I thought I wasted an entire word doc hoping and anticipating an entire scenario which wouldn't take place. Given how the last episode ended, I really didn't think anything much significant would happen that would nudge the storyline further. But I was wrong. May be it wasn't significant. And may be there was melodrama. But it was so beautiful that made me nostalgic about good old days of Pavitra Rishta.
So many good things touched today. Mother-daughter relationship that's pure, selfless and breathes through the virtue of sacrifice. Being the 'gold-digger' she's supposed to be in her husband's eyes may be a stupid idea, but can anything come between a mother-daughter? When our Dads become angry enough to not wanting to look at us or talk to us, who wipes our tears and gives us her lap to cry? Our Mom. She may be a wife but nothing transcends the bond of a mother-child relationship. When the child is in distress, the mother forgets all her priorities. And that's what Archana does. She forgets she's supposed to remain an outsider in her daughter's life. She forgets what image she has to portray in her husband's eyes. She forgets about all the role-play she has been indulging in to nurse his adopted son's misplaced notions and stubborn demands. All she knows is that her daughter is hurting and she does what was needed to be done. Without saying anything, without asking anything, she did what Tej needed. She was there for her.
I was so in love with the moment when Archana lovingly touches Tej's head and she bursts into tears in her lap. She's close to Sulochana and Poorvi as well. But only a mother truly understands what her daughter needs. So what if she's been away from her all these years? So what if she despises the fact that her mother even exists in the world? Archana has always been giver. Of love, devotion, respect, sacrifice. Everything that keeps people around her happy. So if her daughter stays happy by hating her, let her be.
I loved when Sulochana says that when situations like this happen, they really mean to make you stronger to take up bigger challenges. Yes, that's what life is about. And that's what a family is about. When in need, you have elders to give you advice, mother to comfort you, father to ensure that he will protect you come what may and siblings to give you silly hugs when you need them but are unable to say.
It's lovely how comfortable Tej has become in the warm atmosphere of the house. After a long day, sleeping the day off with her sister would bring her respite. Archana was able to put a brave front for her daughters, but she too needed to break down. And who better than her mother to soothe her broken self? Archana chose to be brave for the sake of her daughters because she doesn't want them to face what she's facing right now. Yet, when she finds the solace of her mother's arms, she cannot continue being brave. She cries her heart out. Though I didn't get the logic of keeping the truth from Poorvi, I still appreciated Archana's decision of not telling anything to Tej.
The girl has been born and brought up with some pre-conceived notions in her mind, injected into her mind like a poison by her grandmother. When she'd be facing the truth, who would she choose to believe? 18 years of upbringing or a month of love and caress showered upon her by some random people who weren't a part of her utopian life till now and suddenly claim to be her estranged relatives? Before being shown the face of the truth, she should realize what her estranged family stands for. How deep do the roots of love and sacrifice run into the family and spread their warmth all over the place, enough to welcome an outsider like her without complaints or demands and care for her like one of their own. Archana's character has a mildness that's like a soothing balm. Her calm mannerisms, her soft and delicate way of nurturing her family are a sharp contrast to the fire-breathing personality of Tej's grandmother. Manav loves his children very much. Yet, fathers are sometimes inept at handling emotions like mothers do. And that's why, Tej idolizes Archana. She finds her presence comforting, nurturing, soothing. Though because of the drama factor, I'm not sure how she would react. But my guess is, wouldn't she realize that the family she has spent so much time with is about everything except materialistic pleasures of life? They just know how to extract happiness from small somethings in life. Wouldn't she balance the reality weighing her past memories as well as her present experiences?
Perhaps that's what Tej's character is etched out stronger than her twin sister's. Ovi is delicate like a pearl living in an oyster, protected from the outside world. For her, the reality is not about experiencing but what runs into her family. She may have talked to Archana but she wouldn't understand the experience of motherhood like Tej. So when there would be a Moment of Truth, in my opinion, it would be Tej standing for her mother and not Ovi.
About Archana and Manav confrontation.
Archana is right. Manav has really changed. He has forgotten who he really was and his entire staircase to success was made up of concrete steps of the so-called low-class but tough jobs. That gave him the courage to stand in the society with his head held high and on his own terms. Yet, I would say that whatever a person has faced in his life, he would never ever want his children to experience any kind of hardship, irrespective of what enrichment it could provide them in life. He sees Tej like his daughter, who has been given all the benefits of a rich family, something he saw himself urging for at one point of life. Strange how people's minds work.
Some people don't have money and other luxuries of life and they so desperately dream to have such a life. And some people who actually have this life take it as a permanent part of their life and search happiness outside it. Why do the Americans enjoy taking pictures of India's villages and bovines? They have all luxuries of life. Yet they consider becoming part of this part of the world as some heroic deed. As though an endorsement to oneself that yes, if I am capable of living a life full of everything, here I am, trying to become a part of a life that is devoid of that 'everything'. Sadly, just taking photographs doesn't do the job.
Anyways, Tej seeks refuge from her cocoonic life. She has enjoyed the luxuries for 18 years. Now she's out in search for some spice that will prove that yes, she can live without all that too. This is what Archana reminds Manav. Once again, the emphasis on the fact that no job is small or big, made me bow my head. The person's profession show the strength of his/her character. The ability to fulfil the responsibilities for your family doesn't come from spending air-conditioned hours in the sanctuary of glass-cabins and boardrooms. It's facing situations head-on that gives you the courage to stand up for what's right for you and your loved ones.
Archana would have continued with her reverie but the tears of happiness that she saw in her estranged husband's eyes were enough to make her understand what Manav's family mean for him. The heart-felt thanks and then sharing the happiness with the person whom Manav considers his family were nice, yet I didn't like Sachin's nonchalance over the entire issue. I don't know how he continues with his dumb notions. Archana respected their family privacy and characteristically, stepped out when her job was done.
Do good and cast into the river. That's what she always does. Mend what's broken and then step aside as if she wasn't who helped repair it at all.
The spunk in Poorvi refuses to die down. She's perfectly comfortable to share the space with her greedy ex-fiance. You see, how effectively Vinay's guilt drives him to be a do-gooder for Poorvi. Is it just men who do that or is that universal? In order to nurse our ego, is it always necessary to borrow a crutch from the one we wronged? Why not just ignore him/her and move on? Poorvi's reply was curt and apt. Nothing more. Nothing less. No pointless beating around the bush. I simply love her no-nonsense and straightforward attitude. That simplicity should always accompany gentleness isn't necessary. Simple can be spunky yet manage to remain beautiful.
So...even though I know no one would have the patience of reading my thoughts till the end, I felt good about how the story is going. We all have ups and downs in life. It's how we manage to come back again and again which determines how we want to proceed in life. May be I'm reading too much between the lines. I don't care. There were moments that touched me...and were enough to make me appreciate the thoughts of people who wrote these episodes and characters.
And that's why...Pavitra Rishta works for me again.
Anupamaa
