JNDSD~ My take Saturday 18th February 2017 ~ The war cry of the rag doll
Even in this day and age of gender equality and equal opportunities for women across the board. There remain areas even in the most self sufficient states of the world where women may have the right to exercise their vote ,yet they continue to be treated as second class citizens, taken as granted , nothing short of being a stuffed doll. A rag doll stuffed with unused, unwanted off cuts , pieces of obsolete handed down non-progressive ancient traditions , which are many a times garbed in the semblance of custom practice , or manipulated faith that suits the social order. Women are subtly discouraged in using their own initiative, or exercising their innovative approach in. Their involvement in decision making , regards areas of their own life is met with dispirit rather then the positive. The ones who are bold enough to challenge and question the systems mindset are few. Often unsung or are even frowned upon for their nonconformist approach. However world cultures keep historical records and do mention brave women who stood up for or against particular issues and made difference to the world around them. Within world faith orders too, many revered female figures act a source of inspiration , moral guidance and strength for their devotes. In this episode certain strands of the major invincible Hindu goddess Durga's comes to light through the female protagonist Vividha. The imagery of the episode plays well upon the contrasting words of silence and that of sound. To me the mandap , wedding venue has enough potency even in a birds eye view, without going into the nitty gritty of panning into each detail.. so just a few thoughts from me.
In the opening scene as looked upon, a cute harmless floppy ragdoll Vividha alas, lifeless.. one who conforms; fits in for the sake of family honor and its respectability! suddenly transforms into the avatar of the strong goddess Durga whose eye seeks deceit , only to expose the truth! For me it's the firm authoritative maternal side of womanhood revealed, where Vividha is gentle yet firm almost a mother figure, nurturing caring for man. She restrains Atharva in his brought on child like tantrum by firmly sitting him down. She shows all,when a woman is determined treat her not lightly! The exaggerated Vividha forcing Atharv in the mandap scene, highlights Vividha's steel will, which can be ignored due to gender bias strands present in many societies of the world.Atharv's highly charged charade in fact acts as a stage where spectators can see when a woman feels injustice is done to her she assumes the role of the enraged Chandi! the combined form of Lakshmi, Saraswati and Durga, the ferocious form of Parvati.
The sense of a war between virtue and vice..Vivdha had and has eyes for Atharv, as all eyes present can see. But unseen to all eyes is the evil eye that aims to end the story of true love. All evil loathes love! as love is the nature , temperament and spirit of the Almighty creator of all living kind as varied scriptures teach. But where the forces of evil lurk to take life . there comes the savior also, to thwart evil advances.. so that life and love continues. Thus Ravish's feet of peace and protection head towards the table under which the assassin hides, poised with the weapon of destruction ..but evil is always hard to pick out due to its elusive nature. Thus Ravish who comes to collect the scared requirements for worship despite the platter tipping out of his hand , and fails to find out the hidden evil under the table. Yet Ravish's purposeful walk to the pandit continues to show that while evil lurks , virtue still stalks to save goodness!
Under cover begins the ritual of the wedding. Vividha creating a permanent bond and Atharv destroyer of that creation, to recreate out of destruction, Vividha and Ravish's love . Under cover the evil eye lurks. Uncovered though, the disinterest, indifference of other women for Vividha in her quest to seek true love. Cold non- cooperation from, Suman , Sujata and Uma. Uncovered is Vividha's firmness in her resolution to marrying Atharv! Tackling boldly the rituals of ghat bandhan, varmala and circumambulations all by herself. Shows her self reliance to get what she believes in. Bonding with her true love.
The silencer... fire arm muffler Atharv trying to throttle the love between him and Vividha .. it's a silent protest, with no definite reason.. the assassin changes position to reach his target.. as evil does ,takes various routes to destroy humans. Atharv to tried various strategies, sanity, madness, to ward off Vividha's love for him. Yet why this act of feigning madness is on, there remains still ,one big silence on Atharv's part! How it contrasts with the hands on deck treatment which Vividha wants. Then there is the silenced sounds of both Atharv and Ravish's sentiments towards the role of Vividha, regards cracking the riddle of who the girl should marry out of the two?
Drop scene..the sound of the missed shot! That breaks into Atharv's charade. His loud and clear exposure with the righteous resonance by the personified Durga Vividha. Vividha's noisy demand for her opinions and her views to be taken into account. Her protest at being treated like a ball that is volleyed between two players! Who wins?who loses? Would it make a difference to the ball? Probably not, as it is a nonentity. But Vividha breaks into the silence of every woman present and challenges her right to be heard!! She mocks and protests against the fact that she is being used as a scapegoat where two step brothers Ravish and Atharv compete loudly before the world, whose sacrifice in love holds more weight! Enough is enough! Once and for all she choses Atharv who gets bogged down again! by this freshly love for his half brother Ravish..
The slap! is another desperate measure to show Vividha things are not as they seem..Ravish's slap for Atharv is to show much how much he loathes him! It's a provocation for Atharv to marry Vividha out of pure defiance for Ravish! Vividha slaps Ravish in turn, to show Atharv she feels nothing for Ravish except rage.. and that she loves him!if you ask me Vividha's slap for Ravish is yet another eyewash for Atharv and he is smart enough to realize that!
Overall an out of the ordinary episode..actions like the pheras, circumambulation ..going around something revered and sacred..can be related to Atharv's attitude towards Vividha.. he too is going around in circles about concealing the real reason for not marrying her? Looking at Vividha questions are raised about her are actions in the mandap ,was she sacrilegious or rightfully justified? I feel that she sees the marriage vows , as having equal significance, respect ,regard and sincerity for both husband and wife. Thus one's positioning in the phera, circumambulation simply echoes the stance of one ahead in terms of spiritual faith. The episode does challenge the view that women should just be seen and not heard! Shivani as Vividha was praise worthy.. she has brought so much life into the show for me.. hamlet53 19.2.17
Cricket
Arjun
