Originally posted by: EkPaheli
Before Karan there was even Saahil.
Gautam didn’t like that Saahil was so close to Tulsi either. But given that Saahil was a cousin whose own parents and particularly mother were around and that Saahil never one upped him that jealousy subsided. Harsh never challenged him in the pecking order and Shobha started being really loving and respectful towards him once she knew who he was. He was genuinely sad when she got married to Vishal and hugged him at her Bidaai as she bid him adieu; I think she mentions how they got so little time together too and that really hit a chord there with him.
His equation with Karan is complicated. It’s not a smooth ride that runs along a simple route in one straight lane. It’s more nuanced.
With Karan the emotions were volatile from the get go. Karan had committed a fraud in the company and transferred a significant amount of shares in his name. Gautam was really angry that Saahil was responsible for this mess as he introduced Karan as his trusted best friend from college to the family.
Then the real cat came out of the bag and that left Gautam furious, disgusted and angry. He saw Karan smeared Mihir’s face with the ashes of the havan kundh meant for Mihir Tulsi renewing their vows. Gautam returned the favour as he was angry enough on behalf of his dad when Mihir exposed Mandira and how she trapped him.
Eventually the family also came to the realisation that Karan too is a victim in this mess of Mandira’s making as he has been brainwashed ever since he was a child. Worse, Mandira made herself look like even more of a victim by pretending to have lost her mental health owing to Mihir’s actions.
Once Mandira was presumed dead, Gautam’s anger had also cooled down enough and his marriage with Damini seemed to settle down, the family decided to give him the recognition he deserved and which was his rightful place. They decided to bring him home and when Karan was asked to do so he laid down 2 conditions for it.
Baa had stopped him from entering SN at a previous occasion, I can’t remember what precisely. He asked for Baa to come to take him home and for them to allow him to install a picture of his now dead mother to honour her memory and show they’re truly accepting him and not playing games with him.
The family agreed and when Baa went to meet Karan at his office to bring him home, she took only Gautam along with her and he went without any fights or hesitation. At the gate of his office they asked his security to inform Karan they’d arrived and Karan comes running to fetch Baa and Gautam himself and welcomes them to his cabin.
Once home, Karan is heartbroken when he’s shown a video footage predating his birth when Mandira had faked a pregnancy to trap Mihir into leaving Tulsi. He runs away from SN and it shatters his perceptions about everything he knew about his parents.
He’s about to leave the country forever when Mihir Tulsi arrive at the airport and take him home. Initially they aren’t exactly chummy but they do try not to be hostile towards each other as well and gradually there’s warmth and acceptance there from both ends.
The issue isn’t even that there was one big thing after another that brought Tulsi Karan closer, it was lots of small things. Karan was always more respectful and reverent towards Tulsi more than any of her kids. Gautam’s tensions with Karan flared up again after Ansh came in and claimed Karan was seducing his wife. Gautam’s own wife had a history with Karan… and he felt more loyalty towards Ansh since he was not a stepbrother though one he had no clue about for ages.
Later Tulsi kicked Karan out for Ansh and so Gautam had no reason to worry about their proximity anymore. But post the Switzerland track, Tulsi favoured Karan more than her own son Ansh, obviously. He in turn provoked the family against her and claimed Karan had managed to manipulate her.
The family was irked when Tulsi would support Nandini for filing not just a divorce case against Ansh but also try to get him punished for marital rape. There’s no law for this particular situation however and so even as the divorce is granted, Ansh walks free.
Then comes the main event. Tulsi kills Ansh and things start going even more downhill.
Barring Karan, Nandini, Baa, Ganga and Tanya no one even is even shown visiting Tulsi in jail even once in 3 years. Karan and Tanya go to get her home. Damini, Ganga and Baa are there to welcome her.
So logic demands that whatever the issue is that Gautam has it should ideally happen around this time or after it. Let’s see. Because after this in S1 they dragged the story in nonsensical ways where Gautam was even shown kidnapped by Mandira and Aditya Gujral for a while. Karan Tulsi rescued him from them obviously. So that ideally should end all hostilities and resentment Gautam held against both.
But logic is not the strength of these people as we know so my hopes are at the bottom of the ocean.
5