ANALYSIS! Arnav's Acceptance of Contract Marriage *New* Pg 11 | Oct 5

Hello everyone,

It's S from Iss Podcast Ko Kya Naam Doon. I'm thinking of posting a series of IPK analysis over here - let me know if you'd like them all in a thread or as different topics.

Quick note, it's all from my perspective and you're free to differ/add further to my analyses! And clearly, I haven't had enough analyzing this show.

Here's an index of all the analyses! Feel free to jump in/contribute.

Best,

S

I N D E X

1. Why Did Arnav Force Khushi To Marry Him? (below)

2. Analyzing Arnav, Shyam & Khushi at the Terrace

3. Why Arnav Didn't Tell Anjali the Full Truth

4. When Did Arnav Accept the Contract Marriage?

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Why Did Arnav Force Khushi To Marry Him?

So, today's I'm attempting to analyze why Arnav forcibly married Khushi which came from the following ask on Tumblr:

Why does Arnav choose the option of marrying Khushi when usually, people try to resolve extra marital affairs by separating the two lovers. And here Arnav just chose to let the “lovers” live under the same roof? I don’t buy the argument of control since it is impossible for Arnav to keep an eye on them 24X7 if indeed he believed they were messing with each other!

So, according to me, Arnav thought he witnessed a breakup.

Khushi in his eyes was religious, morally and ethically driven, cared little for money and was a woman of heart. If she wanted and loved someone, she’d be blind for him. Blind enough to step over her own moral boundaries. Such as love a man who is committed to another. (Careful, I’m not blind to Arnav’s faults, here I’m strictly talking from his perspective).

And all of this is true. She does all of this for Arnav.

Except he thought her love was Shyam.

So Arnav thought Khushi, unable to accept Shyam’s marital status any longer, was demanding a divorce so she could marry him. Therefore a woman like her, no matter how much in love with Shyam, would never entertain him if she were married. Yes, it would be a tragedy and her heart would be broken and all - but she’s also the kind to believe in the power of sindoor and mangalsutra over everything.

And that’s exactly what happens. Which is why as an audience we don’t see Arnav and Khushi signing the papers of their marriage because that means little - we see the religious side of the marriage because that means everything for her.

Arnav’s focus went to what he could control instead of what he couldn’t. If Shyam had begged for an apology and spluttered of Khushi not wanting to marry him - Arnav wouldn’t have married Khushi, except be cold towards her and never pursue her ever again, he’d tell her farak nahi padta and mean it. And have Shyam at his mercy. But Shyam made it very clear that he wanted to pursue Khushi irrespective of his marital status and would probably divorce Anjali if needs be. And Arnav could do nothing to stop this/warn Anjali about this. A single Shyam means Khushi would be ready to marry him.

So who could he control in this situation? Khushi.

(He thought) She was the one having problem of Shyam being married.

Shyam literally hands it over to Arnav that the only obstacle in this is Shyam’s marital status.

So even before Shyam is divorced, if Khushi is married she’d not pursue nor entertain Shyam ever again - even if she didn’t love her husband. And who remembers how committed Khushi was to her fiancé? Arnav. And who knew that she was with a man who she did NOT love and only broke up with because he hurt her family? Arnav, again.

Arnav has seen Khushi be blindly dedicated to an unattractive fiancé and defend him, pretend to be in love and happily engaged to because she’s given her word.

And then one might think why didn’t Arnav tell anyone else? Like Khushi, Arnav cares immensely about Akash. This comes off very subtly and is literally hidden under the whole thunder of ‘sister’s marriage broken’ that Arnav can’t tell anyone else about it, except his sister - for the fear that this would ruin his Akash’s happiness. Of course Anjali is pregnant so Arnav is left with telling no one.

He literally tells this to Khushi that Mami requires the slightest excuse to break Akash’s wedding, because he has thought through what would happen if he told anyone. And he can see no one agreeing Akash to marry Payal, perhaps not Akash himself, if they know what Payal’s sister did. But he knows Akash and Payal love each other.

And Arnav did not even think about any of the other Guptas knowing about this because - this is where the Guptas made a massive mistake - he cannot imagine anyone hiding this from him/Anjali that Shyam is cheating on her with Khushi.

It’s funny that Garima’s intention to keep Payal’s wedding intact is what sealed Khushi’s fate. If they had told Arnav what happened and with that knowledge if he had witnessed the terrace scene - he would’ve seen what we saw and realized that Shyam was harassing Khushi. I’m not saying he would’ve believed them instantly or painted his hero a devil, but he would’ve hesitated to believe Shyam because the Guptas told them the truth when saying so could cost them everything. Hence I always hold the Guptas immensely accountable for their actions.

Arnav made sure:

• He acted after Akash and Payal were married in the truest sense thus no matter what Arnav did it would not affect their marriage.
• Have a religious wedding so Khushi would not entertain Shyam at all.
• Have a leverage over Khushi by having her in the same household like Payal, therefore she knows that disagreeing with him would have an immediate impact.
• Have a ‘right’ over Khushi as husband, therefore having the right to tell Shyam that Khushi is his hence Shyam can no longer have Khushi.

I believe he translates Shyam’s anger to his success. Even Shyam knows that once Khushi has someone’s sindoor she’ll be committed to that man. So Arnav rejoices in the bitter win that Shyam is frustrated of not having a chance.

You see, Arnav does not ‘misunderstand’ Khushi. He misunderstood the situation. He still gets her - knows she’ll do anything for her sister, will be heartbroken if her family abandons her, prays to Devi Maiyya for everything, craves familial acceptance, blindly believes in marriage, will do anything to make anyone else happy. But is also in love with a married man.

Arnav knows who Khushi is and attaches it to what he saw on the terrace, therefore he knows once Khushi is married she won’t go behind another man because she believes too much in the institution of marriage. As long as Khushi is unmarried, she might be tempted to have a conversation/romantic attachment to Shyam just as she’s had one all along (according to Arnav).

He remembers Khushi’s frazzled state when Anjali introduces Shyam as her husband. He connects it to his theory that Khushi was betrayed by Shyam choosing to stay married to Anjali.

Therefore, post marriage whenever he sees Khushi stepping away from Shyam, he does not see what we see - fear and disgust - he sees a heartbroken woman disappointed by a man who didn’t divorce his wife to be with her. A spineless man trying to butter her up.

He misunderstands her anger for Shyam. BUT THIS DOES NOT MAKE ANY OF HIS DECISIONS RIGHT.

He punishes her personally, in his four walls, because she broke his heart. Because he was in love with her. He is extremely cruel and does things, many times, that are completely uncalled for. Some time ago an anon had asked me that if Lavanya was in place of Khushi would it have made a difference. I said no. The difference lies in who is the cheating man. In place of Shyam had it been some other random married guy who was not at all attached to Arnav in any way/shape/form we can see Arnav forming a similar opinion but not acting on it. He would’ve spoken to Khushi, tried to know the truth, worked out a solution. And probably beaten/threaten the random guy.

NONE OF THIS EXCUSES ARNAV’S ACTIONS.

Arnav should not have put Khushi through an abusive marriage. He should’ve confronted Khushi a few days after getting married. Yes it might have led to ugly fights but we needed conversations, months of angst and a true realization that he messed up and so did she in hiding the truth. We should’ve seen them working together on getting rid of Shyam - even if neither trusted the other - and then realizing that despite hurting the other in the deepest ways, the love remained in some corner of their heart. My problem with the whole marriage is not that it happened, it’s that there’s no payoff to an excellent plot twist.

We don’t see Arnav coming to this conclusion of marrying Khushi, we know he pulls it off and then we see him telling Shyam every now and then that Khushi is ASR’s wife and Shyam should stay away from her and misinterpreting every Shyam-Khushi scenario.

There was no necessity for their marriage to be an abusive one. Loveless, hollow and full of angst - yes - but manipulation, control, contempt? No.

Interesting, I find myself analyzing the whole show in a different light and having a million new fic ideas - again! (And I realised that I wouldn’t write now what I wrote some time back on one of my older fics!).

Love,

S

P.S: If you liked this feel free to add/ask. Also, let me know if you'd like analyses in one single thread or as different topics!

I loved your detailed analysis and would like to read the following ones in the same thread. In this way it will be easy to follow them.

I also had similar experiences when I watched some of old TV dramas after a decade. Because my attitude towards life has changed through time, hence my perspective on characters.

I still have difficulty in understanding how Arnav's manhandling, abusive behaviours were interpreted as his love towards Khushi. I still hate to see finger marks on her arms because of his pulling and pushing. He did it not once but many times, and he was forgiven for this abusive action over and over again. I guess itmight be something about Asian culture. Because be it Korean or Japanese dramas, holding a woman's wrist tightly without her consent is considered as romantic moment. However it's abuse and an abusive husband should has psychological help. But in Arnav's case, he was rewarded with Khushi's unconditional love.

Wonderful analysis! The way I saw it was, Shyam said, Anjali was the big obstacle in his love life with Khushi and Arnav put himself as the biggest obstacle. He doesn't want Anjali to get hurt. He doesn't want her to see or face ugliness. So he removed her as the obstacle and put himself in her place.

To his benefit, he tried to tell Anjali but, her pregnancy news and after witnessing her happiness on conceiving after a long time made him change his decision.

So, he picked his next option, put himself as the biggest obstacle, between Khushi and Shyam. For the reasons you mentioned, he thought Khushi won't pursue Shyam anymore, because she is now married. He fully thought, she is still pining for Shyam.

Now my question is, what was he planning to do after 6 months? How was he planning to handle Anjali after the 6 month contract period? Shyam declared that he never loved Anjali. Arnav must remove him from Anjali's life. But, he wasn't shown doing anything about it. I know it was not the question.

PS: You can do this analysis in different threads and keep an Index at one place.

Or you can post analysis on different characters and situations on one thread and create a new thread for every 10 different analysis.

Cheers....

Beautiful S ❤️. I also thought if instead of khushi there are any other girls whom shyam love then also Arnav married with her like he married khushi. The ans is big No.

It's khushi his love that why he married her and also like you said because of Akash love payal. Arnav don't want to separate them.

I also thought if atleast one time Arnav asked khushi about khushi and shyam relationship like he asked shyam then situation would be else but arnav anger, what we can do about that.

PS: you can do analysis as different topics.

Originally posted by: IPodcastKKND

Hello everyone,

It's S from Iss Podcast Ko Kya Naam Doon. I'm thinking of posting a series of IPK analysis over here - let me know if you'd like them all in a thread or as different topics.

Quick note, it's all from my perspective and you're free to differ/add further to my analyses! And clearly, I haven't had enough analyzing this show.

So, today's I'm attempting to analyze why Arnav forcibly married Khushi which came from the following ask on Tumblr:

Why does Arnav choose the option of marrying Khushi when usually, people try to resolve extra marital affairs by separating the two lovers. And here Arnav just chose to let the “lovers” live under the same roof? I don’t buy the argument of control since it is impossible for Arnav to keep an eye on them 24X7 if indeed he believed they were messing with each other!

So, according to me, Arnav thought he witnessed a breakup.

Khushi in his eyes was religious, morally and ethically driven, cared little for money and was a woman of heart. If she wanted and loved someone, she’d be blind for him. Blind enough to step over her own moral boundaries. Such as love a man who is committed to another. (Careful, I’m not blind to Arnav’s faults, here I’m strictly talking from his perspective).

And all of this is true. She does all of this for Arnav.

Except he thought her love was Shyam.

So Arnav thought Khushi, unable to accept Shyam’s marital status any longer, was demanding a divorce so she could marry him. Therefore a woman like her, no matter how much in love with Shyam, would never entertain him if she were married. Yes, it would be a tragedy and her heart would be broken and all - but she’s also the kind to believe in the power of sindoor and mangalsutra over everything.

And that’s exactly what happens. Which is why as an audience we don’t see Arnav and Khushi signing the papers of their marriage because that means little - we see the religious side of the marriage because that means everything for her.

Arnav’s focus went to what he could control instead of what he couldn’t. If Shyam had begged for an apology and spluttered of Khushi not wanting to marry him - Arnav wouldn’t have married Khushi, except be cold towards her and never pursue her ever again, he’d tell her farak nahi padta and mean it. And have Shyam at his mercy. But Shyam made it very clear that he wanted to pursue Khushi irrespective of his marital status and would probably divorce Anjali if needs be. And Arnav could do nothing to stop this/warn Anjali about this. A single Shyam means Khushi would be ready to marry him.

So who could he control in this situation? Khushi.

(He thought) She was the one having problem of Shyam being married.

Shyam literally hands it over to Arnav that the only obstacle in this is Shyam’s marital status.

So even before Shyam is divorced, if Khushi is married she’d not pursue nor entertain Shyam ever again - even if she didn’t love her husband. And who remembers how committed Khushi was to her fiancé? Arnav. And who knew that she was with a man who she did NOT love and only broke up with because he hurt her family? Arnav, again.

Arnav has seen Khushi be blindly dedicated to an unattractive fiancé and defend him, pretend to be in love and happily engaged to because she’s given her word.

And then one might think why didn’t Arnav tell anyone else? Like Khushi, Arnav cares immensely about Akash. This comes off very subtly and is literally hidden under the whole thunder of ‘sister’s marriage broken’ that Arnav can’t tell anyone else about it, except his sister - for the fear that this would ruin his Akash’s happiness. Of course Anjali is pregnant so Arnav is left with telling no one.

He literally tells this to Khushi that Mami requires the slightest excuse to break Akash’s wedding, because he has thought through what would happen if he told anyone. And he can see no one agreeing Akash to marry Payal, perhaps not Akash himself, if they know what Payal’s sister did. But he knows Akash and Payal love each other.

And Arnav did not even think about any of the other Guptas knowing about this because - this is where the Guptas made a massive mistake - he cannot imagine anyone hiding this from him/Anjali that Shyam is cheating on her with Khushi.

It’s funny that Garima’s intention to keep Payal’s wedding intact is what sealed Khushi’s fate. If they had told Arnav what happened and with that knowledge if he had witnessed the terrace scene - he would’ve seen what we saw and realized that Shyam was harassing Khushi. I’m not saying he would’ve believed them instantly or painted his hero a devil, but he would’ve hesitated to believe Shyam because the Guptas told them the truth when saying so could cost them everything. Hence I always hold the Guptas immensely accountable for their actions.

It was the responsibility of the elders not Khushi to tell the Raizadas about Shyam because Guptas forced Shyam on Khushi and Payal was getting married for love with elders blessings. It was inappropriate as per their so called culture. Decisions were taken by elders then the responsibility of the fallout of those decisions is also on the elders.

This bias in how they treated Khushi like an unwanted entity and how they cared for Payal's minutest comforts was evident. Payal was as much to blame for not sharing it with Akash.

Arnav made sure:

• He acted after Akash and Payal were married in the truest sense thus no matter what Arnav did it would not affect their marriage.
• Have a religious wedding so Khushi would not entertain Shyam at all.
• Have a leverage over Khushi by having her in the same household like Payal, therefore she knows that disagreeing with him would have an immediate impact.
• Have a ‘right’ over Khushi as husband, therefore having the right to tell Shyam that Khushi is his hence Shyam can no longer have Khushi.

I believe he translates Shyam’s anger to his success. Even Shyam knows that once Khushi has someone’s sindoor she’ll be committed to that man. So Arnav rejoices in the bitter win that Shyam is frustrated of not having a chance.

You see, Arnav does not ‘misunderstand’ Khushi. He misunderstood the situation. He still gets her - knows she’ll do anything for her sister, will be heartbroken if her family abandons her, prays to Devi Maiyya for everything, craves familial acceptance, blindly believes in marriage, will do anything to make anyone else happy. But is also in love with a married man.

Arnav knows who Khushi is and attaches it to what he saw on the terrace, therefore he knows once Khushi is married she won’t go behind another man because she believes too much in the institution of marriage. As long as Khushi is unmarried, she might be tempted to have a conversation/romantic attachment to Shyam just as she’s had one all along (according to Arnav).

He remembers Khushi’s frazzled state when Anjali introduces Shyam as her husband. He connects it to his theory that Khushi was betrayed by Shyam choosing to stay married to Anjali.

Therefore, post marriage whenever he sees Khushi stepping away from Shyam, he does not see what we see - fear and disgust - he sees a heartbroken woman disappointed by a man who didn’t divorce his wife to be with her. A spineless man trying to butter her up.

He misunderstands her anger for Shyam. BUT THIS DOES NOT MAKE ANY OF HIS DECISIONS RIGHT.

He punishes her personally, in his four walls, because she broke his heart. Because he was in love with her. He is extremely cruel and does things, many times, that are completely uncalled for. Some time ago an anon had asked me that if Lavanya was in place of Khushi would it have made a difference. I said no. The difference lies in who is the cheating man. In place of Shyam had it been some other random married guy who was not at all attached to Arnav in any way/shape/form we can see Arnav forming a similar opinion but not acting on it. He would’ve spoken to Khushi, tried to know the truth, worked out a solution. And probably beaten/threaten the random guy.

NONE OF THIS EXCUSES ARNAV’S ACTIONS.

Arnav should not have put Khushi through an abusive marriage. He should’ve confronted Khushi a few days after getting married. Yes it might have led to ugly fights but we needed conversations, months of angst and a true realization that he messed up and so did she in hiding the truth. We should’ve seen them working together on getting rid of Shyam - even if neither trusted the other - and then realizing that despite hurting the other in the deepest ways, the love remained in some corner of their heart. My problem with the whole marriage is not that it happened, it’s that there’s no payoff to an excellent plot twist.

We don’t see Arnav coming to this conclusion of marrying Khushi, we know he pulls it off and then we see him telling Shyam every now and then that Khushi is ASR’s wife and Shyam should stay away from her and misinterpreting every Shyam-Khushi scenario.

There was no necessity for their marriage to be an abusive one. Loveless, hollow and full of angst - yes - but manipulation, control, contempt? No.

Interesting, I find myself analyzing the whole show in a different light and having a million new fic ideas - again! (And I realised that I wouldn’t write now what I wrote some time back on one of my older fics!).

Love,

S

P.S: If you liked this feel free to add/ask. Also, let me know if you'd like analyses in one single thread or as different topics!

I totally loved your take on why Arnav married Khushi. What Arnav thought about Khushi and why he married her was different from what I had perceived about it.

Imo. In his opinion Khushi went after Shyam because he was the Damad of Raizadas. So she was a girl who'd do anything for money. He literally said that when he revealed his reason to marry her.

His logic didn't make sense because he knew Khushi met Shyam after Payal was engaged and if she loved her sister so much to not risk her marriage a second time why would she trap Anjali's husband of all men?

Secondly he was so enraged by Khushi's engagement that he was so edgy at the prospect of encountering her fiance. He was way too territorial about Khushi the need to have all rights on her was seen in the way he held her which imo wasn't right. They tried to show how he held Khushi but never held Lavanya the same way except one time she turned her back and he was thinking of Khushi. What were the makers trying to show here? That a man will treat you with civility if he doesn't love you but will hold you tightly and arm twist you only if he loves you? Or Arnav's manner were only for High class girls like La and Sheetal and because Khushi was a middle class girl she deserved to be pushed around?

If Arnav was not so class conscious why this treatment was only for Khushi?

So it all boiled down to him falling for Khushi and he lost all control when it came to her and that's exactly what happened that night.

His first feeling was betrayal from Shyam and not as much from Khushi. He had literally looked up to Shyam always and that man was professing his love. His thought was that his Jijaji betrayed his sister and what Khushi said was an after thought. The guy was in love and wanted to share his feelings what exactly he'd have said I am not sure. However he left the place heartbroken but his past made him confront his Jijaji. Every one has a question why he confronted Shyam but not Khushi.

1. Shyam was married to Anjali not Khushi so the committed one has an obligation to Anjali not Khushi.

It's funny how whenever there is an extra martial affair it's always the other woman's fault but the married man is a poor child who got trapped without checking facts. It's takes two to tango if there is any truth to the affair and if there isn't why blame only the woman.

2. Shyam wasn't only Anjali's husband he was also family and he presented himself like a noble ethical man who the entire family loved and trusted him so much.

Arnav was smart but not with words especially when he was angry he lost control on his tongue. The world judges people on sweet tongue not actions. He could have played with words but he blurted what he Made of what he saw and Shyam manipulated him to think Khushi also loved him back.

Why didn't Arnav verify this with Khushi.

1. Arnav loved Khushi he realized that and probably wanted to confess but was he prepared for a No from Khushi? No.

He till that point knew Khushi had feelings for him and he knew it since Diwali that's why those Faraks to get her to accept her feelings when he himself didn't want to.

2. He would be heartbroken even more if he confronted Khushi and she said she loved Shyam. He didn't want to consider that because he had a situation at hand to mope over his own pain he needed to be strong. He avoided that possibility

Lastly why he chose to marry her and would he have done the same if it was any other girl then my answer is no. He didn't believe in marriage the only reason he offered marriage to Khushi was he loved her and the only way he knew Khushi could be his was marriage.

1. He already knew what he felt the night prior to the wedding when he thought he lost Khushi. Khushi had become important to him other than Anjali

2. If Arnav can get Akash his love when Payal refused saying Mera bhai Na sunne ke liye tayyar nahi hai

Then how would he let the girl he loved go.

He wanted Khushi as his.

As much as he said he married Khushi for Anjali's sake he actually married her for himself too

3. He put that condition for 6 months so he doesn't have to look vulnerable to Khushi and also when the baby arrives if Khushi still wants to leave then he has an out from that Marriage.

4. I don't know but if their souls were so connected I'd think he somewhere wanted to protect Khushi from Shyam as well. In RM Shyam wouldn't get as many chances as he'd if Khushi was sent somewhere because of Payal it wouldn't be a secret.

Arnav hurt Khushi emotionally physically while Shyam didn't suffer at all.

My whole problem is Khushi being called names her character being questioned time and again for what? No one from the family questioned Lavanya's character when she was living in without marriage with Arnav not even Nani who considered her too modern for their family but not characterless. Khushi was called dirty names and not worthy of being a bahu of a good family by Dadi because she lived with Arnav without phere and Nani and Anjali agreed just like when Shyam used the filthy language for Khushi and everyone stood quiet. Sorry for me Arnav's slap wasn't enough. Arnav and Khushi were legally married. He said that you are my legally wedded wife so the Sindoor and mangalsutra was just for Khushi's sake yet these idiots made a big deal of it. All their family reputation wasn't at stake when Anjali invited Lavanya for a live in. If not for Nani Lavanya was headed for Arnav's bedroom as soon as she entered RM so what bullshit was Anjali saying that Arnav was wrong this time? Nani agreed to what that old hag. If a girl who lives with a man without marriage isn't worthy of being a bahu why did Nani accept Lavanya and was throwing out Khushi by humiliating her. Disgusting people.

I didn't like the message they sent by showing Arnav's love for her in the way he arm twisted her literally all the time. To show his pain his love they ridiculed a young innocent girl's emotions and pain. Khushi had said you wouldn't hold me like this once after marriage but if anyone observed Khushi must have been subjected to force and abuse and hiding it behind a smile given how easily Garima and Buaji slapped her. That's why Arnav's behaviour didn't outrage her. However Payal was a pampered child so she would whine about how she's fed up even with Akash being cold to her and taunting her a couple of times.

Even Arnav is subject to taunts by Nani while Anjali is literally pampered even when she's wrong. That's exactly why Arnav became who he was and he resorted to extreme measures to get what he wanted or what Anjali wanted. Anjali btw also wants what she wants. She did blackmail Khushi to train Lavanya so blaming Arnav alone for what he did to Khushi isn't right Anjali was as much responsible for how Arnav behaved with Khushi especially when he told her she was the biggest mistake of his life after Anjali said someone cast an evil eye on our happiness.

Please make separate threads because its easier to find a relevant topic and follow those discussions

Great analysis and loved reading all replies above. 👍🏼

I recently started re-watching this show, had knowingly stayed away from it back then as I sensed it will be injurious to my studies 😆 And damm I was right, it is SOMETHING!

To the topic, I also had this question and Arnav's indecent proposal made me puzzled too. In fact, it felt like Arnav thought Khushi was two timing, cheating on him as well as Shyam (what with her kiss on his cheek, writing A in her mehendi and all). From his pov then, what kind of a girl he thought she was? He should have confronted her then and there. *sigh*

I like how you said he thought he witnessed a breakup. A good idea. But then how he explained her recent inclination to him? Did he think she was trying to make shyam jealous by doing so? 😔

I also agree with one pov stated above, he was afraid to hear her answer, that she may have liked shyam. He probably thought why would she like him, with all the arrogance, rudeness et al while shyam was more of a sophisticated guy (in his eyes, till then)? Still wouldn't explain khushi's closeness to him.

There is also another view i read and made sense, that he did not 'completely' believe what shyam said and so married her to 'save' her from him (still bizarre way to protect your love, but anyway). So he tried to 'tie' her to him. But he never mentions why 6 months? What was he planning to do in between that time and after the end of it? Probably expect his Di would have her baby by then and shyam would come around and forget khushi? 🤔 and what would he do to khushi after that?

Loved this part specifically from your post "You see, Arnav does not ‘misunderstand’ Khushi. He misunderstood the situation." and "He misunderstands her anger for Shyam. BUT THIS DOES NOT MAKE ANY OF HIS DECISIONS RIGHT. " 👍🏼

I am also glad that they married but yeah it should not have been an abusive marriage and at least after a few days they should have cleared the misunderstanding and worked together to get rid of shyam.

Now THAT was a lengthy reply 😆 will keep looking forward to your posts.

p.s. I am so glad this forum is still buzzing after so many years the show ended, says enough about the craze for it.

First, I absolutely love this post because with rewatching IPKKND, I want to go back to discussing and engaging with the content of the show and it's hard to find the similar kind of content analysing outside of maybe Tumblr answers right now!

Coming to the analyses of the entire situation, I started watching the show when I was 14 and it ended when I was 15, because I stopped watching after Shyam's revelation. I think with any content, whether it's a daily soap or web series, it's important to engage with it critically. Regardless of how the show was written, we had a lot of Easter eggs from day one in Lucknow about the interconnected pasts of both of them which will make it hard for them to ever be close to each other. The central theme was angst and tragedy which I think the show deviated away from with the second marriage happening the way it happened.

I think recognising that interconnected past that they both are unaware of, and the way their lives overlap is important to understand in the angst and abuse that the first six months warranted. In no way do I think that the trauma of past and the overlap in their lives justifies abuse. The way Arnav manhandles Khushi is past toxic and crosses over into abuse because in the end he ends up next to Shyam with both therein to assert their possession of her with their actions.

I think I disagree on one point. I don't think Arnav thought he witnessed a breakup. I think Arnav thought he witnessed the aftermath of a break up because when he goes on the drive after witnessing the terrace thing, he remembers Khushi's reciprocating steps towards him which leads him to the point you're making that Khushi's love does abide by certain ethics. While Arnav thinks he does understand Khushi, or is perhaps familiar to with her next actions, he still doesn't trust her the way he trusts Akash and Anjali. Of course, why would he. He has misunderstood Khushi from the get go and all of his encounters with her which leave him smitten, or leave him in cloys physical proximity to her have been accidental and never on purpose. I think Arnav's understanding of Khushi and his pull towards Khushi is captured perfectly when Lavanya asks him to throw the dupatta over her head and it lands' on Khushi's and he is gobsmacked by the entire thing. Till the end of his engagement he never considers Khushi as a serious partner and his history of bruised ego in regards to Khushi doesn't help him in thinking about Khushi critically and in an unbiased way.

I think his own hesitancy in recognising Khushi as a serious partner until the day before Aakash's wedding when he realises he might actually love her the way Anjali describes love mirrors in him thinking Khushi might have feelings with Shyam. It's a good point to note that every time he addresses about the Shyam-Khushi equation, he addresses is as an affair which of course it is but usually the term affair eliminates the idea of love and emphasis on lust. It's a perfect term to use from Shyam's behalf since his need to possess Khushi like an object is driven purely from lust and Khushi's rejection of him. I don't think Arnav ever truly thought Khushi loved Shyam but he did think that she had started developing similar feelings towards Shyam that she had towards him in-duration of Akash-Payal's wedding. The overall event, till he reveals the details to Khushi when she finds herself choosing suicide as an option to make everyone else's lives around her easier, shows that Arnav doesn't trust Khushi's love. He is a man who we know very clearly that he doesn't believe in love, and that too with a person exact opposite from him. Khushi's personality in not just the exact opposite of him but also her lifestyle and life's struggles are in contrast to his'. As much faith as they both develop in their love for each other, they fail to develop the same amount of trust in each other in regards to anything other than their love for each other.

Overall I agree with you on the decisions' Arnav takes in order to make sure Khushi doesn't pose as a threat to his sister' marriage but I think Arnav and Shyam do not differ in how they treat Khushi. Both look at her as an object. and both try to play into the narrative that will give them control of the situation. Arnav resorts to the previous patterns which had made him successful over Khushi and Shyam briefly resorts to making himself the victim of an abusive marriage. I think your explanation of why we see a temple wedding and using symbols of a suhagan on Khushi also plays into why Arnav is better than Shyam, and Arnav's own understanding of how he thinks he is better and more deserving of Khushi as well. He understands what's important to her whereas Shyam fails to understand what is important to her. Khushi has grown up being told on number of occasions that as much as she is wanted, she is also not wanted and that she remains an orphan. We are unaware of Shyam's own family situation until the very end and I think in the first few episodes of Anjali talking to someone from her in-laws makes it known that Shyam doesn't have blood relatives. Khushi on the other hand has no one related to her besides Garima. and Arnav understands Khushi's pain. He also understands how to exploit that.

I disagree with you on one point. if it had been Khushi who was in love with someone else, and it hadn't been Shyam, I think Arnav would have taken a similar route of forcing Khushi into a marriage with himself. He would've probably created ways and events in which Khushi would've had to walk towards him because once you remove Anjali from the equation, Arnav still felt betrayed and cheated on at least emotionally from Khushi and he would've figured out a way to make her pay. I think this would've been parallel to how he ends up buying Sheesh Mahal from chacha ji only because Chacha ji hurt him and he needed to get his own way.

Arnav understands Khushi's relationship with love and Khushi understands Arnav's relationship to love but they both don't understand anything else about each other. Thats why throughout the brief moments of closeness and understanding from one another in the six month marriage, they are both left confused if one person does something for the other where their own intimacy and love isn't a central part. I think that also shapes in their opinion of one another on faking care for each other in front of other family members because even with the precedent, they don't believe that the other one would go far enough in their love to care for the other one.

They are both emotionally stunted people, and their entire equation is extremely toxic. I absolutely do not condone abuse, especially the consistent romanticisation of physical abuse. Romanticisation of abuse is in Indiana shows and even this show is a whole another topic of conversation in regards to patriarchal narratives and gender roles. But the premise of the show from the initial promos to the equation we see Arnav and Khushi sharing is one that demands some form of lack of healthy parts of a relationship in order to persist.

If I knew Arnav and Khushi in reality, I would've advise them to stay miles apart and partake in intense therapy sessions because they both are despite their love, incompatible for each other. The only thing that ties both of them is their love. They show no trust in each other besides trusting certain aspects of their. love. Their love eliminates care for each other. Arnav's more-so than Khushi's.

With rewatching it, I think I can see more clearly the kind of content the show was. The show tried doing something progressive for its time but it relied on the most regressive understanding of love.

I think that regardless of the kind of marriage Arnav and Khushi could've had, they both as their characters established till before the second marriage, they wouldn't have ever survived being married to each other. I think these two are good characters for a love saga but nothing else. I think in light of that the shows' name, Iss Pyar Ko Kya Naam Doon, is apt.

I think it might be missing a few points more but absolutely love that you posted this. It's up to you to have single thread of analyses or separate. I don't see too many topics so I would do different threads but I guess see how many people are active and go with that.?

Renee point of Khushi going through character assassination because of Arnav and Shyam is something I agree with. Ultimately I think the show's writing was lazy and relied on regressive troupe in order to have a damsel in distress. I think the plot of the show was strong but the writing, incredibly reductive. They were more invested in having easter eggs and foreshadowing in episodes than in clearly have decent scripts.

I agree with certain things about Arnav's character that you've pointed out. Arnav was going to confess to Khushi. We know about this because he did want to speak to her and a day before he understood that Khushi fits the bill of the love his sister talks about so much. But Arnav was not going to take a no room Khushi. Khushi suffered by hands of Arnav more than Arnav did from Khushi. I like to often think about the fourth promo of the show with Arnav in rain and Khushi standing by a window and Khushi saying 'kyun mein tumse nafrat nahi kar pati'. Khushi doesn't understand her feelings for Arnav at all, and if Arnav were to never exclaim his love, she wouldn't have voiced it out as well.

Arnav was extremely territorial about Khushi and I think that was the reigning thing that drove him to marry Khushi. He wouldn't have been able to bear anything that Khushi said if it wasn't in support of his own feelings.

You're right about Arnav asking Shyam for clarification. Arnav did not believe in love nor did he wanted to do anything for love. His choice of companionship was reflected in Lavanya. A partner who would love him, would go to any extent for him, would fit into his world perfectly. A partner he wouldn't have to make any effort towards. But Shyam and Anjali's relationship gave him a glimmer of hope. I think thats' why Anjali's definition of love is important for Arnav in deciding his love, thus Shyam was more answerable to Arnav than anyone else however the same can't be said for the rest of the family members because they resorted to gender patterns of asking answers from the girl rather than damad ji.

I think ultimately Arnav's marriage to Khushi was driven not because of wanting to protect Anjali and leaving Shayam with no options, but because he wasn't going to let Khushi go. In tying Khushi to himself, he killed two birds with one stone. In the end, he chose his love and his feelings before finding a way to protect his Di's illusion of love.

misunderstandings are the bread and butter of daily soaps. We can only see some form of healthy communication in web-series or mini series rather than in daily soaps whose content refuses to go past regressive troupes. 😵🤔

I have a brain wave. Let us do some reverse engineering.

What was Arnav's goal and what were Shyam and Arnav thinking?

When Arnav said he saw Shyam on the terrace with Khushi, a quick thinking Shyam rightly assumed and reiterated that Anjali won't believe a thing Arnav will say about him and wrongly assumed that Arnav will have no choice but to keep quiet (because Khushi was no one to Arnav compared to Anjali) and let things go and he he can pursue Khushi at his will. Shyam had an inkling but discarded the idea that Arnav had any feelings for Khushi or vice versa.

But, Arnav tried to tell Anjali, which Shyam was not aware of.

When Arnav noticed how ecstatic Anjali got after reading the lab report and how she pointed towards her brother and husband and sort of said, how they are the two most important people in her life and how she doesn't want anything else more than their love, she sealed the deal for Arnav.

Now Arnav can't remove Shyam from Anjali's life in the near future. If he has to keep Shyam at Shantivan, then he has to do something about Khushi. How will Khushi stay away from Shyam, if she likes Shyam?

He rightly predicted that Khushi believes in the sanctity of the marriage and he can't get her married to someone else at a short notice. So, he decided to marry her and hence the clause of 6 months. He assumed Khushi won't go after Shyam as long as she is married to him. He doesn't want to get himself tied to Khushi forever. That is why he kept saying he is waiting for the 6 months to finish, so that he can throw her away from his life.

Now why did Shyam, stayed with Anjali? He thought he got his way as he initially predicted and he thought he can still manipulate Anjali, get to Arnav's coffers and get Khushi, but, he did not expect Arnav to marry Khushi.

Now that Arnav knows about his intentions, Arnav won't leave Shyam if he harms Anjali.

Since Shyam can't get Khushi, he has no other choice but to play a besotted husband to Anjali. According to Shyam, things haven't gone out of the hands as yet.

I wondered for a while why Arnav stopped cash flow to the joint account? I thought it would irritate Shyam forcing him to take a wrong step.

May be they (the makers) thought it will look like Arnav is buying the services of Shyam for Anjali.

According to them ASR can only order or demand or threaten So, he threatened Shyam that Khushi is off limits and he better stay with Anjali and behave.

I don't know whether I am making sense, but this is what I am thinking right now.😊

Cheers......