Originally posted by: inlieu
He is afraid, very very afraid. After that CD of Ashok and Babita's wedding was played, he remembered what he had tried to push far back in his mind, that she was not his (biological) child, that unlike Imarti, Ashok was still very much alive, and his parents lived across the street.
Since the beginning he has been protective towards Minnie and until recently, has been able to mold her without the Khuranas' presence. However, that video triggered his insecurities, made him question his worthiness of being her father. It also did something HS hasn't come to terms with but that probably scared him: it awakened his possessiveness for his daughter. That video reminded him that Ashok could come and lay claim to her or try to take his 'rightful' place in Minnie's life since there was still some unfinished business between them and since she still officially didn't have a father.
The senior Khuranas were her tangible connection to Ashok and if she still missed a father and didn't think HS qualified to have that place in her life, it meant the spot would remain vacant for Ashok to slip in to any time. It's a different matter that Minnie may not want any father in her life, neither Ashok, nor HS, but HS has some deep-seated insecurity (which in time might even be revealed to be mixed with jealousy) that Ashok has something he could never have: the same DNA as Minnie. It is those blood ties that will keep her connected to the Khuranas and by extension always leave the door open for Ashok to walk back into their lives and take HS' little girl away from him, the sunshine that had come into his life after many years of darkness.
I saw all of that in his eyes when he was in tears before the wedding, when he felt as if the fantasy bubble he had been living in with the apple of his eyes, was burst by the reality of that video. He had missed her childhood but had been looking forward to a lifetime of raising her (with her mother), but perhaps he had been foolish to think she would want such a thing and that she actually saw him as her mother's husband, nothing more. Since he now feels he has no right to act as a father or to have any expectations of her as his daughter, the previous bonds of the heart that he had thought they had shared was just his imagination, and the only way for him to connect to her officially would be through Babita.
The more she leans towards the Khuranas the greater the chances of conflict between Babita and her, and if Minnie doesn't get along with Babita because of this, it by extension weakens her connection with HS. He cannot afford to let that happen for risk of losing her to her grandparents but he cannot explicitly forbid her either. Hence he expresses his wishes by proxying them through as Babita's. It is interesting that the once independent Minnie is developing a dependence on her grandparents in order to escape her troubles. Sure, they are always going to be her grandparents and she should have the chance to decide if she wants them in her life or not, but I think once HS realizes what is happening with Minnie he will be able to help her curb her over-dependence on them.
As NB explained, it wouldn't be right to expect Minnie to break all ties with them unless she herself wants to do so. I have a feeling this will not happen. Now that Minnie knows Babita is in safe hands with HS she will be a lot more at ease (and guilt-free) mentally to interact with the Khuranas because she has been able to accomplish her mission of giving Babita her happiness through this wedding. They are an escape route for her, one that allows her to be a child in the absence of the safe space she previously had under the care of HS, who she now thinks does not want her. It also allows her to be herself and remain aloof from Babita, whose responsibility she has become tired of shouldering but does not realize or want to acknowledge. She is pushing Babita towards HS so she can begin her new life but she is also pushing her mother away so that she can have some breathing room, her own space where she doesn't have to worry about her 24/7. That is why Mickey's questions sting and why she does not want to explore her feelings in her diary.
I honestly don't see how anyone other than NB or HS can help her out, but for that to happen, HS has to put aside his feelings and go back to the being the person he was when he first met his Veer Balika, generous, open-minded, and willing to do whatever it took to help her out. Not necessarily as a parent, but as someone who cares about her well-being and is unable to see her sullen face because it hurts him.
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
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