Folks,
This Mahakumbh ka mahasangram is going to be fought and won as much, or more, in the minds of the two sides than by weapons or special powers alone. In any case, so far the tally of special powers on both sides is fairly limited. Let us take a tentative stock of this.
Garuds: Rudra has second sight (at times) and tremendous strength, plus the ability to follow the track of (and thus evade) a speeding bullet. Charles can fight with agility, but not with superhuman force of the kind that can punch thru a steel safe. Katharine is a martial arts expert. Thappadiya Mai has the Rithambara pragnya but nothing else. The DM, as of now, has nothing special. Shivanand's martial arts and marmavidya expertise cannot match the fighting skills of Dansh, and his role as the garuda brains trust is at present in the freezer.
In his absence, the natural fallback would be his guru, Professor APG Rao, but he too has, as of now, drawn a blank despite having both Books available to him. Nor is he good for practical advice, for all he does is to reiterate what Shiva would not have done, with no suggestion as to what they should do.
MB is of course the dark horse, but apart from supernormal single stick expertise a la Kamalahaasan, nothing is known yet of her fighting abilities. But they are likely to be quite exceptional, though very likely not linked to weaponry.
Their tech facilities are limited to Shiva's 24 year old installation in his secret hideout, the guns the DM has provided, and things like the GPS trackers that the he can rustle up.
Nagas: Dansh and the rest can whizz about like greased lightning, though the maximum range they can cover is unknown as yet. It does not seem likely that they can whizz over great distances, like the apparating in Harry Potter. They have guns, and a lot of tech expertise, like the laser eraser and the chemical bombs, plus of course their traditional weapon, naga vish. Nothing else, no miraculous powers that one has been shown so far.Not even the ability to change into actual snakes and bite their victims; this lot inject the poison!😉
They are vulnerable to standard bullets, like ordinary folk, as was shown when 3 of the naga footsoldiers were killed by our Three Musketeers, Rudra, Charles and the DM, when they were searching for the Naga hideout and Shivanand. Curiously enough, that shooting was shown only in the precap and now as a flashback, never as part of the regular episode!
Dansh has his Guru Drish, who is wise but ineffective, whereas his supposed shishya is arrogant to excess and convinced that he knows best. Result: Dansh hardly listens to his guru's advice, and brushes off his sensible warnings, so that asset is being effectively wasted.
There are of course the 7 garuds, each with his/her own individuality, and the 7 nagas, who, bar Dansh, seem to be an amorphous mass of identical (and identically clothed!) beings. But in practical terms, it boils down to Dansh vs Rudra. So, I suspect that the mahasangram is going to be like a chess game between two grandmasters, and the opening moves are as important, as vital, as the final sheh aur maat.
Given this, it was revealing to see, from their opening moves, the sharply different approaches of the two. The one reckless and over confident in his arrogance, sure that he will be the master of the game, devious to the core, and caring nothing for lives, whether of his foot soldiers, his allies or the public at large. The other courageous and decisive, but unfailingly conscientious, and protective of all who work with him and also those who are dependent on his protection.
Tour de force: But before we come to that, I want to go to what was unquestionably the best scene in Mahakumbh, not just in this past week, but for the past several weeks. This, the interaction between guru aur shishya, MB and her protg Rudra the Garuda Pramukh, came , as seems to be the rule, at the very end of the Thursday night episode, No. 72.
It was exquisite right thru, this scene - in its conception, in the lines, with their philosophical undertones and overtones, and most of all, in the way it was enacted, with pitch perfect performances. Seema's MB and Gautam's Rudra played off each other, and reinforced each other, in a tour de force of a scene that deserved several rounds of applause.
The curious thing is that this was, in its essence, a simple pep-up interlude, where MB was boosting Rudra's confidence in his decision of a little earlier, to hand over the Two Books to the Nagas, in return for Shivanand, apparently confident that they could later get the Books back as well. She duly accomplished this, as one knew she would. But that was almost incidental, for it was the conversation between the two, which went off at tangents into metaphysical zones, that raised the whole segment to the level of a masterpiece in miniature.
MB unchained: Before this part started, there was a delightful little bit where MB gave short shrift to 3 of Balivesh's thugs, sent to either kidnap Katharine - soundly asleep and, as MB reiterated with emphasis, dreaming sapne salone - or to murder her straightaway.
I simply loved seeing the bad guys hoisted at the tip of MB's staff, one at his navel and another at his nose, and whirled around the room before being dumped hard, while the third was knocked flat and found MB's foot on his neck. It reminded me strongly of the equally delightful scene in Shekhar Kapoor's Mr. India, where the foreign thug is beaten about the head by a statue of Lord Hanuman, and howls Tumhara God maarta hai!! I was hysterical with laughter then, and allowing for my now advanced years, almost as amused now. And as noted above, it was exactly like watching Kamalahaasan in action with a single stick, especially the opening part where MB's staff is a mere blur in motion! Lovely stuff.
There was a curious light flickering at MB's feet, near the lower end of her staff, that is surely part of the mystery that surrounds her. The thugs seemed to sense that, for they stared repeatedly at that glow.
The guru and the shishya: Enter Rudra, just as the thugs are fleeing. The wonder on his face as he looks around sets the tone for the scene. Plus, Gautam looks absurdly, unbelievably young and callow, a shishya ready to sit at his guru's feet with complete samarpan.
MB s eyes begin to dance as she seats herself cross-legged on the bench, and surveys Rudra's bewilderment at what she has done to the thugs. Kya soch raha hai? Un gundon ko bhagaanewali Maimuyi thi ya?
His response, simple and unvarnished, mirrors his conviction: Wo jo bhi thi, hamare liye hamari Maimuyi hi thi. This, of course, lies at the heart of his relationship with MB, as also her reason for adopting this roop, so familiar and so comforting to her pupil.
But MB will not let things rest there, nor will she let this Rudra confuse appearance with reality. She does not want him to cling to an illusion as a prop, nor does she want to rip an emotional support away from him abruptly. So she says: Jo man ko achcha lage, use maan kar chalne mein koyi nuksan nahin.. Nuksan tab hai jab use sach samajh lein.. Rudra's eyes still hold a question, and he asks Sach kya hai?
Now she comes out with the plain truth, which he knows already but is unwilling to face. She is not Maimuyi. Teri shaktiyon ko jaagrut karnewali, Maimuyi ke roop mein Bhairavi hoon main.
So far so good. But Rudra, still clinging to his teddy bear of a resurrected Maimuyi, objects Par sirf roop mein hi nahin.. Aap mein to jaise Maimuyi ki aatma ho.. Jo humein jaanti thi, humse bhi zyada.. Kaise jaanti hain aap?
It is here that MB rises several notches about even the best of preceptors. She wants Rudra to face the truth about Maimuyi and herself, and yet she does not want him to be let down with a thud. So she begins by responding Padke! Jo jeevan padna jaante hain, unke liye saara sansar ek kitaab hai.. Teri aankhon mein dekha hai maine, Maimuyi kaun thi, kya thi tere liye..
What she tells him next is a marvel of philosophical depth and realism, and yet a balm to his frayed nerves. Agar ek diya bujh jaata hai, to hum doosre diye se use jalaa dete hain.. To wo jyoti kis diye ki hogi? Bata sakta hai?
When Rudra looks puzzled, she goes on Wo sirf ek shakti hai, jo ujala karne ke liye kisi bhi diye ki jyot ban jaati hai..
It gave me goose pimples, the sheer beauty of this one line and the depth of thought it hinted at. Could there have been a more lucid and compelling explanation of who MB is and what she is here to accomplish?
MB, the 7th garud, is a shakti seeking to illuminate the mind of Garuda Pramukh Rudra and activate his special powers so that he can fulfil his mission in life. To be able to do this as effectively as possible, she uses the kayaa of the one whom Rudra trusts the most, his Maimuyi, and for him, she IS Maimuyi for as long as he needs her to be so.
It reminded me of the startlingly simple examples that the Adi Shankaracharya used to give in his discourses, their very simplicity masking the philosophical profundity they embodied.
Rudra understands where she is coming from: Hum samajh rahe hain jo aap keh rahi hain.. And so he lets go of his doubts and concerns re: MB-Maimuyi, and gets down to brass tacks.
He has, as the Garuda Pramukh, made a clear decision to hand over the Two Books to the nagas in return for Shivanand, for as he says to his fellow garuds and Prof Rao: Ab ek hi upaay hai. Hum yeh kitaabein naagon ko de denge aur Baba ko wapas le aayenge.. Baad mein hum kitaabein bhi wapas le aayenge... Baba ke bina hum yeh kitaabein nahin samajh sakte. Isliye humein Baba ko jald se jald wapas laana hoga.
He has done this in the face of open reservations from Dr. Rao, the guru of his Baba, who objects forcefully to Rudra's plan of action: Wo to mujhe pata nahin.. Agar yeh kitaabein hume naagon ko saunp din, so shaayad ladaayi shuru hone se pehle hi hum haar jayenge.
Though he had then clinched the matter with Badi ladaayi jeetne ke liye, aise chote sangharsh karne his padte hain ( and if you folks can make any sense of this "chote sangharsh", I cannot! I presume what Rudra meant was choti haar), Rudra is now less sure of himself, and for reassurance, he turns to the only who can guide him, MB.
His eyes are wide, disturbed, and a tad fearful as he says: Is ladaayi mein pehli baar hum kuch haar chuke hain.. Ab aisi koyi galti nahin kar sakte jiski wajah se hum Baba ko bhi kho dein..
MB rises superbly to the occasion. First, she tries to provide the reassurance he is seeking so desperately. Aisa kuch bhi nahin hoga. Naagon ko bas wo do kitaabein chahiye..And then the clincher. Amrit ka rahasya samajhne ke liye jo gyaan chahiye, wo keval Maa Saraswati hi de sakti hai.. Aur Maa Saraswati to abhi lupt hai!
NB: I shall refrain from going into any difference between vilupt and lupt, and the linked esoteric question of whether this gyaan is already there in Rudra's mind. As Shivanand tells him on his first visit to his library, Tumhare bheetar jo gyaan ka bhandar hai uska tumhein koyi andaaza hi nahin hai..
But somehow I think not. There has to be some other way by which the garuds can obtain the grace of Maa Saraswati and attain this knowledge. Then again, Shivanand once tells Greyerson that the precise alignment of the stars under which the amrit would ascend to the surface of the waters at the Triveni Sangam was given in the Second Book, the one Shivanand had all along. It is all so confusing that speculation is pointless. It is best to possess one's soul in patience and await developments.
One thing is for sure. Maa Saraswati is unlikely to take to Dansh, thereby spiking his chances of getting this vital gyaan, Books or no Books!😉
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But it does not suffice, for when Rudra turns and looks at her, his eyes are still clouded by doubt and troubled. So out comes the drill sergeant, and MB takes off the gloves. Holding his eyes with her own, that are bright, clear and compelling, she lays out for Rudra, in blunt, unambiguous terms, what is expected of a Garuda Pramukh, and how use is kasauti par khara utarna hai, come what may. Her words, as forceful as bullets, ricochet around him as he stands there, still uncertain and a bit lost.
Pramukh hone ka matlab hai, jahan sabki samajh khatam ho jayegi, wahan teri samajh shuru hogi.. (ie understanding, not thought, as has been noted elsewhere here). Jahan koyi faisla nahin kar payega, wahan tujhe faisla karna hoga (as in the present instance, when even Rao knew only what he felt should not be done, but had no advice as to what should be done). Jab koyi saath nahin hoga, to bhi tujhe aage badna hoga.. ( I do not think this means that the other garuds will desert him, but rather that he might at times have to go it alone, as he has in fact chosen to do now) .
Lekin, jaise jaise kadam aage badayega, aisi chunautiyaan aayengi ki aage badhna asambhav sa lagega..Par - and her insistent index finger is pointed straight at him, and her hand grips his shoulder firmly - tujhe aage badhna hi padega, apne laksh ki or.
By the end of this peroration, Rudra seems to have recovered his merudand, and his eyes look almost clear and determined.
Beautifully aligned duo: Throughout this passage, MB was forceful whereas Rudra looked shaky and uncertain of the correctness of his decision. True, he was in a horrible bind, the buck stopped with him, and as the Garuda Pramukh, he had to make a choice. But now he was having second thoughts. All this comes thru clearly in Gautam's take on this s scene, just as MB's compassionate but still unyielding stance has been played to perfection by Seema Biswas. It is not that she is forceful and Rudra is just passive. Both are exactly what they are supposed to be, and it is the way in which they play off each other that embellishes and enriches the scene, perhaps even more than the makers had hoped for.
The other call to arms: This whole speech of MB's was closely allied to the other booster dose she gives Rudra when, having found what he takes to be his Baba's head in the "gift box" from Dansh, he is shocked, tearful and, as he recoils with a frantic Babaaa!!!!, seems close to an emotional breakdown. Which is when MB takes him, figuratively speaking, by the collar and shakes sense and courage into him. She surely knows that the head is a fake, but she does not tell Rudra that, for she wants him to be able to cope even of the head had been real.
Hoga, aisa hi hoga. As Rudra looks at her in uncomprehending horror, she goes on even more bluntly, almost brutally. Keval shareer par nahin, man par bhi vaar honge.. Is se bhi gehre honge.. Par tujhe tooth kar girne ki anumati nahin hai.. Pehle to Rudra tha, kisi ka beta tha.Ab Mahakumbh mein sab se pehle tu rakshak hai..
Rudra's eyes and face begin to clear as she goes on: Kasht kitna bhi bada kyon na ho, tu jhelega, bina seene mein dard liye, bina ek bhi aansoo bahaye.. Then she throws him a lifeline: Chalawe par mat ja. Sachchai ka saamna kar.. Ja!! And then Rudra finds that the head is a mere cruel joke.
But the lessons she has dinned into his mind remain, for the power that MB has over him, a power she uses to to make him understand himself and his mission in life, compels total samarpan, ie both submission and acceptance.
The week that was: Having disposed of Scene No. 1 and its annexure - at what might seem to be inordinate length, though I feel it was needed! - let us proceed to analyse the developments over the week. Not in terms of what happened - which we all know - but in terms to what the week meant in terms of character development for our principal dramatis personae. Of course we have to begin with our Garuda Pramukh!
Garuda Pramukh Rudra: While it is true that of the other two from the triumvirate, Charles looks bewildered very often, and the DM is static, I do not agree with the complaints, especially after Episodes 69 & 70, that Rudra looked blank.
I love Rudra's Zen like calm nowadays. He is still, with the kind of stillness that exists at the centre of a spinning top. Or as they say, he moves, but nothing moves inside him.
There is an eerie calm to him, a sense of coiled strength that can be whipped out whenever necessary. As when he marches into the Sri Santh Panth haveli, disarms Naanu, mocks Balivesh, neatly side-steps bullets, clobbers Greyerson to his heart's content and , finally, demolishes a steel safe with his bare fist and makes off with the First Book. Or, earlier, when he single-handedly prevents a murderous stampede at the Mahakumbh.
A lucid kind of detachment too, the ability to regard any situation dispassionately, and not be swept away by wishful thinking. Thus, when the others rejoice that the faux Dansh is no more, Rudra knows that this was too easy and cannot be true, and of course it is not.
The calm and the detachment falter, naturally, when he sees Shivanand's pseudo head inside that box, but then he has MB to seize him by the collar, so to speak, and pull him erect inside and out. They are a remarkable guru-shishya combo, and the contrast with Drish & Dansh is drastic.
He has also become decisive, weighing his options and choosing the best course of action according to his lights, even if it is not exactly popular with his associates. Whether it is rushing to tackle the bombs at the Mahakumbh and temporarily suspending the search for Shivanand, or now choosing to hand the Two Books over to Dansh in exchange for Shivanand.
Plus, he has acquired the habit of command: Yeh mera aadesh hai! he tells Charles and the DM after assigning them sectors 7 and 16, and making it clear to them that (a) the bombs have to be defused and (b) they have all to come back alive.
It is very lonely at the top, but Rudra is getting used to that, and then again, he has MB!
As for the suddenly fair face instead of the tan, which has also come in for criticism, I suppose an internal transformation of this magnitude has to be accompanied by an external one as well! I look mostly at Rudra's eyes, like Arjuna and the bird, and the rest of his face matters much less to me, fair or tanned!😉 And I like the sleeveless jerkin (it was not a shirt), which now seems to have become the uniform for the Three Musketeers as they march into battle.
Rudra vs Shiva: People over things?: In a related context, I do not feel, as has been argued here, that Shivanand's acts of omission are due to his valuing things over people, whereas Rudra's latest decisions are a choice of people over things.
To my mind, it is more a question of different assessments as to how the garuds can prevail in the end, and what they will need to be able to do so. This, given that they are facing a chicken or egg sort of puzzle, is a very difficult assessment to make, for whichever path they choose, they are likely to go wrong.
Before I get to that, I must note that I can also understand Rao's serious reservations about letting the nagas have the two Books. He does not believe that once they are gone, Rudra, for all his almost casual confidence, will be able to get them back again.
I do not believe it either; Dansh is not Greyerson,who could be beaten up and bullied into letting Rudra take the First Book. So once the Books are gone for good, what would be use, for Mission Amrit,of getting Shivanand back on his own? Probably nothing.
Rudra is clearly taking a calculated gamble, of getting the brains trust of the garuds back, which he knows is vital for their mission. He believes that then, if they can get the Two Books back, well and good, but even if not, he is confident that Shivanand can cobble something together from his memory that will help them protect the amrit.
What he forgets is that Shivanand has never seen the First Book, and can thus have no memory of its contents to fall back upon in its absence. So, if the garuds get Shivanand back without the books, they will be in the same situation as they are now: facing a dead end.
Nor can Rudra be sure that the snaky Dansh will actually hand over Shivanand once he has the Two Books, though in his arrogant shortsightedness, he might well do so, assuming that the Books would be sufficient by themselves and Shivanand will not be needed. But if the naga guru takes a look at the Books, he will immediately reach the same conclusion as Rao, and warn Dansh against letting Shivanand go.
If that happens, what then? Rudra will be minus the Books and minus the brains trust as well, and he will have to fight it out in hostile terrain, and on his own.
Coming to Shivanand, he seems at times to be unbelievably dumb, and that is not necessarily because he values the material things, like the Books, over the rakshaks. It is more because he has no imagination, especially as to what hostile forces would be doing and what they are capable of.
In 1989, he does not have the good sense to anticipate the virulent hostility of the 'Veshes and take some precautions to protect his family and himself. He goes around with his kid on his shoulders as if he had not a care in the world, and he ends up in hell on earth for 24 long years, with his family scattered and his home destroyed.
Now, after he realises that with the naga poison, the nagas too have arrived at the Mahakumbh, what does he do? Does he think of protecting Rudra or himself? No. Instead, he goes and sits at the Sangam to do the Mahamrityunjaya yagna because his mother wants him to do that. It never occurs to him to tell her how dangerous the situation is and how short of time they are, and act to protect them all, his family and the garuds.
Even after he hears Daadi's cry of appeal, and Punnu goes off to investigate, what does Shivanand do once the yagna is over and all the others have departed? He does not go into hiding and try to find out what is happening. Instead, he skulks behind thee boats on the open beach, babbling that his fear that the nagas had arrived was correct, and th Book should never be allowed to fall into their hands. It is pure distilled folly, no more. No wonder he is grabbed at once, and lands back in hell, only an even worse one this time, leaving his fellow garuds between the Devil and the deep sea.
So, to my mind, one cannot say that Shivanand is wrong because he values thing over people, and Rudra is right because he values people over things. He can be just as wrong as Shivanand was earlier. But to do him justice, Rudra is now in a horrible bind, and he has to decide one way or the other for the buck stops with him.So he makes the best choice he can, according to his own logic.
Of course no one asks Rudra how much of this last decision was due to his horror at the idea of losing the last remaining member of his original family, and how much was due, as he says by way of explanation, to Shivanand's indispensability for their mission. Since this is not real life, we know that whatever the truth of the matter, Rudra will prevail in the end. Not many leaders have that luxury!😉
Garuda deviousness?:Finally, I wonder of this Garuda Pramukh will not only have the courage and the resourcefulness, but also the deviousness of the original garuda, and will manage to get Shivanand back without handing over the real Two Books, or gets them back by some trick once Shivanand is safely back. It does not seems likely, but I for one would be very pleased if this was to be so!
Naga Pramukh Dansh: It seems that despite all that gorgeous wavy hair, the handsome, hard face with cold, dark blue eyes (was Mr.Blue Eyes, who poisoned Maya, Dansh himself? I begin to think so), and the tall, sleek figure with the panther like walk, Dansh does not enjoy a good press here in the forum.
This not because he is Villain No.1. It is rather because, as I had noted in my last post, Dansh is painted an unrelieved black, with not the slightest grey shade to him. Rahil too could do much better if he is allowed to refrain from playing Dansh as a psycho who delights in mass murder, postures and preens maniacally, and exclaims to himself Dansh ko kaun rok sakta hai?
I think it is the director's fault for visualising Dansh like this, when he is already not well enough written as a character. In any case, it was a relief that the chocolate dispenser , who was bested and killed by Rudra, was not Dansh after all. That would have been turning a super-villain into a character from a farce. 😉
Shades of grey?: But this last week, for the first time, I saw Dansh betray some emotion. There was a kind of hesitant anticipation in his eyes never seen before, anticipation and a dawning joy. That was when Leela announced that she would never tolerate injustice and so main bhi naagon ke saath hoon. He looked, for that instant, vulnerable, and hopeful that she was coming around as far as he personally was concerned.
Whence the unexpectedly gentle touch to her face and the tentative question: Yaani, mere saath ho? In that one instant, Dansh betrayed his innermost desire, the desire for Leela to care for him and support him. A desire that he has rigidly suppressed thus far, fearing that it would be seen as a sign of weakness, and that he cannot permit.
When she turns him down, and as he looks at her retreating form, Dansh's face darkens, but the earlier moment cannot be wished away. For all his alpha male arrogance and his obsession with dominating all around him, Naag Pramukh Dansh has an Achilles heel, and its name is Leela. This will surely have major relevance somewhere down the line.
Suppressio veri: As for his doctored version of the naga-garuda relations, that is only to be expected. I was a diplomat all my working life, and whenever I had to make a pitch for someone's support, I told him/her the truth, but only as much as was needed and appropriate for the immediate purpose. That is the suppressio veri, not the suggestio falsi, and I would not blame him for that. Why would a naga make the case for the garudas?
Plus, even the good asuras like King Mahabali had a long list of often justified grievances against the devas, who, except for the Tridev, were no paragons of morality and probity themselves. Though the examples Dansh cites are incomplete and thus misleading - they have very likely been chosen so that Rudra can rebut them with ease later!😉- there must be many more where the garudas were on weak ground and the nagas had been deliberately cheated and humiliated. In fact, it sounds like a classic colonial situation!
Dawning respect: After Dansh's bomb plan fizzled out thanks to Rudra and his fellow garuds, Dansh seems to have developed a measure of grudging respect for Rudra. Whence his repeated references to their being well matched, and to his looking forward to their contest. Coming from Dansh, whose rock hard arrogance should not leave any room for such thoughts, this means a great deal.
Moreover, if one looks back at what he yells at Leela when he sees that she has switched off the laser erasing Shivanand's garuda chinna, Agar yeh nishaan phir se aa jaate, to garud hum tak pahunch jaate aur sab kuch barbad ho jaata!, it is clear that this is not an all-conquering Naga Pramukh, who can take on anyone and prevail. For all that he derides his guru's high estimate of Rudra's powers and potential, Dansh is clearly somewhat apprehensive of the outcome of a face to face encounter with the garuda pramukh before he has weakened him substantially thru various stratagems.
Knee-jerk decisions:True to his reckless, imperious nature, and his impatience with those who do not or cannot deliver, or whom he feels he no longer needs, Dansh is not inclined to carry excess baggage in the shape of the Veshes and Greyerson. Once he is sure of getting the Two Books from Rudra, he decides ,without a second thought, to eliminate them. Khatam kar do un teenon ko, he tosses an order back over his shoulder to the Guru Maharaj Chapter close kiya jai. It does not even occur to him that something might go wrong, and that it is always useful to have some insurance.
He yields and changes his order later at the insistence of Guru Drish, but he does not fail to note, sardonically, Aadmi kitni vastuon ka bhaar laade zindagi bhar jeeta rahta hai ki shaayad wo kabhi kaam aaye! A marvellously apposite retort, if ever there was one! If Leela were to marry Dansh eventually, far from her fear that she would be reduced to an interior decoration piece, it seems likely, given this minimalistic approach of his, that Dansh's residence would be bare of any decorations!😉
To revert, for Dansh, nothing and no one matters but what he wants at the moment, regardless of what has to be done to get it. He is contemptuous of all around him - the way in which he orders the Guru Maharaj Sunao!, and the way he looks at him and spits out a harsh Sun raha hoon!, speak volumes. He is impatient of both contrary views and advice even from his guru, and is convinced that he is God's gift to the nagas ( and of course to Leela!😉). These are all the characteristics that go before a fall.
Because of these weaknesses in the Naga Pramukh's make up, for all his astuteness - he thinks up the laser erasing stratagem to keep Shivanand from being located by his fellow garuds, whereas his guru does not have a single useful idea about how to tackle this - Rudra is lucky in more ways than one.
Leela: now only confusing: There was not much of her this week, and her strong protests as Dansh drags her away to tell her (his version of ) the truth about garuda-naga relations down the ages, Dansh, tumhein janwar banne ke liye kisi wajah ki zaroorat thodi na hai? Magar mere dil mein yeh zeher gholne ki koshish mat karo! Mujh par koyi asar nahin hoga! , were in line with her earlier attitude towards him. But once she sees the paintings (all moving and perhaps talking too like the ones in the photos in Harry Potter!😉) she seems to come around abruptly. Perhaps it is because this is hard evidence of a kind she had never seen before. But what is that going to mean in practical terms? This remains to be seen.
Question. Leela is a naagkanya, and the daughter of the Naga guru. How come she has not been told all these tales of garuda deviousness from her childhood? In fact they would have dinned into her head from the day she was old enough to understand them. But here she behaves as if it is all totally new to her.
It is very odd, and a distinct plot hole. Shruthi thinks that it was a deliberate omission on the part of her father, the naga guru, since he feared that if she knew the truth about these cases, she might jump ship and go over to the garudas. That might well be true, but then there has to be a clear explanation to that effect some time soon. If not, my objection stands.
Greyerson: glutton for punishment: I never saw a man take so much punishment in a single week as he does in these 4 episodes. First, he is nearly strangled by the Guru Maharaj and terrorized by his forked tongue - in a genuinely scary segment- for daring to suggest that he should abandon the Veshes and split the loot only 2 ways with Greyerson. Apparently there is honour among thieves, or rather thugs. Greyerson's look of sheer horror at the sight of the forked tongue, and his terror at the prospect of impending death, were both very well done, and his body language when he finally scuttles away on all fours was inimitable!😉
NB:Though, where the Guru Maharaj is concerned, this sense of honour and loyalty to his old chelas does not extend to protesting against Dansh's order that the Veshes be killed. He says absolutely nothing, probably out of fear of Dansh's reaction to any such opposition. Though he looks relieved and nods assent when Drish modifies the order to surveillance of the Veshes and Greyerson, I am sure Guru Maharaj would not warn the Veshes about this either. Loyalty to his guru clearly prevails over his loyalty to his chelas!
To revert, next, when Greyerson is trying to explain away his dhoorthata or kapat to the Veshes and sneak back into their fold with a profound apology, he gets his hand held to the open kapur flame till it is badly burnt. Then he has to face Naanu's brutal warning: Ab hum saath hain, jab tak aap prasad ko akele hi ne kha jaana chahein. Anyatha, kapur kaise jalta hai dekha hai na? Kuch bhi shesh nahin rehta!
Probably as a direct result of this fiasco, the Veshes let Rudra get at Greyerson in the Sri Santh haveli without even trying to protect him. Result: Greyerson's face,and other parts of his anatomy get rearranged drastically by Rudra,😉 who smashes in the safe and leaves with the First Book. In these segments, Greyerson projects sheepish regret and helpless panic really well.
In my last post, I had written: Lastly, despite all of Greyerson's brave pronouncements, he is far more dependent on Katharine that he is prepared to let on, for she is his trump card vis a vis the nagas. If she were to jump ship and leave him, and thus the nagas, clueless re: the goings in the garud camp, Dansh would probably kill him. So if one were to look around for weakness, Greyerson is the candidate of choice.
This nightmare of his comes true this week, and as the Veshes mock him relentlessly, Greyerson's face registers not anger, but genuine distress at having been thus betrayed by the one he trusted the most. Whence his almost pathetic opening cry: Nahin, nahin! Impossible! Katharine mujhe dhoka nahin de sakti! Is it a bruised ego? Or a state of denial due to fear of the consequences of her betrayal, as he was planning to ingratiate himself with Dansh by giving him the First Book? Whatever it was, it registered well.
MB & Katharine: There is nothing more to be said about MB, who is sarva vyapi (omnipresent) and sarvagna (omniscient, or all knowing), than has already been said above under various heads. She can get things done without words , with a mere sidelong glance, as when she makes Katharine tell Rudra where the First Book is.
With that one move, Katharine has effectively crossed her personal Rubicon, and burnt her bridges with her erstwhile mentor Greyerson. I had noted in my last post that the drama that Katharine enacted with an angry Greyerson was a nautanki calculated to lull his suspicions, and make it possible for her to maintain a line into the Greyerson-Nagas camp. I was proved right on the first part of this, but the second part has unfortunately been nixed by the subsequent developments. But at least we now do not have to worry about where Katharine's loyalties lie!
Battle ahead: As the last precap shows the garuds girding up for battle - this must be after Rudra's solo attempt to get Shivanand back by handing over the Two Books; did that fail? -much excitement clearly lies ahead. One thing, if there was a contest for looks, the garuds would win it hands down!😉
Shyamala B.Cowsik
Marathi TV
Ufff Yeh Love Hai Mushkil
Jhanak
Bigg Boss 19
Bade Achche Lagte Hain Naya Season
