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I've always noticed that no matter which serial HC plays a role in, food somehow always plays an important role (though part of that has more to do with me being such a big foodie 🤣). Whether it's the mooli parathas in KDM, the kulfis in TL, the undhiyo in DP or the halwa in DSDD, his characters' relationships with food spoke volumes of their personality. Sahir's is no different.
Sahir is a puzzle that might take ages to solve. All of us know that. Nothing seems to shake him. Nothing seems to soften him. Not the pleas of senior citizens struggling to run a factory, not the sight of a beautiful girl unconscious (though given his expression when he looked back slightly, I'd beg to differ 😆), not the thup-thup of raindrops...why, not even the slight of his own mother! Is he made of stone??
I think the answer to this lies in his own actions. This is a man who exudes so much power he doesn't even need to raise his voice. This is a man who has learned, somehow, to not shrink in the face of the most horrific acts - even setting fire to a factory. This is a man who seems to not feel anything...or does he?
Only a man who has felt the true depths of passion and devotion would reject it with such vehemence.
Why would he speak of his hatred for rain so furiously, otherwise? Why would his mother respond "it's a long story" to another woman's question about why he doesn't like mangoes? Why would he dismiss Alvira so casually in public, but still come to a function because she said so? Why would she smile and shut her eyes to him in gratitude, if she didn't understand that in some way what she said still mattered? That he is uncomfortable showing her - anyone - how he feels?
I think the answer lies in the food he refuses to eat - and the food he forces himself to eat.
Mangoes: He hates the pleasant smell of rain, and the rich sweetness of a ripe mango. It's almost as if he would like to forget anything that could mean something positive. Anything that could promise hope (the first rain fulfills wishes, the ripe mangoes satiate tastebuds) Does sweetness remind him too much of a time when his life was sweet? Does it remind him of something that looked sweet but brought bitterness? Does he equate sweetness to something negative?
Burnt Toast: There are two reasons why this symbol could be important:
1. The very obvious "you-play-with-fire-you-get-burned" analogy
2. Interestingly, a little fire and a little heat is what transforms an ordinary slice of bread into a mouthwatering golden piece of toast. But too much fire, and too much heat, make it bitter.
3. Burnt toast, unlike normal toast, is hard to eat and excessively crunchy. A real pain in the teeth! 😆
So why does Sahir force himself into this ordeal everyday??
Heat and fire are synonyms symbolically for passion. Passion and love always involve risks - it always involves you to have so much faith that you will do anything. Without faith that strong passion isn't possible. But sometimes that risk can be so much that it causes irreparable damage...like burnt toast.
Is it possible that sometime in his life Sahir had loved too much, and allowed that love/passion to damage him? Did it leave him burned out, bitter? Leave him so afraid of lowering his guard that he cannot do it even with his mother? Did it leave him in a state where even sweet things brought bitter memories? Did it leave him unable to connect with anything that would even take that much passion from him again?
Is he punishing himself...for that one moment in life, where he may have had faith? trust? love?
Only time will tell.
P. S: Or maybe he just likes burnt toast. I dunno 🤣
Sahir is a puzzle that might take ages to solve. All of us know that. Nothing seems to shake him. Nothing seems to soften him. Not the pleas of senior citizens struggling to run a factory, not the sight of a beautiful girl unconscious (though given his expression when he looked back slightly, I'd beg to differ 😆), not the thup-thup of raindrops...why, not even the slight of his own mother! Is he made of stone??
I think the answer to this lies in his own actions. This is a man who exudes so much power he doesn't even need to raise his voice. This is a man who has learned, somehow, to not shrink in the face of the most horrific acts - even setting fire to a factory. This is a man who seems to not feel anything...or does he?
Only a man who has felt the true depths of passion and devotion would reject it with such vehemence.
Why would he speak of his hatred for rain so furiously, otherwise? Why would his mother respond "it's a long story" to another woman's question about why he doesn't like mangoes? Why would he dismiss Alvira so casually in public, but still come to a function because she said so? Why would she smile and shut her eyes to him in gratitude, if she didn't understand that in some way what she said still mattered? That he is uncomfortable showing her - anyone - how he feels?
I think the answer lies in the food he refuses to eat - and the food he forces himself to eat.
Mangoes: He hates the pleasant smell of rain, and the rich sweetness of a ripe mango. It's almost as if he would like to forget anything that could mean something positive. Anything that could promise hope (the first rain fulfills wishes, the ripe mangoes satiate tastebuds) Does sweetness remind him too much of a time when his life was sweet? Does it remind him of something that looked sweet but brought bitterness? Does he equate sweetness to something negative?
Burnt Toast: There are two reasons why this symbol could be important:
1. The very obvious "you-play-with-fire-you-get-burned" analogy
2. Interestingly, a little fire and a little heat is what transforms an ordinary slice of bread into a mouthwatering golden piece of toast. But too much fire, and too much heat, make it bitter.
3. Burnt toast, unlike normal toast, is hard to eat and excessively crunchy. A real pain in the teeth! 😆
So why does Sahir force himself into this ordeal everyday??
Heat and fire are synonyms symbolically for passion. Passion and love always involve risks - it always involves you to have so much faith that you will do anything. Without faith that strong passion isn't possible. But sometimes that risk can be so much that it causes irreparable damage...like burnt toast.
Is it possible that sometime in his life Sahir had loved too much, and allowed that love/passion to damage him? Did it leave him burned out, bitter? Leave him so afraid of lowering his guard that he cannot do it even with his mother? Did it leave him in a state where even sweet things brought bitter memories? Did it leave him unable to connect with anything that would even take that much passion from him again?
Is he punishing himself...for that one moment in life, where he may have had faith? trust? love?
Only time will tell.
P. S: Or maybe he just likes burnt toast. I dunno 🤣
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