The disastrous marriage ..
What I seen around me, among my friends, family and neighbours too, most relationships change after marriage. Most women have a different sort of expectation from a husband than a boyfriend or a betrothed (probably men too, but woman it is more common). Girls tend to believe that marriage gives them a licence to make demands, they expect to be treated as no 1 priority in their husband's lives. And most women also secretly harbour hope that husband would change for them after marriage even if they (husbands) declined to change before the marriage. This is where problems arise, and I think this is where this marriage started going wrong too..
Kabir thinks Shreya agreed to live an ordinary life with him without making impossible (for him) demands from him. Shreya probably thought being his wife gives her the right to expect to change his lifestyle, she still doesn't understand that he never agreed to her demands because he couldn't fathom them. When in a relationship, Most men and women pretend to like things which they don't really like, this is it just to impress their BF/ GF. Here I don't Kabir pretending anything (from either side of the story), but Shreya pretended to like his humble abode, his peaceful existence without any active social life, while in reality, she didn't enjoy either of it. And she from her rich background would not have realised that she is making unreasonable demands from him, because she could afford to live a luxurious life and why can't he as her husband enjoy what is her privilege? She probably never realised that he just didn't enjoy the active social life and parties she thrived on.. When she started realising that he is not giving in, she used another approach, by taunting him and insulting him.
They both talked about the other's aversion to their lifestyles.
Shreya's another complaint is Kabir having problem with her job. Did he really? Possible I think, considering he exposing malpractices within the same company.. But why didn't he raise his objections when they were dating? Another aspect of the 'haq' of the married couple? A boyfriend can't have a say in his GF's job whereas a husband can? Marriage seriously screws up one's expectations.
Kabir too agreed until that point that Shreya's behaviour could have been because of the typical adjusting time needed by women in their new surroundings, whereas Shreya seems to have developed a feeing that he never loved her (atleast that's what's she told Anita) and that she was just a status symbol, this statement is a very contradicting one, because it wasn't Kabir who chased her to date or to marriage, then how did she arrive at that conclusion? Makes me think Shreya did subtly used her manipulation tactics to get across her point and her side of the story is not just her perceptions.
The turning point of the marriage - where Kabir learns that Shreya married him for a bet.. What made Kabir take it as the gospel truth? Didn't Shreya do or say enough to convince him otherwise? Kabir did look like he had an open relationship with Shreya, he directly confronted her after learning about the bet, but why couldn't Shreya convince him? Is it because it is the truth or is it because she was angry that he could think so low of her and didn't bother to contradict him? Either is possible.. I do think Shreya might have started this whole dating drama as part of a challenge and a scheme to take revenge on him. But I really can't understand any woman going to the extent of marriage for such a purpose.. Only an outrightly evil person would do that, for all her shortcomings, I don't think Shreya is that evil, and also that dumb to waste her own life and two years of it for this meaningless pursuit.. Now the same question again, why then Kabir was convinced that she married him for revenge, it could be an after-thought after the marriage failed, it is easy for him to move on if thinks the marriage never had a chance to survive. Kabir did say both of them changed after that 'revelation', him from good to bad and her from bad to worse. Kabir's ego is affected that she never probably loved him and that made him fight & argue for every little thing, and Shreya as we have seen so many times, has more than her share of ego, she already thought by then he didn't love her as he is not yielding to her demands, and now with this new accusations, the ego comes into play more, how can he not trust me? She intensifies her taunts and all the other behaviour Kabir mentioned about. Yes, it was certainly a mental and emotional abuse, but like most other abuses, when it happened neither of them realised what it was, Kabir started believing all she wants is to break him, and make him a worthless person (which he was slowly turning into with his alcoholism and loss of self worth ) while Shreya probably thought she was teaching him a lesson to toe the line. Who is at fault? Both and neither, isn't it? This is the case two contrasting individuals making a mess out of their lives. Shreya, we might say was more at fault because of her arrogance and attitude that her status as his wife gives her right to treat him, the way she liked. The residual love had died at this point in time, what remained is the ego and a race to prove who is more wrong...
Why did neither of them opt for separation at this point? Why did they stick to each other? Is it because the middle class upbringing and ego of Kabir didn't let him publicly admit what a mess he made in his life? And Shreya's arrogance would have expected him to become the kind of husband she likes to have than accepting that she made an error in judgement.. Mistake no.3, committed by both..
The final nail in the coffin - As we had only narrations and not any visuals, we don't know exactly what transpired at the party to make Kabir so uncontrollably angry., Shreya at that point in time might have already known about Tarini and the great rapport she shared with Kabir.. If Kabir thinks Tarini's friendship helped him to gain back his confidence, it must have been noticeable to Shreya too. Was this tamasha she made of him anything to do with Tarini? We don't know yet, but what we know Kabir felt unloved and rejected, to an extent where he needed the momentary comfort another woman's embrace could give him. Why he went to Tarini's house? His narration gave me a feeling it wasn't the first time he went to Tarini for solace, but it was the first time the solace of her presence and words were not enough, he needed the physical solace. Was he drunk on that night? He didn't explicitly mention that.. I would like to be believe he was only inebriated in anger and pain and not with any non organic substance. A person doesn't always need alcohol to cloud his / her senses, extreme emotions could do it too,
We have very limited info on what exactly transpired and how. But my version is like this... Probably he wanted a fellow human touch to ease his pain, to soothe him, the touch and hug went a little too far where he started wanting more, started enjoying the solace a bit more for him to return back to sanity. I am imagining a scene like this, what if when Tarini wanted to put a full stop, he pleaded her to not to stop him as he needs this very badly, to make him feel like a human. All said and done Traini is a flesh and blood women and also an unattached woman, could she have denied this tortured soul the comfort of her body?
No, I am not sugarcoating what they both did..it is certainly mistake no. 4, this time committed by Kabir and Tarini. But I can see how words and denials would have been meaningless at that moment, how people can get carried away by feelings..
Kabir himself didn't justify or sugarcoat it, he didn't put the blame of this behaviour on Shreya, he committed a mistake, a very big one this time, and he broke the sanctity of the marriage even if there was no more love in the marriage. He conceded that he deserved the punishment he received for this mistake.
Unfortunately this mistake is so huge that it just didn't spoil his life, it also made Tarini the worst kind of victim..
I think Kabir after this act, did indeed very guilty about, not just towards Tarini, but also towards Shreya, because even if there is no love lost between them, she was still his wife and deserved his fidelity. That's exactly why he confessed everything to her, his mistake no. 5. No, confession is not a mistake, he was right to confess, but he underestimated the wrath of a scorned women, he didn't understand the extend of Shreya's ego, arrogance and also hurt. If he did, he would have not have exposed Tarini to her, he would have just said he had an ONS with a random woman. But he underestimated Shreya and for this mistake Tarini and his guilt are paying the price still..
Shreya as a victim of this ONS, certainly deserved to take revenge, on Kabir by filing divorce ( the divorce wasn't a punishment, but a blessing for him) and by dragging him through a media trail. But Tarini? Did she deserve this treatment? From Shreya's POV, she does, but from Kabir's POV she doesn't, and Kabir just can't forgive Shreya for spoiling Tarini's life, I can so relate to both of them here, and I think any guilt Kabir had towards Shreya died in this anger and hatred.
The pain in Kabir when he said how Tarini became a social outcast, how she started being known as Kabir Sharma's keep, one can understand the extent of guilt he had gone through in this, I don't think he can ever truly forgive Shreya for this.
Most of Kabir's attitude, behaviour are explained in this past revelation, why he was so ruthlessly power hungry in the first 30 episodes, what made him fall for Ananya, his insecurities when it comes to love. His closeness with Tarini and Anurag, his reaction to certain cases, all are explained. The only mysteries left are anurag's handicap and Kabir's obvious separation from his family.
Scrol down for Ananya's reactions, Tarini - Kabir's current relationship and Shreya's indication that she still loves Kabir, all this and more in my next post.