Folks,
I am now in a literally stiff-necked state, since my rheumatoid arthritis dec ided that, for a while at least, it was enough for me to look straight ahead, and not be able to turn sideways or to look up or back😉. The human body and mind can adjust to literally anything. But while I wait for a new set of medicines to release my neck and shoulders, I needed something to take my mind off this dratted state of affairs. Whence this post.
Moreover, I am again about to risk falling flat on my face, as I usually do when I try to guess plot developments, but this was one prediction I had to make. I think I am on more solid ground this time that ever before, and I fully hope to be able to break open the Moet Chandon champagne on Monday. Anyone who can is more than welcome to join me!
I hope Maharaja Purushottam does not let me down, and force me to look for the sackcloth and ashes after being proved wrong!!😆
So here goes. Of course it is about the sanskaari apaharan of Olympias ( delightful term in italics courtesy LuckySnow) by our guru extraordinaire, Acharya Vishnugupta Chanakya.
Means vs ends: Chanakya is soon to acquire a shishya who will be obedient to his guru's every order and even whim, unquestioningly and blindly obedient. Chandragupta Maurya. But he is yet in the future how far away depends on the CVs idiosyncractic calendar!. But for now, Chanakya has to make do with Puru, aka Maharaja Purushottam of Paurav Rashtra, to undertake and complete his immediate abhiyaan, the complete expulsion from India of Alexander and his Macedonians.
The problem, for Chanakya, is that Puru is no blindly obedient shishya, and indeed I doubt if he is a shishya at all in the traditional sense. For he has a mind of his own, an acute sense of honour, and a very clear idea of what is right and wrong, honourable and dishonourable.
In the eternal means vs ends debate, Puru is firmly on the side of the very great man who would, 2300 years later, be called Mahatma Gandhi. He will not do anything his conscience cannot accept, not matter what the gains, temporary or permanent. Not for Chanakya, not for anyone.
For Chanakya, on the other hand, only the ends count, and the means be damned.
The odd thing is that, for someone who is so shrewd in assessing men, Chanakya does not perceive ki Puru ki mitti ka bana hai. So I was sure that at some point, there would be a major clash between these two drastically different soch - Puru's rigid code of honour and Chanakya's totally amoral ruthlessness.
This clash did come, and it surfaced first in Episodes 159-160, where Puru refused point blank to murder Alexander, whom Chanakya had brought to the Paurava court by deceit, to the rage and frustration of the Acharya. My post Acharya devo na bhava? (https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/porus/5006037/porus-159-160-acharya-devo-na-bhava), on those episodes, which were truly wonderful, refers.
Second falling out: Now, for Episode 181, my prediction is that the clash will resurface.
Puru will be faced with with Chanakya's Yojana No. 2 (more of the Yojana No.1 below), which the Acharya has earlier announced, though without any details, with a smirk and a flourish.
It is sprung on him without either warning or consultation, as per Chanakya's standard operating procedure, and obviously consists in using Alexander's jadh, his mother Olympias, whom Chanakya has kidnapped ( he uses the anodyne term lekar aaya hoon as is she had come for a walk in the park with him!😉) to force Alexander or leave Bharat in return for getting his mother back safe and sound.
Puru cannot possibly contemplate such blackmail using a family member of his enemy. He will turn this yojana down flat, and will send Olympias back to Takshashila pronto, under a suitable escort. Nothing else will fit in with his moral code.
Frustration and fury: Chanakya has already had his Yojana No.1, of securing a cast iron alliance between the Dasyu Rajya and Paurav Rashtra throught the marriage between Puru and Laachi, crash on the rock of the fury of the Dasyu royal couple.
Now facing a twin failure, he will be close to apoplexy. He will most likely repeat, as he did on the earlier occasion, that all his astute schemes and kootneeti has been wasted on this obstinate king who does not understand either the duty of a shishya vis a vis his guru, or the need to achieve their goal by hook or by crook.
Maybe, just maybe, he will wash his hands of Puru, and stomp off to Magadha to try and rope in the powerful Dhananand for his anti-Alexander crusade. His hair is still knotted at the extreme end, so he has not yet been insulted by Dhananand and taken the famous Chanakya shabadam, or vachan, that he will not knot his hair till he has overthrown Dhananand and replaced him with a truly able and deserving king.
If this happens, we should get to see Chandragupta Maurya, who should, according to history, have then been a boy. But in this show, chronology is the least concern of the CVs, so he might well be an adult, provided there is enough left of the Rs.500 crore budget of Swastik to afford another A list actor.😉
Faint hope: What I want to see is whether Porus' admirable, and genuine sense of honour makes an impact even on the arrogant Olympias.
She might, just might be brought to realise that Porus treats her so well not because he is weak, but precisely because he is not weak.
Because he is strong enough, inside and outside, to do what is right and honourable and face the consequences, because that is the only way he can live with himself.
If this happens, and she grows to respect Porus, it would bring in a fascinating new "twist". One which might have some bearing on Alexander and Porus growing to respect each other and even become friends. Otherwise, the way in which these two characters have been developed in this show, getting them to even tolerate each other seems a distant dream!
The feminine face offs: Right now, however, Olympias is busy parading her arrogance, sneering at all things Bharatiya. If I had been Anusuya, I would have left her to her own devices, preferably totally, and if not at least after she dismissed the food, which she assumed would be Indian, as unfit for her Macedonian palate.
Her attitude is in sharp contrast to that of Alexander who, during his visit to Paurava Rashtra escorted by Chanakya, shows vivid admiration for his surroundings, and a keen interest in the rites and rituals as explained to him by Chanakya. But of course he had not been kidnapped and brought there, and did not know how he had been fooled by the wily Acharya!
This apart, Olympias, perennially looking down her nose, sounds like an LP stuck in the same place, repeating that Mera beta Alexander would throw Porus and his vachan into the Jhelum. As does Anusuya about her Puru. Both of them were utterly boring.
From this point of view too, it would be the best if Olympias is shipped back to Takshashila. She would be better occupied initiating Roxanne into the techniques of How to hold on to your Malika Position 101. 😆
Treatment of Olympias: Finally, Surbhi and the others have been indulging in a vigorous debate about why Olympias was being treated like princess - a queen, Surbhi, a queen! - instead of being given her just deserts.
I eschewed that debate, which bids fair to become an extended one, but personally, I don't think Olympias, who is a very tough cookie, would have been at all fazed even by SidT's favorite way of showing females treated in such situations, ie a la Draupadi. Nor, come to think of it, was Anusuya! Women are generally much tougher and more resilient than men.
Methinks, however , that the real reason for this personalized and excessive courtesy extended to Olympias was to allow Anusuya to deliver one more speech about bharatiya mores , and Olympias to deliver her return speech about Bharatiyas lacking courage, and treating her well in an attempt to placate Alexander. The lines were already there, nice and polished and long, very long, and how could they be wasted?😆 As for the unfortunate viewers like yours truly, who cares about them?
Failure of Yojana No.1: Reverting to the Acharya, the setback with Puru wrt Olympias would be the second solid reality check for Chanakya. Last night, he swept in, intoning, with total if inexplicable certitude, that Puru was right about Sumer having been in cahoots with Kanishka to kill Puru.
I expected the Dasyu Raja and Rani to bluntly ask him how he knew that, since he cannot claim to have been an eye witness to the death of Kanishka. But they reserved their fire and lowered the boom a little later, immediately after the cremation of Kanishka.
Now that was one crackerjack of a scene! 👏The Dasyu Rani was splendid in the way she dominated the whole situation, with the Dasyuraj running her a close second. 👏
Chanakya's grand Yojana No.1 fell by the wayside, and he was left speechless. If he had opened his mouth, he would have been roundly snubbed by Dasyu Rani Mahanandi, who is no respecter of ochre robes, just as she silenced Bamni.
Her sudden veering into vintage Chanakya territory, and accusing poor Bamni of having got rid of Kanishka in order to save Anusuya,😉 shocked the Paurav quartet (including Laachi), and reduced Chanakya who recognised in her someone who was his match, if not more - to rueful silence.
It also seemed to have made Kadika's grey cells light up suddenly. I am half sure that she believed what the Dasyu Rani said. If that is so, another front will.open up inside the Paurav royal family.
Perfect behaviour: Puru's reaction to the Dasyu royal couple's decisions was impeccable, and exactly what I would have expected of him.👏 He never forgets what he owes to the Dasyus, and to the Dasyu Rani in particular.
I also think that whatever Laachi's resistance, he will send her off to Dasyu Lok with her parents. There was a shot I saw somewhere recently of her standing in front of a sort of hut, which could be only in Dasyu Lok.
An unexpected visit: As for Alexander's sudden descent on Dasyu Lok, that should be fun. The Dasyuraj is like a proud Scottish Highland chieftain of old, and he has now come fully into his own. The two of them should get along very well.
Since this move of Alexander's would fit in neatly with his plan of cutting off Porus' sources of support one by one, I feel that it has nothing to do with Olympias' sanskaari apaharan.
This also lends strength to my guess that the apaharan issue will fizzle out. Olympias might get back to Takshashila before Alexander sets out to rescue her, or maybe even before he learns about her being kidnapped.
Which would be as well, for that bridge looks decidedly shaky to me!! 😆
The real battle tactics: Whatever the CVs might have in mind for the final battle, Alexander did not cross the Hydaspes by a bridge of any kind, but thru a brilliant feint, by marching a considerable way upstream, past a bend in the river, crossing first to a midstream island there, and then wading over to the opposite bank. He thus took Porus by surprise, and on the way to the actual battle site, met a reconnaissance troop under Porus' son, and defeated them. Sadly, in the skirmish, the Paurava prince was killed.
Question: It was odd, after all the stress laid by Laachi & Co. on the need for independent proof to confirm what Anusuya stated about Sumer, that now Laachi does not need any proof to confirm what Puru says about Sumer. She even adds that the truth does not need proof, but can stand on its own legs. Then was Anusuya's truth lame, and if so why?
Ok, this is it, folks. Don't forget to hit the Like button if you think it is deserved.
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