atga Saab, I have often told you that just because something has been happening for years doesn't make it right. If you wanted to go to a dargah, and you were being taxed for it, just how would you feel? Would that feel legitimate? And as for you, Munim Khan, you mean to say this tax is legitimate? Is it legitimate to stop someone from going to his temple? Will our khuda forgive us for doing saude-baazi on their pilgrimages? In truth, iIt is not legitimate to beat someone who asks for justice. Grabbing money from someone in the name of a Shai Framan is illegitimate. Islam prohibits us from looting anyone thus for when that person pays us we also earn his curses upon us. When we try to stop someone from praying to his God, will he not wholeheartedly curse us?" Atga and Munim hung their heads in shame and silence, when Munim slinked back into his seat and left Atga alone standing.
Jalal said "Atga Saab, summon those sipahis before me who were flogging these people yesterday." Atga signalled for the errant sipahis to be brought in. "I want to know under whose authority you were flogging these people and demanding double taxation from them yesterday?" Jalal asked them. One sipahi instantly lied to save his skin "Huzoor, nothing like that happened. I think you've been given the wrong news." Jalal was incited beyond measure "KHAMOSH!" he shouted. "I'll have you know that it was me in disguiise yesterday who stopped you by holding back your whips." The men looked shamefaced.
Jalal continued "The awaam is being openly looted. Food is being openly sold at three times its price. All this is illegal and I condemn it. Atga Saab, these men have to be punished for whipping the innocent. Let them get a hundred lashes each. And for the sin of showing my Shahi Farman and trying to eke twice the amount of taxes from everybody, let them be imprisoned and let all their homes and belongings be auctioned". "No Huzoor, please" the men pleaded but to no avail. They were marched off unceremoniously. Adham Khan smirked and Ruq and Maham looked shaken by Jalal's ferociousness.
Jalal then told Atga "Atga Saab, now bring before me those traders from the market that were trying to make unreasonable profits." The two men were bought in. One of them trying an appeasement opening said "Shahenshsh ka Iqbal buland ho". But that only enraged Jalal. "With people around like you, neither will my iqbal be buland nor will that of the Sultanate" Jalal screamed. "Now tell me on whose say-so you were selling groceries at thrice the price?" One of the men broke down "Forgive me, Shahehnshah for I have committed a mistake" he pleaded. "To loot the earnings of the innocent is not a galti, it's a gunah, so let these men be imprisoned" Jalal said. "And let their shops be seized and let there be a thorough investigation on the Shahi audhedhaars that are part of this racket" he added. Adham, Sharif and Maham looked startled by this decision to investigate the audhedhaars (for no doubt they too were among the profit-sharers, perhaps?). "Please have mercy on us" the men pleaded, but Jalal continued ruthlessly on.
He turned to Todarmal and said "Todarmal Ji, please deploy your trusted man to the market to see that anyone selling usuriously-priced items should immediately be seized. This matter is very delicate, it has to be investigated. And let the perpetrators of these crimes be given extraordinarily heavy punishment." Adham and Sharif gulped down whatever was choking in their throats as Maham stared at Jalal without blinking. "Jahapanah, a mistake has been committed by us" the traders pleaded, but they were led away mercilessly as Jalal wore a look of utter frustration on his face. "What has happened to Jalal" Adham asked Sharif under his breath. Sharif replied covering his mouth with his hands "God knows. But it's clear our days of income from rishwats are over."
Jalal then started venting his anger on the whole assembly at the DEK. "A king is like a father to his people. And if his children, the people, talk of wanting to commit suicide rather than bear torture, it is a matter of deep shame. I know that this tax is important to the incomes of the Mughal Sultanate Treasury. But it is completely not all right if because of these taxes our people die. Taxes are for the betterment of the people, not for committing crimes against them."
One the maulvis standing in the corner (the one with the balloon hat) gathered the courage to intervene. He told Jalal "Shahenshah I am with you on this matter of the high food prices." Jalal almost thought he had the concurrence of the maulvis when the maulvi continued "But on the matter of the abolishment of the Teerth Kar I am not with you." "Oh", said Jalal "okay then, from today every Muslim will also pay taxes for his prayer trips to dargahs. Do you like this?" The two younger maulvis (balloon hat and the one in white) looked gobsmacked while Mansingh looked on in approval. But a third elderly maulvi interjected "What is this Shahenshah, you are a Muslim yourself and you are thinking of taxing other Muslims?" Jalal became furious and started shouting again "Hear this clearly, a man is a man, whether he is a Hindu or a Muslim. If Hindus can pay lagaan, so can Muslims. If Muslims won't, then Hindus too won't."
The maulvi in white took on a grand air and said "Pardon me Shahenshsh but you are breaking the rules and traditions of the Sultanate." Jalal with his voice still high didn't give the maulvi time to breathe as he hit back, "For the Badshah there is only one religion and that is to serve his people. Don't you dare forget that I am not just the Badhshah of the Muslims here, I am the Shahenshah of the whole of Hindustan. And all the people in my kingdom are my subjects whether they are Musims or Hindus." Hamida and Salima looked on proudly as Jalal then lowered his voice to hit home some truths. "All the food that is grown in this kingdom is grown equally by the Hindus and Muslims. The wounds we have all borne in war, Adham has suffered them just as much as Bhagwan Das. As Atga is my wafaadar, so is Todarmal Ji as well. As men of religion surely you all know that God does not create rain only on Muslim lands nor does the wind favour only Muslims. The Hindus too pray for my well-being as do the Muslims, and the Hindus too respect me as their king. So why discriminate against them?"
The maulvi in white then dared then to tell Jalal, "Sory to say this, but it looks like your allegiance to your religion is becoming less nowadays. You have starting inducting into your darbar people who neither belong to your religion nor culture." Jalal gave a silent laugh of derision as he heard this. Jalal then replied "A Shahenshah's darbar works only when there are imaandar, wafaadar and tajurbedaar people running it. Not because of its people of the same religion who are worthless. I have inducted those I know will think for the betterment of the Sultanate, and be loyal to it. And for that matter, I'd like to know which religion teaches you to differentiate between people on the basis of religion? And may I tell you that more fraud has happened to me by people of my own religion than others?"
Another courtier (Abhay could give me the name?) rose to speak of practicalities. "You are right Huzoor, but because of lesser taxes the income of the Treasury is sure to get depleted". Adham rose then to defend that point and said "Yes that is true. If the incomes are less, how do we run the expenses of the Sultanate?" "This is a good point" Jalal conceded but he then turned to Todarmal and asked him "Todarmal Ji, can you calculate and tell me, if we remove these taxes what will be the impact on the Treasury?"
Todarmal, the far-sighted visionary that he was, showed his class and his experience. "It is true" he said "that in the initial stages there will be a negative impact on the Treasury. But in the long run it will be to our benefit. Because when we remove these taxes, the respect the awaam has for you will increase. There will fewer bhagavats. And the oppression imposed on people and the expenses involved in tax collection will reduce. To a certain extent the losses to the exchequer can be mitigated if the prices of various high-end goods sold are adjusted a bit here and there. That will not hurt the poor people. The people will not mind bearing a bit more prices for the ultimate happiness of all, and that is true Raj-Dharm" . Hamida beamed away at this advice to her son.
But the senior-most maulvi was simply not giving up "This is wrong. Cutting down the expenses of the Sultanate just to abolish the lagaan is not okay" he exclaimed. "BAS, MAULVI SAAB" Jalal shouted at the man in disgust, "have I not told you before that maulvis have to stick to religious matters only and not interfere in political affairs? Anyone unhappy with my decisions can leave my court here and now if they wish, I have no use for them! It is more important for me that my people are happy than that my coffers are full of cash. I hereby reiterate that the Teerth Kar is abolished. Atga Saab, let this decision of mine be spread to every village and town in the Sultanate." And with that Jalal applied his mohur to the Farman that Atga held in his hand.
Those that were happy with this decision praised Jalal, while those who were unhappy tried to swallow their spit and suppress their fury. No one had the guts to leave the court as Jalal suggested.
In the precap, Jalal said to himself "I hope Jodha Begum that when this news reaches you, you will be very happy! You may or may not be thinking of me, but I hope because of this news I will be on your mind at least once."
Jalal, my dear boy, she does remember you all the time, and she now is telling her father she is ready to rectify her errors and return to Agra. What more do you want, cutie pie?
My comments on this episode:
I am particularly affected by this whole tax abolition for three reasons:
a. I thought Rajat acted just perfectly in this whole episode. That OTT factor was not there, his dialogues were measured, well-paced and well-spoken. His anger was shown but in a controlled delivery of harshness and softness as required at various parts of his speech.
And overall the impression was that of a young king eager to do what was right in the face of elderly and pressurising opposition that was trying to buckle him back into the old ways. Every trailblazer knows there will be strong resistance to change, especially when change requires fiddling with politico-religious issues in a kingdom where there is a mix of people from various religions. Jalal was after all a Muslim king of a Hindu dominated population. He knew that his attitude towards the Hindus was not only right and justified when he gave them equality that they craved, but politically too that was the only way a Muslim king could continue to rule a largely Hindu state without causing frequent uphreavals, bhagavats and frequent challenges to his authority. He had to keep the Hindus as happy as the Muslims and the rewards would be greater - for the Hindus were larger in numbers.
Abhay has written a beautiful PM to me on how large the loss would be to the Sultanate's Treasury as a result of the abolishment of the Teerth Yatri Tax. The estimates then were that the loss to the exchequer would be at least a million rupees per annum as a result of this tax no longer being levied. That was a huge loss indeed that Jalal had the courage to take on.
The beauty of the whole DEK scene to me was the justification that Todarmal gave for it. He said "Yes the short-term money-losses would be felt, but the long-term benefits could not be scoffed at either. There would be fewer disgruntled people, less bhagavats, less expense in running after people to collect taxes. And to some extent the loss to the exchequer could be mitigated if high-end goods could be price-adjusted a bit whereby the axe of high prices would not fall upon the poor."
All in all the arguments of the whole speech were perfect, it was all delivered perfectly with no overacting - and even the subsidiary actors did their parts well. I have no complaints on this episode and its scenes at all.
b. From the emotional point of view, Jalal has just finished visiting Jodha's hojra and seen how very concerned she was regarding this Teerth Yatri Tax. He knew her objections. But the part that seemed to affect him was her little cash box where she had saved money and jewellery to help poor Hindus to pay these taxes if they could not afford it.
That was the part that touched him most as he took out some of the coins and necklaces inside the cash box. It had mattered a lot to Jodha that the poor Hindus were suffering under these taxes and she was doing her little bit to help them without asking Jalal for any money for this. She was saving out of her expenses kit for this.
She was a Queen with all the money at her disposal, but yet she was secretly building a small fund to help the poorest of the Hindus to go on their pilgrimages.
I thought that scene was special because it is exactly these types of small things one must notice about the person one loves. To know them well, to know their emotions and motivations and feelings well, one has to see where they are putting their small daily priorities. And seeing Jodha's little cash box must have shown Jalal exactly what would thrill her heart.
I have no doubt that even though it was all a financial-political decision for a King to take, somewhere in his heart Jalal must have hoped that his abolishment of the taxes would thrill Jodha no end. There was hidden emotion in his decision as he himself showed in the precap, when he said "At least think of me once when you hear this news!"
c. The question of the maulvis being disgruntled with Jalal seems to be a growing story. With every decision taken, Jalal is getting closer to the praja for sure but he is also creating enemies from within his current close coterie.
It is a risk he is taking knowingly, I am sure for he said in one part of his speech that he would rather have his darbar full of the "imaandaar, wafaadaar and tajurbedaar" variety than with pheeke people of the same religion. That was a pretty powerful statement to make to the maulvi s that directly accused him of betraying his own religion by amassing Hindus into his darbar and favouring them with less taxation.
But the price one has to pay for greatness is the animosity of the petty-minded. I think Jalal is wise enough to understand the pros and cons of the decisions he is making. It is never easy to be in a position of power where one can do a powerful lot of good for a lot of people - but also have to face powerful opposition from the ones that get disenfranchised.
What happens when a King continues to make more and more of such decisions? He gets increasingly alienated from his own family and close ones because they are the usual ones to get shunted out of his life as he replaces the undeserving relatives in his circle with those of merit and competence.
Jalal is on his way to becoming Akbar the Great, but he is also on the way to becoming Akbar the Alone. This is where the role of love becomes crucial to him. For if his love can remove that sense of loneliness that comes with great power, all life and all decisions become worth it!
I think that is the real beauty of the Jodha Akbar story. It is not just about how Jodha made Akbar the Great out of Jalal the Jallad. It is about how Jalal rose to become Akbar the Great from his own learnings and decisions but was saved from becoming Akbar the Alone by the love of Jodha that took all loneliness out of his life and filled it with companionship and partnership, even when the rest of the world seemed not to understand how alone he felt!
The spoiler that is spoling my mood!
Just as I was about to post my take this morning I saw this spoiler that someone has posted. It appears to be an article from some magazine (I don't know which one) but it predicts that Jodha and Jalal's consummation will happen in the context of Ruqaiya being again pregnant.
Here is the spoiler (courtesy whoever posted it):
The much awaited consummation scene of Jodha and Akbar is soon going to come on your TV screens. Zee TV's popular show Jodha-Akbar has always delighted it's viewers by strong story line and amazing star cast. Audiences like to watch the romantic scenes between Jodha- Akbar and have been waiting for a long time to see their passionate consummation track. After a month long separation of Jodha and Akbar due to Akbar's misunderstanding, Jodha is all set to return to her husband's palace. She will be whole heatedly welcomed in the palace by all. On the day of their marriage anniversary Jalal will have to leave Jodha and go to save Shehnaaz's son Rahim as he will be in danger. Jodha will argue with him for leaving her alone that night, but crisis doesn't end here, the same night they will get to know that Rukaiya is pregnant. Poor Jalal will have to leave Jodha alone again to meet Rukaiya. Jodha will feel terribly bad and she will fight with Jalal. He will try to pacify her and then slowly they will forget everything and fall into each other's arms. Ekta Kapoor is famous for beautifully portraying love on small screen. We really hope this one too will be liked by Jodha-Akbar fans. Are you excited to watch the passionate romance of your favorite TV couple?
I am not sure here if Ruqaiaya is really pregnant or she fears that Jodha has returned and she and Maham think of this pregnancy-faking to separate Jodha and Jalal. I hope it is the latter.
But even if their plans fail, I don't like the idea of this extra distraction on the side when the consummation scene is being included.
Can anybody call Zee and say we don't like this idea at all?!!!
Udne Ki Aasha
Pushpa Impossible
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