Friends, something a little strange happened yesterday in the Mughal family ... which only in the precap Jalal sets right with his "to-the-point thinking". I wonder how many of you noticed this!
See, let's just go back a bit to the previous episodes of the serial this week. This whole issue of Bakshi Bano telling Sharif this big lie about the baby being a boy arose when Sharif hit Bakshi for saying the baby may be a girl. Even if he had been merely upset with her hinting at a daughter Bakshi would have not lied. But it was fear of his physical violence that actually made Bakshi lie. That is the stark truth of this matter.
But what happened the whole of yesterday was that three other seemingly valid reasons were touted as the causes for Bakshi lying to Sharif and thus the real truth got covered ... till Jalal astutely in the precap opened out the matter for full investigation and exposure.
The "ego-hurt reason", the "sultanate embarrassment reason" and the "boy-bias reason"covers the truth!
At the beginning of the episode yesterday, the reason for Sharif's anger took a different convenient interpretation. After the maulvis berated Sharif roundly and soundly for making a mockery of the circumcision ritual by bringing a baby girl to the table, it started hitting Sharif that Bakshi had belittled, insulted and embarrassed him before the maulvis. She had lied blatantly and made a laughing stock of him. He had been reduced to shame and scandal that his own wife had hoodwinked him on the gender of the child. Nursing this new reason for his anger, Sharif bundled the baby and carried it back to Bakshi's room, frothing at the mouth in desperate chagrin.
Now in Bakshi's room, what did we see? Hamida of all people was telling Bakshi that what she did was horrible. She should not have lied to Sharif, her own husband, about the baby's gender because it was going to all reduce the Sultanate in the eyes of the praja to ridicule! Did Hamida take a moment to really check with Bakshi, why she had to give Sharif such a big lie in the first place?
Jodha did try to pipe in with a better answer nevertheless - that Bakshi was afraid that Sharif only wanted a boy and hence she lied. But that argument was also not the complete answer. Bakshi was not afraid of Sharif's "boy-bias" she was afraid of Sharif's "violence" because of the boy-bias!
Anyway, even Jodha's half-correct argument just washed off Hamida's back. I found Hamida again saying "You should tell Sharif that you made a mistake. Surely in time your husband will learn to love even a daughter. You should trust his natural fatherly instincts".
In all this advice it would have helped if Bakshi too, instead of crying, had opened her mouth and told her mother that Sharif gets violent if he doesn't get his way! But Bakshi did not say what was needed to be heard!
I found it very disturbing, frankly, that Hamida and all the ladies were advising Bakshi to take Sharif into confidence and tell him the truth with an apology for "she had really hurt his ego by fooling him on the baby's gender and made Jalal an object of ridicule in front of everybody in the Sultanate"! It never occurred to anyone to analyse the point more fully as to why exactly Bakshi was so MORTALLY AFRAID of telling Sharif!
Now Sharif comes into the room just then and he too, instead of coming round to the crux of his problem, raves and rants about how Bakshi had made him look utterly stupid in front of everybody and how she had belittled him, insulted his pride and reduced him to a laughing stock. Hamida and gang get all the more convinced therefore that this was all about Sharif's "ego-hurt" and "embarrassment to the family"! Hamida thus tells Jodha and Salima "We too must be off to quell the gossip among the praja on this matter!"
Okay, now, just a little later in the episode we have a very interesting debate in the harem when Ruq and Jodha thrash out this "boy-bias" angle. Ruq starts off by saying "Bakshi was very wrong in telling lies to Sharif, because it is but natural that any man always prefers a male heir!" Jodha then gives loud voice to this point that Bakshi was afraid of Sharif wanting only a boy and getting very upset about that. The debate then goes into this whole issue of why boys are preferred by most men (Ruq's argument) while Jodha argues that women are as competent as men and so the bias against girls in society is wrong (Jodha's argument).
Eventually Salima blows the whistle on this argument by siding with Jodha and saying "Jodha is right for we did have an exemplary woman ruler in Razia Sultan who was as good if not better than any man!" But Ruq is still not fazed. She says "Notwithstanding all your arguments, this Mughal Sultanate will always, and has always, favoured male kings and male heirs." Jodha replies "But see how Jalal himself sees no bias between boys and girls, he made his mother Marium Makkani!" Ruq triumphantly says "Yes ... but still the Marium Uz Zamani title goes to the queen who produces a MALE HEIR!" The last word here seems to be that of Ruq for Jodha has no answer to that!
Thus we find that in the first half of the episode everybody is talking of the "ego hurt" angle and the "embarrassment to the Sultanate angle". In the second half of the episode, Jodha and Ruq and Salima are talking of the "boy-bias" angle. But folks, all of that that was not really Bakshi's problem - it was fear of physical violence! And it takes Jalal to nail that!
Jalal zeroes in the "core issue" and I guess that's how Sharif gets caught!
In the precap the whole baby-lying point gets beautifully brought back to its core issue by Jalal. Jodha tells him that the whole problem has arisen because Bakshi has told a lie to Sharif because he wants a boy - and the lying has also hurt his ego in public. But Jalal just throws aside this "ego point" and the "boy-bias point" and asks directly "Yes, but what was the reason for Bakshi to be so afraid that she had to lie to Sharif in the first place? What does she fear so much that she had to lie?"
Jalal has nailed it.
Because the one question that everyone should have asked was : "Why was Bakshi's fear of telling Sharif so acute, that she even contemplated lying to him and getting exposed rather than to face his displeasure? Even if Sharif was wanting a boy very much, an ordinary man with a sense of self-possession would have eventually reconciled to a girl baby as part of God's will, but why did Bakshi think that Sharif would never take it in that spirit, and what repercussions did she expect from Sharif that were so unpalatable that she had to lie and be exposed rather than face Sharif with the stark truth?"
I think if the general questioning of everybody had gone along those lines, they may have arrived at the truth - that Sharif is not a decent man who will eventually get around to reconciling with a girl baby. He is a man given to physical abuse and violence, which is what has made Bakshi choose the lesser option of scandal over the fear of violence!
What this whole episode yesterday teaches me, as a lesson in error-fixing, is that it's easy for real core issues to get shoved under the emotional superficialities like "ego hurt" and "feeling belittled" and under "intellectual superficialities like "understanding biases". But here the core issue was not "ego hurt" nor was it even that of gender biases. The real core issue was that "Sharif was physically abusive and violent to his wife".
And that is where Jalal is scoring over all the well-meaning but misguided women (including Jodha). He sees that even if Sharif's ego was hurt and even if Sharif had a boy-bias, why did Bakshi so fear Sharif so much that she threw all ego and bias considerations to the winds when she lied to save herself! From what was she trying to save herself?
I hope Jalal finds out every little bit of Sharif's violence towards Bakshi in the past and even in the current issue. The way Sharif pulled her by the hair and banged her head on the wall was disgusting! And the way Bakshi looked apologetic was worse! I want Jalal to thrash the living daylights out of Sharif!
How does the real truth emerge ... that will be interesting to watch!
I am waiting to see the Maha Shukravar episode not just to see Jalal thrashing Sharif, but I am keen to see how exactly Jalal gets to this core issue and discovers the truth of Sharif's violence to Bakshi.
The Maha Shukravar promo hints that Jalal does question Sharif on this one crucial point of physical violence to Bakshi. But I am wondering how Jalal will get to that point ...
Will Bakshi finally open up ... or will Jalal himself arrive at the truth ... or will Sharif lose his cool and try to hit Bakshi at the DEK that exposes him?
I also wonder if this point about Sharif leching at Jodha will also break open at the DEK via Bakshi! That should make Jalal wonderfully ferocious!
For all those who want it, here's what all happened in yesterday's episode:
When the maulvis start berating Sharif for making a mockery of the circumcision rasam, Sharif boils over with anger at Bakshi for embarassing and insulting him. After the maulvis leave in a huff, Sharif carries the baby back to Bakshi in an angry and hateful mood.
Meanwhile Jalal is in a khema at the war camp with Mansingh and invites the enemy Rajvanshis for talks. But when they come and say they have hundreds of elephants, horses and men, Jalal says "Don't commit suicide because we have forces in lakhs". He advises them to go back and avoid war and tells Mansingh to further advice them.
In Bakshi's room Hamida scolds Bakshi for telling lies that will make the Sultanate and Jalal embarassed. Salima and Jodha and Ruq say she should trust that Sharif will learn to love his daughter - and it's better she tells Sharif the truth than he should find out from someone else. Bakshi is unable to expose Sharif cruelty before her mother and the others - and cries.
Just then Sharif enters the room and says "I know the truth". He gives the baby to Bakshi and then starts shouting at Bakshi for making him look like fool in front of everybody. Hamida says the others should leave and let husband and wife talk privately, but Sharif says there's nothing more to talk about and goes off.
Anyway after he goes, Hamida tells Jodha and Salima "We must also go and squash rumours among the praja about this". They all go, leaving Bakshi crying bitterly in fear of Sharif.
Later in the harem Ruq is telling all ladies that it is only natural that every man wants a male waaris and Bakshi did not heed her husband's needs. Jodha gets assertive and replies Ruq that this attitude of bias between boys and girls is wrong - and see how all of them in the harem are also competent women. A heated debate ensues between Jodha and Ruq. Finally Salima says Jodha is right because Razia Sultan was such a powerful and fine queen. But Ruq tells Jodha "Whatever you say, this Mughal Sultanate has always only had male kings and supports only male waarises." Jodha says "But Jalal has made his mother the Marium Makkani." Ruq says "Yes ... but to become Marium Uz Zamani the queen has to have only a male heir!"
Jalal at the khema explains to Mansingh and Todarmal that he did not want war with Rajvanshis as he is in a celebratory mood about his new nephew and his expected twins. He further reminds Todarmal to give back all his old subehdaaris to sharif. Jalal looks happy that the family will be full of kids.
Meanwhile Sharif gets fully drunk and dawdles to Bakshi's room. There she is refusing to eat and when he enters, his anger level is so high, he dashes her food to the ground. Then he pulls her by the hair and bangs her against a wall till she bleeds. He sees the baby and says "iI will kill this baby". Bakshi is aghast.
In the precap, Jodha is telling Jalal that Bakshi needs his help as she has made a blunder by telling Sharif a lie . But Jalal says "I want to know why she had to lie in the first place. What was the real reason for having to tell sharif a lie?"
Accha, other than this one "core issue" versus "secondary issues" point, which I analysed in my opening remarks, the other interesting little aside was "Why did the Creatives need to bring in this topic of war with the Rajvanshis if Jalal was only going to quash it so easily?"
I suspect there will be a war though, because we have all seen some pics of Sharif and some of the other men in war armour, so we have to see if this war further exposes Sharif's dirty tricks to Jalal?
Maddy had an interesting question yesterday whether this is that final war where Sharif's ill-intentions towards Jalal are exposed by Sujamal, and in the process Sujamal dies. I am waiting to see what happens ... anyway today we are sure of some high action at the DEK!
Edited by skanda12 - 11 years ago
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