You are absolutely right, my dear Suyash, and it is very perceptive of you. For once, you have not shied away from describing and analysing emotions with great sensitivity, instead of just wise-cracking. And no, your memory is not at fault at all.
But as for me, this was obvious to me for a long time. Right from when Devi gets up at all sorts of odd hours of the night to feed Ashoka and to try and shield him from Dharma's wrath. The
vat savitri pooja bit,which you have noted so cleverly, was only a recent instance.
All this in return for the merest casual acknowledgement from his side. In Ujjaini, he treats her like an ever supportive sidekick, and it is only after they all come to Pataliputra that he starts valuing her qualities of head and heart far more, and tells her so when they are together in Kaurwaki's sick room. Of course this is mostly because she is so supportive of his relationship with Kaurwaki.
However, I would interpret Devi's overall behaviour in a slightly different fashion.
I am not so sure that she herself knows how much she is in love with Ashoka. As distinct from loving him, which can be quite a different thing. That is why I wrote here some days back in my
Pot pourri post:
I think Devi does care a lot for Ashoka - this was evident when he was still in her father's house - but she does not yet see him in romantic terms, not even when there was no Kaurwaki on the horizon. And now that her dear friend is in love with Ashoka, he has become paraya dhan, at least for the present!
I do not think Devi wants to acknowledge, even to herself, that she is in love with Ashoka. There a fine line between affectionate friendship and love, and it is exceedingly difficult to cross over from the former to the latter. One is afraid of non-reciprocation - and in this case, once Devi learns about Kaurwaki from Ashoka muttering in his sleep, this is a given - and of losing even the friendship in the ensuing awkwardness.
Then, with such unreciprocated love comes pain and suffering, which has to be hidden from prying eyes. There is the endless agony of being near the loved one without being able to give him even the slightest hint of what you really feel. In Devi's case, the double pain of having to watch him melt in love for another woman. As things are, she cannot even get away, which is the classic solution in such cases.
No sensible woman would want to be in this kind of hellish situation indefinitely.
So Devi has, most likely unconsciously, built a firewall around her heart as far as her love for Ashoka is concerned. She has convinced herself that all she feels for him is not love, but the deepest, most affectionate kind of friendship. There too, she would naturally want
his happiness under any and all circumstances, but without any expectations for herself. So she can flit around promoting the love of Ashoka's life, without acknowledging, even to herself, what this really costs her. She does not consciously pretend to be the greatest supporter of Ashoka's love for Kaurwaki, she actually
is that, in all sincerity. All this needs is a lot of emotional discipline, and Devi, who is as strong as they come, has enough of this and more.
So naturally she gets ready to fight for the love of her friends - her friendship for Kaurwaki is just as sincere as her love for Ashoka - against the
jyotishi and against
niyati itself, with the same ferocity with which she terrorised Anandini for having dared to try and ruin Kaurwaki's life.
More than being a conscious sacrifice, as you see it - and what can she sacrifice when she has nothing in her hands to give away but Ashoka's casual affection and regard for her? - it is the only possible self-defence mechanism that she has under the circumstances.
That she does not let on about the truth even to herself is clear from the fact that we have never been shown even a hint, in a private moment, that Devi is in love with Ashoka. There is not the slightest hint of longing in her eyes as she looks at him, or when she watches him with Kaurwaki. She is never shown daydreaming about him or fantasising about the two of them. I would not, as you have done, make Devi out to be one of those cliched self-sacrificing females from the old Gemini films of the 1960s, where a younger sister gave up the love of her life to her elder sister who was also in love with him. She is something rarer and more admirable. And why compare her with Kaurwaki at all?
Devi is like a
yogini who has successfully sublimated the deepest, hidden desire of her heart, and turned it into something that can be open, acceptable to all, and above all, not hurtful, in the first place for herself.
When she hugs Ashoka, it might be that it was the sole flare up of what lies hidden in her. But that is
not a conscious action. It is involuntary, and Devi herself sees it as she describes it. It is far better so for her.
Devi's real trials will begin after after Kaurwaki has left the scene for the indefinite future, and she herself has somehow ended up marrying Ashoka. For then - in the continuous proximity of the wedded state with a man who is really not there at all for her in the way her heart demands, and will never be - things will become much tougher as her self-defence mechanism starts breaking down. My heart goes out to her, poor child.
Shyamala Aunty
Originally posted by: BeingBlunt
Just watched the episode again i am 100% sure Devi loves ashok more than KVK. YES More than her, I have never ever seen KVK this aggressive and determined for ashok ever.
Please remind me if my memory is weak.
Here's my theory😛:
Devi loves ashok and wants him to be super happy and since she has heard KVK name from his she didn't tell him. In the meantime Nirankush captures Devi and dhaniram and ashok and KVK release them and devi starts loving him more and no matter what happens to her she can't see her ashok sad. Then she gets to know about KVK and gather the fact that this is the girl ashok loves and makes it her life's mission to reunite them because ashok is happy with KVK not her.
Scenes continue and she reaches PP with KVK as her best friend/assistant/dasi/love guru etc. 😛
Since she already has the protection of dharma there is nothing to worry her and she with the help of vitt she tries everything possible to unite them. Some time after even dharma joins. When her mission is about to be completed, just for secure future and happiness of ashok she goes to the sadhu. Sadhu predicts bad future and she loses her mind, she cant let all her hard work get wasted. She will do absolutely anything for Ash...waki union because that's where ashok's happiness lies.
Its always been ashok for her. I might be going too far but if you look at old scenes she has always been centered on ashoka.
There always have been small small indications about devi's liking for ashok but the first big indication was that vat savitri puja. Devu could have only instructed KVK and it would have worked but she didn't . She did the pooja perfectly and also made sure KVK followed the correct method to be double sure that there is not problem. Next indication was the tighter than tight hug which didn't looked friendly at all and she wanted to live this moment as much as possible because she has to leave ashok anyway. And the final nail in the coffin was yesterday's aggression. No one does so much their BFF . She did this for her ashok.
This is what is true love and sacrifice and not what what CVs are showing. Pushing your friend to do suicide is not true love, its being obsessive.
Damn i didnt knew i could write so much. 😲😆👏 I didn't know how i wrote this much but i saw the episode and read a post on forum and started writing and continued with the flow. 😆
Edited by sashashyam - 9 years ago
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Anupamaa
