Very very heart-rending episode today ... and as I expected, a traumatc crisis like this is bound to bring out the best in some people and the worst in some people.
In fact the longer a crisis takes to resolve, we usually find that the good people shine even more and more, while those with a hard heart become worse and worse in their display of evil intentions.
It also happens that during such crisis, some people whom we always thought of as negative actually surprise us by showing their positive qualities ... while those we thought of as positive surprise us by showing their negative sides.
There are also those who sometimes remain too silent through the crisis when they should have spoken up. Even if the crisis does not directly affect them, in a democratic family situation it helps for everybody concerned to have a voice , and to make sure they exert that voice for the best solution to evolve ...
Today's episode for me was one that helped me clearly separate the people with good and bad in their hearts, and it threw me a few surprises by making some people to be not quite what they seemed to me at first. I also have a list of those who I felt should not have stayed silent ...
So here's my list of the good, the bad, the surprising and the silent ...
PEOPLE WHO SHOWED THEIR BEST SIDES:
Aarti: She was the one most affected in this family by this kidnapping of Ansh. I expected Aarti's role to be one of just crying and sentimentality and anger and blame. But she turned out to be one of the people, for me, who showed their best side today. The reason? She could have just screamed and screamed and screamed at Yash and refused at all costs to believe him any more. After all how long has she known him to trust him implicitly? And even during the time she has known him, he has not exactly measured up to the trust she had in him.
But the way Aarti first shouts at him, and then actually falls at his feet and accepts the words of comfort he gave were a sign of her being able to see beyond his words into the sincerity of his intention and heart. She had every reason to hate Yash, and yet she was big enough to rise above her mistrust and allow him a fresh chance to act by his heart. The fact is that despite her misgivings, she has in fact trusted Yash one more time to redeem the situation. In moments of crisis, it is even more difficult than usual to trust someone who has let us down once earlier. It takes a big-heartedness to rise above the blame game. I count Aarti today among those who showed high-mindedness even in the face of the most distressing situation.
Yash: The way Yash stood up to his father and mother, and gave voice to his determination to keep his word to Aarti was fantastic to watch. In fact, today, I heard Yash say the words I have so long wanted him to say to his parents "I want to do this for Aarti". He was ready to first declare his intentions to his parents, then plead with his father to change his mind, and then detach from their decision with utmost personal dignity to say he would not trouble them any more and would himself find the ransom money from his own savings.
When his mother shocked everybody saying "Why waste our savings on a boy born to someone else", Yash must have been completely thrown to see the evil in his mother's words. But it is to his credit that he did not at once lash out at Gayatri (much as I woud have enjoyed that!). Even when Shobha brought up again the subject of how much Gayatri hates Ansh, Yash looked quite internally troubled, but still did not utter a word against his mother. His eyes showed shock and distress and anguish, but not a word escaped his lips against the logic of both his parents, even though what they were advising was going directly against his own heart's intentions. He rose above his mother - and even his father - in stature today by the very fact that he appeared ready to do what he thought best, but did not think it right to directly oppose his parents or try to ride roughshod over them.
Manju: She is a gem of the first water. In spite of her husband's rowdy threats, she is protecting Ansh and cradling him in her arms as if he was her own son. Manju deserves all the help that Yash and Aarti can give her when this whole kidnapping saga is over. Women like her deserve a gold medal, because she is not only saving the child from danger but she herself is also directly in the line of fire. Long after the episode is over, it is she who has to continue to live with a man who is a dangerous menace. What she is doing for Ansh deserves a bravery award at the very least. I hope the Creatives give out a social message with the character of Manju by not leaving her character as a passing cameo, but by showing that she has a better life after this whole episode.
PEOPLE WHO SHOWED THEIR WORST SIDES:
Gayatri: She was a mega piece of evil today. Gayatri's biggest fault, as the Casanova often tells her, is that she speaks what is on her mind too readily. And when her mind is filled with poison, that comes out without restraint. Gayatri's words must have made her three sons very ashamed today, when she said "Why spend our hard-earned money on a boy who is born to someone else?"
Later when Shobha questions Gayatri on her hatred of Ansh, she further says "When did Aarti and Ansh integrate with our family for us to now do all this for them?" What kind of argument is that? And it is not even remotely the truth. What Gayatri actually means to say is that "Aarti is so preoccupied by Ansh that she is not giving her share of mind to my family". This is Gayatri's biggest problem with Aarti, but it seems like a problem created more nby Gayatri's imagination than the actual truth. Anyway, this crisis has showed up Gayatri in her worst colours and even her immediate family cannot be proud of the way she conducted herself today.
Bua: She had no role but to spectate. But that she did with a lot of venomous glee. With every argument of Gayatri and Papa Scindia that was going against Yash, Bua was seen smiling smugly. I have no doubt that she will store every bit of what happened today in her mind to be used at a future date to taunt Aarti and Ansh. Bua is always a mean person, but this crisis has shown how she is gladly gathering every shred of this situation for her personal gain in the future. She did not have much to do or say today, but still she came out very negative.
The Kidnapper: He is already a nasty person and now he appears to be getting more and more desperate with his situation. Characters like this are puppets of crisis ... the situation takes them over and reveals more and more of their ugly sides. We are obviously not done with him yet ... tomorrow we may see even more of his maliciousness and even violence. I am eager to see him bashed up by Yash as soon as possible. Maybe by Wednesday or Thursday that action scene will happen?
PEOPLE WHO THREW A SURPRISE:
Papa Scindia: Today this man deserves praise for the way he did three things. One, he stuck by his principles (whether we agree with his method or not) and even bothered to fully explain his position to Yash. Two, he shut his wife up summarily, and since the occasion demanded it, he even did that in the presence of everybody. For that he deserves a special award. Three, he handled the Dubeys with a great deal of tact and understanding. I liked the way he even asked them to go and meet Aarti to give her comfort.
I found today that Papa Scindia surprised me by showing that he too has a heart. I have alwqays thought him to be "coldly calculative" but I found that even while he was using his head - and asking Yash to do the same thing - his sentiments and words somehow betrayed that he did have soft feelings for Aarti and her plight. Most of all, whether for principle or through genuine acceptance, he has truly integrated Ansh into his own life and that of his family. He no longer sees Ansh as an "outsider" and his clarity on this subject is exemplary. Gayatri needs to learn from him.
Shobha: She has always appeased Gayatri right throughout this marriage and always used a pleading stance with Gayatri. That is what has consistently given Gayatri the ammunition to make demands of the Dubeys. But today Shobha surprised me by directly accosting Gayatri and forcefully and vehemently expressing herself. Later when Papa Scindia argued against Gayatri, she was happy to have found an ally and she showed her gratitude to him. My feeling about Shobha always was that when it came to crunch time she always hummed-and-hawed instead of directly accosting Gayatri. Today she surprised me by confronting Gayatri head on saying "You have always hated Ansh and never accepted him, and all this is the direct result of that ..."
Papa Dubey: The big surprise that Papa Dubey threw today, for me, was the fact that he even found so many words with which to stand up to the financial power and authority of Papa Scindia. Papa Dubey, let's not forget, is the architect of the "big lie" and I was expecting that he would do his utmost to plead Aarti's case with Papa Scindia rather than take the moral high ground himself. I thought it was good to watch when he said "I may not be as rich as you, but I can find the money to retrieve my grandson even if you can't ..." If only he had the same guts to get Aarti married saying openly that she was a divorcee, how much better it would have been!
PEOPLE WHO SHOULD HAVE SPOKEN UP:
Pankaj/Pratik/Vidhi: As the elder son of the house, I wanted Pankaj to speak up. As a person whom Yash has spoken up for so often, Pratik owed it to Yash to support his cause. As a mother herself with two small kids, Vidhi needed to take Aarti's side more openly. All three were spectators today, and did not have the temerity to voice their opinions in front of their authoritative father. I was a little disappointed that in this family, and especially during a crisis, the elders do not seem to confer with their sons as much as they should, and neither do the sons and their wives assume the initiative to say much one way or another. It was all about Papa Scindia deciding and the whole family going along.
I thought it was important that the family should be very democratic at time like this as many heads are better than one. We can always excuse the other brothers their silence as the situation concerns Yash directly and not them, and so it was Yash's role to bring his parents arund. But then what are brothers for?
Edited by skanda12 - 13 years ago