Originally posted by: -Fivr-
Mohan has always been such a character with a strong personality and a very, very sharp sense of sarcasm and wits. He's always been the ACTUALLY "cool" guy (at least to me) - the one who keeps hit wits about him at all times and ALWAYS knows how to get out of a sticky situation with out loosing his upper hand. He's always emulated this CONFIDENCE and sense of SURETY that when you look at him you realize that you BELIEVE in him and in everything he will do. He's a hero, plain and simple.
I love how you say that Fivr. Esp, how it raises immediately, the contrast in a typical definition of hero, and in a realistic one! Mohan knows how to get out of thick spots not by sheer means of brute - but by constantly thinking on his feet. And the fact that solutions jump at him also comes off so credibly, given that it is the one skill - elemental and cultivated in equal measure - that comes as a by with his profession! It's easy to believe that he would seek out clues and means and back ups in multiples. That he would by default follow up a kind of mechanic algorithm in problem solving, going step by step yet at a pace of one who's been a pro getting in and out of thick spots for a while now! And of course, the best part about Mohan being a hero is how he's not a messiah but a real world leader. He may not dictate a respect among subjects (thank god!) but he inspires a leap of ability and conviction in those around him, almost like he's building up an army of self sufficient people. He inspires an independence and individuality which emerges from a support system; instead of imposing a constant dependency upon himself, a one man army ... and that is what is so wonderful about the evolution he brings about, around him!
And so it doesn't matter how old you get or how mature time makes you, old memories always have a way to bringing back the pain and confusion with them. They always have the power to make you feel just as vulnerable and lost as you did the day off. And they ALWAYS have a hold on you unless you're allowed to deal with them and put them to rest. Which from the looks of Mohan, I hardly believe was the case.
^^ Entirely concur with you. In fact, I personally connect with Mohan in this particular aspect to a great extent, so I want to elaborate, as I see him. As one of those people who are capable of pushing chapters of their life to some forbidden corners of their existence, so as to access them next to never; but not really fish them out and be done with them once and for all! It's an interesting paradox in Mohan's nature, that on the one hand he is this guy who'd never fear confrontations, rather face them straight up, because he believes that is the only way to deal with things. So even a MAJOR revelation like his error in Amar Vyas case had him go with minimal delay straight upto Megha, own up, and apologize. As simply, candidly, as he did - something that requires a WHOLE DEAL another level of courage! On the other hand is facing Rashmi. A confrontation he just cannot deal with, bring himself upto facing, without feeling at an utter loss of either reaction, or means to put it across. The paradox somewhere stems from the fact that while for most of the rest in life, right or wrong, Mohan has a complete understanding and conviction of facts - in Rashmi's case, he's been more lost along the way. It's one of those exceptional chapters in his life that instead of facing and analyzing he pushed away from himself consciously, indefinitely delaying dealing with it. The way that entire chapter, as it seems, has turned out has been very inexplicable to Mohan, I guess. That he'd be so committed to someone. That a mere big dream to chase could rip him apart from that someone who seemed like THE one for the rest of the life. That the conclusion of the episode would leave him with multiple scars of being less than worthy. I guess the ineffable part of Mohan's reaction/analysis, or lack of both is the fact that he's NOT really an unworthy person, and minus of this one jarring chapter he's well aware of that fact. But this one instance, such a major one at that, kinda really makes him doubt some fundamentals of his own existence. To an extent where he begins to lose sight of objectivity as anyone would with regards to their own self, and ends up not having answers, but wounding himself deeper into the mire. And so the only way to get out, seems like the way of strict avoidance. Trying to ignore the existence of this chapter till it fades out of vivid existence.
But of course, pretending that a part of his life never existed, will not cause that part to cease to exist for real. And so every time a reminder, live or in reference, jumps up at him, it unsettles him uncharacteristically. He said once early on the show how he was not a person who could leave things half done/half baked. Sadly, that is how he has abandoned the whole Rashmi and his affair gone sour issue. Put it aside, without dealing with it once and for all - and in the process of consistently overcoming it by pretense mode, has actually allowed it to fester further as this wound of partly inexplicable origin and consequence...
On that particular note, it makes all the more sense, that Megha's words from Friday's opening scene make a mark on him. He needs both an active confrontation with this past, and a formal final closure. And somewhere, he knows it well. While Megha's means of resorting to this act are one thing that don't make him very comfortable, it is also the idea of a repeat confrontation with Rashmi that doesn't go down well with him in general. If anything, knowing Mohan, he did what he does best. He got up and TRIED to dust off the incident by pretending it was a big deal - by moving on and doing SOMETHING/ANYTHING other than dealing with Rashmi and her crap.
And the beauty of such a predicament for a Mohan like character is the realism of portraying a human being after all. Someone, who even in his own klutzy world of professional and cynical perfection and conviction has sore points, just like anyone else - vulnerable when the wrong buttons are pressed, because who can ever live a life without skeletons in their cupboard? It is AS in character for Mohan to be brusque and forthcoming, as it is for him to be a strictly territorial man confined to his bachelor ways - not because he was always so sworn to having this exclusivity of space, but because letting someone in once, uninhibited, cost him a little too much!
And in that respect - he really is that cactus. The one with thorns, greatly un-demanding, needing to be watered once in a while... and always on a defensive in certain ways. Yet, someone who with some seasoned tending to, can bloom after all...
I said this before, but here goes again - I just LOVE the transition that has already happened between mere two meetings. Mohan was SO many more smiles, and so much less put down within his own self, at the coffee date, as opposed to the mart. Megha's constant efforts at reviving his own opinion about himself has worked like it has, cause she'd been nothing but genuine, even beneath that full blown wifey act.
And once they are through, I want Mohan to really give her a piece of his mind and show her the door (the first step towards that was this Friday when Mohan made the jhaduu poocha comment 🤣). Oh how I count down the days.. 🤢
I totally kept forgetting to say this other thing too, about how when Rashmi made a disdainful remark about Megha's saree, Mohan's expression for Megha was at least mildly miffed, and just a tad embarrassed on account of what she was taking for him. Megha of course was utterly unflustered - and what i like MOST about this unperturbed reaction is that she wasn't so in any sacrificing or assuring way for Mohan's sake, but because she really could see through how shallow Rashmi was, her growing panic by the moment, and in her ever the worse cheap shots, Megha could sense a rising accomplishment of what she'd set out to do!
So while Mohan is still who he was before these revelations - he is STILL strong, witty and smart - we now are also given the privilege to see the otherwise hidden (and maybe protected) Mohan.. The one who is a little unsure, the one who isn't as confident and the one who goes tongue-tied at times. And it makes me realize that Mohan, while he is someone I look up to, is NOT larger than life. He is someone I could meet on the street and talk to. He is one of us - he makes mistakes and has his share of confusions. But WITH all of this in tow, he still manages to be as sorted as he is - he manages to make the inspiring decisions that he does and he is as inspiring as he is. And if THAT doesn't make him desirable and heroic, then I don't know what does.
Megha
While in Mohan we saw his more vulnerable side, with Megha we were introduced to THE Megha that had been overshadowed by the Mrs. Vyas and Mummy aspect of her personality. We were allowed to meet the Megha who had been the competitive student in college, had loads of friends and did loads of masti. And while Megha had always been a strong character with a dignified intelligence about her, for the first time I saw the MASTI in her - the SPARK - that had been alluded to earlier in the show. I've said this before, but I guess I'll say it once again - I love Megha. I love the person that she is and the zest she brings to a situation. I love her spontaneity which was otherwise curbed and I love the way she can be dignified AND mischievous all at the same time. I love how we are allowed to meet her and realize how loyal she is to those she cares for - if anything, it helps me understand why she puts up with half the crap at the Vyas house that she does. Because she cares for them as HER family if not Amar's family and she will always stand by them no matter what. It takes forever to make your way into Megha's circle of trust, but once there, she gives it her all. And it's heartwarming to see her laugh and smile - to see her LIVE outside of her ghar and bachey and her in-laws. To see her be HUMAN - to see her interact with people she may consider a friend and to see her having FUN. And what's amazing is k even WHILE she is doing something as otherwise bach-kana as "tricking" someone, she does it with such an air of dignity and CONFIDENCE. There is no snickering, no giggling - there is confidence..
Again, LOVE how you put that Fivraa 👏 I love how this side of Megha - latent/dormant or whatever else - just goes on to manifest how she has not been a sacrificial lamb in the scheme of things by moving in with her inlaws and deciding to live an austere life for her children. There has been a strength required, that is inimitable by most, and that is the strength Mohan first saw and recognized and admired about her! The strength that drew him in. The side of Megha we've seen after she's finally gotten all chummy with Mohan is this more camaraderie and ease based version of that same strength. Something that glows inside of her, and exudes from her very person. She could have well risen to the dozen plus baits Rashmi set her up for, if not on her account, then on Mohan's behalf - because her words for Mohan HAD affronted her, when she'd first heard them play at the mart from across the aisles. But like Mohan is a man who has seen the world and perceives the slightest off hints, Megha is a woman who has lived in a house of testing circumstances amidst people of all odds and ends and pulled through with MUCH grace and hold on her reaction. It is the one thing she excels at, like few others could - and so no matter how much Rashmi tries to ruffle her feathers, Megha keeps her complacency to an extent that begins to prick and unnerve Rashmi, until she resorts to all those lowest of low shots, which result in both, Megha feeling reassured of her win, and Mohan, who was sitting taking it lying down, actually rising to an occasion with - if but once - his IN CHARACTER sarcasm...
