Roomi v/s Yatharth
Yes!!! Another post where there is no room for bitching…Today is such a happy day!! But also comparing between two angels is so heart-breaking. I’ll do my best though.
Before I start the comparison, we need to realize that both Roomi and Yatharath are like their fathers.. and because Danish and Manav have two different personalities.. so does the children. So now that the boring disclaimer is done. Let’s start the fun part:
Roomi: My angel!! He is played by Shees Sajjad Gul. Anyone who saw the show fell in love with him.. I am sure .. Anyone who did not like him must be a heartless person.. (or you know…just genuinely did not like him for some reason.. no need to be dramatic.. I guess..)
I am still confused about his age.. maybe because I do not understand the education system in Pakistan. In the beginning, Roomi was not admitted to a school yet, they wanted him to join a big school. I think it was implied that he was 6 years old. But I joined my school around 3 years. Maybe there is no kindergarten system or there is option to skip it like many used to skip in India some decades before.
Roomi is just like Danish.. Slightly introverted and man of few words. And being introverted is not a bad thing. You actually do not see him interacting with anyone else much other that his parents and his teacher.He is quite boy. You don’t see him hanging out with friends. Even in school, He is mostly sitting alone.
His greatest strength is he is perceptive. He understands things even when he is not told. Even if he does not fully register the gravity of any situation, his little heart tries to understand the essence.. or gist of the problem/solution.
He is inquisitive. His questions are so well written.. It feels like the questions a six-year old would ask. And the actor also did a good job with.
One problem I had was, I never got to see his initial reaction after his mother left.. we only see him after a leap of months.. that too in a boarding school. By that time.. he already has accepted that his mother left him. He has already moved on.
This is also why his introvert nature is somewhat justified.If he had someone to interact other than his parents, then, I am sure the writers would have added that scene.. where he comprehends the situation by discussing with his friends.
Maybe because, the writer did not want to focus on the effects it would have on the child directly(like spoon feeding the audience). But indirectly we see that there is a huge change. Roomi is now much more mature. He understands much stuff. And he is much less smiling. The last one was much more subtle… but the Roomi before was a cartoon watching, fun loving,back-answering introvert. Every episode had him smiling at least once. Then after leap his smile is became much rarer. The little shoulders decided to take the responsibility of taking care of his father. He understands that his father is broken and his father needs his support (though his father never asks for it)
His anger with Mehwish and later him forgiving her is also realistically written. Yes, he was angry at his mother for leaving him and his father. He understands abandonment. But he does not truly grasp the depth of injury that his dad received from his mother because of her disloyalty.
His later phone conversations are also nicely written and shot. Slightly awkward and honest to a fault.
The Teacher’s pet Angle: Why a separate topic for this you ask? Well, because I was a teacher’s pet during my entirety of student life(From KG to 10th , 11th and 12th and even during engineering college days!!!) And the most notable part was that I definitely did not want to be one.. but somehow I always got picked up by teachers. It’s as though it is written on my forehead that I am a teacher’s pet because I swear I never did anything to stand out but when even the H.O.D notices you more than others you start to believe in some superstitions. There are many problems when you are a teacher’s pet other students are some what careful around you because of that.. And you yourself can’t do things like other kids like bunking or sleeping in between class…Teachers call you to staff room to discuss something and there is always someone (mostly a jerk) in your class who will ask favors from you because being teacher’s pet just means somehow you know the questions that would come in the test (No you don’t!!! )
Actually I can go on on on about what my life was.. but you guys will be bored.
So, Roomi being so close to Miss Hania is something that is not exactly understandable, but not entirely imaginary situation. Yes, there are many problems that come with the tag of being teacher’s pet but you respect and love the teachers so much.. you discuss all your problems with them… you want to hear their opinion before doing something.. and one compliment from them makes your day.. they are like the parents in school.
For Roomi, Miss Hania was his class teacher. She took extra care of him when she finally understood his situation. He loved the care and attention. Attention is something he craved for after all. His mother left him…his father was too depressed to think about his child (Stupid Danish!!). So fora lonely 6-year old kid this attention was so lovely change. And to top it of he was in a boarding school.. away from his family. In boarding schools,teachers are the elders you look up to. They are now equal to your parents.Roomi wanting Miss Hania to be his family is understandable.
The one time when he proposed Miss Hania to HIS wife was weird for me. Whenever they show ‘love’ in any child in any drama, I feel weird. It mostly happens in Japanese mangas and dramas sometimes even Korean,but maybe I am just too prude.. I don’t feel it natural though. Oh! Childhood best friends becoming romantic couple during their teen/adult years, I can totally get on board with it. It is just romance including children That I have problem
And When he wanted Hania to be his step mom , I had the ‘You can find it only in fiction’ feeling. My mother and I had the same problem with ‘Yeh Hai Mohabattein’ There was a scene where a 5 year old girl was sad that the aunty she loved so much was getting married to someone and would leave her. (She did not know at that time that the marriage was with her own father)Then she even talks to the groom (not realizing that it was her father).. Actually she requests the groom not to take her aunty away from her. While the whole scene was playing.. My mother was like… In reality Kids don’t talk like this…They don’t really understand these things like marriage…etc.. Maybe there are kids who understand these things at such tender age… I haven’t seen them yet..but till I see them.. This feels more like fiction..
But then there is that argument that he had to mature fast because of his parent’s situation. He maybe a 6 year old kid but because of his stupid parents, he had to become the care-giver for both of them when they needed. He had to console that stupid couple whenever they felt weak. So, he understood the importance and power of care which he got from Hania and just wanted his father to feel it with him. After all he is still a child.. he was smart enough to realize his limitations and just asked support from an adult.What I feel is the fiction is that him asking his teacher to marry his father. I would have felt more realistic if it was an innocent request to be his father’s best friend forever. Just my opinion.
Why many people (including me) loved Roomi was because.. Even till the end, he was not corrupted. He was still the caring child. He did not have any lingering resentment toward his mother. Nor did he suddenly forget Hania after the arrival of his mother. He was simply a lovable child. That is why I really wanted better parents for him rather than this stupid couple.
Yatharth: Another Angel!! He is played by Tanmay Rishi Shah.And He had big shoes to fill. And he did his best.
Yatharth is definitely not an introvert. We see him interacting with many friends in the beginning episodes. Just like Manav. Manav also had many friends. He liked to chill with them time to time. Both Manav and Yatharth wanted to shift to Indore was because their friends were in Indore.
This actually brings a whole new dimension in the kid’s character regarding his parents situation. Yatharth’s friend Vinay went through a tough time when his parents fought and were on verge of getting divorce. The little kids interpreted that ‘divorce’ was something which happened when parents fight and after ‘divorce’ the kids can never meet their fathers. It doesn’t matter whether they are right or not. The point is they had their version of story. Yatharth already got a second hand experience of the trouble kids went through when parents separated.
There was an interesting point Vaibhav made, which I am sure many would want to apply for Roomi, is that, “Kids nowadays are much more clever than we give them credit for.. the fact that parents divorce and get separated is something they have been already exposed to.. through TV and films.” Many can argue that Just because we don’t see Roomi interacting with others doesn’t mean that he did not know about things like divorce.. he could learn about these things through TV. I have 2 points against it
Point 1: I can not really comment on Pakistani Kids shows,as I have not watched any of them, But I can safely say that they would also have certain restrictions when it comes to kids shows just like in Indian kids shows.. no mature content.. no blood shed.. no crude language.. etc ..etc. So in Indian Kids shows the term like divorce is really rare. For example: There was a show called ‘The Suite Life of Zack and Cody’ where they showed an estranged divorced couple getting along as friends to raise the children but when it was remade for Indian kids as ‘The Suite Life of Karan and Kabir’ they just removed divorced couple concept itself. Instead of their estranged father, it was their maternal uncle who was helping the mother with the kids. I am guessing it would be somewhat similar situation in Pakistan. So, it is safe to assume that both Roomi and Yathu would not have too much exposure to divorce and separation.
Point 2: Even if they learn through other media like daily soaps or movies, there is still not enough exposure. The reason I say is, we all do that subconsciously, distance ourselves from the characters in the fiction. “It happened to them because it is them, it wont happen to us as we are just normal.. we are normal family… living normal life” So, Roomi and Yathu might learn these things through but they might not necessarily think that it applies to them.
This is why, I think writers did a nice job by giving Vinay’s parents go through the difficult time. By doing this, it shatters the distance which Yathu could have made. If it happened to Vinay’s family (which was really similar to his family), then that means it could happen to his family also. We see Yathu getting scared that one day his parents will also fight so much that they will take a divorce and he will have to leave his dad.
That was why; Yathu’s reaction was more terrified than hurt.This was a nightmare which he wanted to avoid. Yathu’s anxiety attack and stammering, all these can be justified.
Counselor Angle: I was a little skeptical at first when Sakshi ma’am was Yathu’s counselor rather than class teacher. But then it is justified. ….Somewhat… Kinda..
Ok.. If Sakshi Ma’am was Yathu’s class teacher.. I feel he would not have much of a close relationship with her. The reason being, subject teachers are already burdened with syllabus coverage + Projects + Extra curriculum Activities.. etc Plus They have to monitor more than one class (Which consists of 30-40 kids)… It is possible to have a nice relationship but not as deep as the creators want.. and besides it would be somewhat frowned upon to have a student singled out as your favorite if you were the class teacher. From a writer/creator’s point of view to have a I understand this decision. It just feels more Drama territory than reality territory but I guess it is Ok.
Roomi and Yathu were different when dealing with their pain so obviously they need different things from their elders. Roomi was left alone to fend for himself in the wilderness by his parents (Blaming Danish more than Mehwish because he is stupid) what he needed was attention and a little bit of love. Which Hania could provide. After all she was obligated to pay attention to the students who fell weak. Yathu on the other hand, was getting all the attention and care of his father during the troubled times.. so he climbed up a step.. now what he wants is a sense of safety, protectiveness and non judgmental emotional support. Sakshi as a counselor is trained to provide the protection the kids need. She gives moral support to the kids when the get mentally or emotionally weak. To explain, Compare how the initial meetings of both set of student-teacher goes.
Roomi-Hania: It was always Hania who makes the first move here. She always goes to Roomi who is sitting all by himself when his classmates are playing. She pays attention to his mood..prods hims to open up about his worries. Roomi liked this attention.
Yathu-Sakshi: It is Yathu who approches Sakshi.. whether it is hiding from his mom or some random bullies. Whenever he feels he is scared and longs for some sort of protection he goes to Sakshi. Even when Akankshac ame to his house, the little kid desperately plead to Sakshi to protect him when he couldn’t reach his Dad on the phone. Yathu wanted this protection.
Yathu has definitely not thought of making Sakshi marry Manav, At least till now. He just sees her an adult who is super important for him. I like it. He is not replacing Akanksha with Sakshi but giving Sakshi another place in his heart.
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Arjun
Cricket
