Folks,
He who said that love is the greatest weakness of all spoke nothing but the truth. Unless, of course, the love is reciprocal, or it is for one's mother.
One had just to watch Alexander the Great - one of the greatest conquerors and military geniuses the world has ever seen, who was hero-worshipped by all the Roman Caesars, by Hannibal of Carthage, by Napoleon, you name it -- yesternight to realise the truth of this adage.
He was literally pleading with his disdainful wife Roxanne and asking her whether she could not see the love light his eyes. Yes, yes, it was the Sony Alexander, but his pedigree is the same, and so , one presumes, his name and fame as well!
She is so hung up on hurting Alexander by using the (presumed) dead Porus, as to assert that he stood alone against Alexander's whole army, forgetting all those 15 elephants, four of whom would have reduced her to a pancake but for Alexander saving her life in the nick of time at the risk of his own. (I really wish they had,đĄ but there is no way the CVs were going to allow that, alas!) .
She does not seem to even remember that he did so, not to speak of her being grateful to him for it. And as for admiring the way in which Alexander tackled Porus atop his giant mount, not to speak of all the other unfortunate wild elephants, forget it!
Instead, she uses her tongue, that drips acid, to lash Alexander into an inarticulate fury that can find no outlet. A tougher husband would have known how to handle Roxanne, but Alexander is no wife-beater, and is, moreover, madly in love with her, and he cannot do more than hold her wrist hard while she continues to extol Porus, solely, I suspect, to get under Alexander's skin.đĄ
It was a pathetic spectacle. I admire only strong men, and I despise a man who can be reduced to this level by an ungrateful, vicious woman just because he is obsessed with her.
I was reminded of the lead character Philip Carey in Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage, or the Professor in the very famous Marlene Dietrich film The Blue Angel, enslaved and pulled down by an obsession with an undeserving woman that they cannot overcome.
Such love is not an elevating emotion. It degrades the lover. And when the lover is Alexander the Great, all the more so.
Anatomy of an obsession: . As I noted above, Alexander is both a great commander and a superb warrior. Such a man NEVER exposes any of his weaknesses (everyone has some) to the enemy. Also, he NEVER exposes his flank to the enemy.
But here, in his relationship with Roxanne, he has disregarded these cardinal maxims. He doesn't see that Roxanne is, right now, as much of an enemy of his as Darius was or Porus is. She would rejoice if he lost a battle, and perhaps also if he died.
Such a woman needs to be shown a very cold shoulder, and left to stew in her own juice. Or else told to walk back to Bactria without any escort. That is what she deserves.
I wrote, while discussing the pearl necklace sequence, that Alexander had made a huge mistake in confessing his love for Roxanne to her. I have now been proved to be resoundingly correct. Ab usne Alexander ki dukhti nas pakad li, aur usi ko dabati rehti hai.
Apni jaan bachane ke liye ehsaan? Wo kis chidiya ka naam hai? Roxanne use jaanti tak nahin. Ab wo sirf Alexander ke nasoor par namak chidakna chahti hai, aur kar bhi rahi hai.
Galti kis ki hai? Beshaque Alexander ki, jisne is magroor aurat ko sar pe chadha rakha hai. Bechara, use auraton ko sambhalne ka tajurba nahin hai, jiska Roxanne poora poora fayda utha rahi hai.
Par aise bechare mard par mujhe taras nahin aata, gussa aata hai.
Ab kisi ko kuch to karna padega. Par kaun? Olympias to koyi kaam ki nahin lagti, apni bahu ko sudharne ke liye, sirf bete par baras rahi hai. Agar wo mera beta hota, to maar maarke theek kar deti, aur is magroor bahu ko bhiđđ. Par na hi Alexander mera beta hai --mera khudh ka Sasha aisa bewakoof nahin hai! - na hi Roxanne, khuda ka shukr haiđ, meri bahu.
Porus ka pran This was so long and convoluted that I have to listen to it again carefully to understand what precisely it was that Porus will NOT let Alexander do. I am told on good authority that the pratibandh on Alexander crossing the Jhelum has been lifted in Puru ka pran. I hope they are correct, and I am sure historians all over will heave a sigh of relief.đ
Even if my sources are not correct, I suppose the solution for the CVs would be to have Porus bar the Jhelum, while Alexander crosses the Hydaspes!!!đđ
The abdication: My back is wondering at all this unaccustomed patting. This one is for my being 50% right when I foretold, two days ago on a thread here, that Porus would have to fight as a king, and therefore my bet was that after recovering Paurav Rashtra, Bamni would abdicate in favour of Puru.
The 50% cut is because I did not anticipate that Bamni would abdicate even before they recover Paurav Rashtra, and that the deus ex machina for this decision would be Chanakya.
Be that as it may, it is an excellent decision, and now we shall see a grand rajyabhishek for Puru, and possibly even his wedding with Laachi.
Nemesis: She is the Greek goddess of retribution. I devoutly hope that by time Puru & Co. get to Paurav Rashtra, she is at hand to strengthen his resolve, so that Anusuya and he dispose of both Shivdutt-not-Shree and the wimpishly vicious Kanishka in short order.
Though I would not be surprised if Kanishka manages to crawl back somehow, forgiven as a poor deluded boy let astray by the wicked machinations of Shivdutt-not-Shree. Some folk, and this includes Bamni, Anusuya and Puru, will believe anything if it is garnished with a flood of tears, in this case Kadika's. See if I am not proved right!
Marvellous knife play: It was superb, the scene of Anusuya grabbing the knife thrown by Shivdutt by the blade, not even wiping the blood dripping from her hand before she whips it back to within a hand's breadth of his head. I am a sucker for women doing this sort of thing.
Her explanation for not transfixing him with it sounded all right , but I do wish she had not waited for Puru or anyone else and had just gone ahead and done it!
But what I loved the most in that sequence was the shot of little Malay just before Shivdutt takes out his knife. Face puckered in disapproval of the wicked man, his round eyes brimming with distaste, the mouth making an oh so cute little pout, he was just plain adorableđ¤. I hope we see as much as possible of him before the battle phase arrives.
Yes, this is really it!đ Just remember the Like button, would you, folks?
Shyamala Aunty/Di
Health and Fitness
