Posted:
Credit for this gorgeous alternate banner goes to Maham (Allbut1)!
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It was a beautiful episode from start to finish, I thought, with so many different facets being explored in Yash and Aarti's relationship as well as their ever present relationships with their pasts. I think it is beautiful how the shraadh marked the symbolic beginning of Aarti being a crucial part of Yash's healing process, which is how this whole Neelam thing can be viewed.
But first things first. I was so proud of Aarti for standing up to Vidhi the way she did. She understands that traditionally it is the right thing to confess your love when you realise it. It is the way to take the relationship forward. But Aarti knows the difference here. This is no ordinary love story, as she says herself. It has a twist or three. She is fully aware of the Arpita situation but what I think most impressed me was the fact that she felt her responsibility for the children and therefore could not be reckless and selfish about her love for Yash. She is ready to enjoy it within the bounds that her respect for his boundaries and her responsibilities as a mother permit. And Shobha's reaction startled me. I guess she and Aarti are more in sync than I have given them credit for in a while. Shobha wanted Aarti to realise her love because she knew it would empower her in many ways and give the relationship a fighting chance. I am pleasantly surprised by that reaction.
As for Prateek, I really wish he would understand that romance is not what his wife wants. She wants her job back, she wants to feel appreciated for the person she is and she really wants her job back. But it seems like Prateek has given up before he started and is expecting everything to fall into place when he woos her with red roses and a candle lit dinner. Poor Paridhi, poor Prateek. We all saw this coming before they were even married but it is still tough to see them, the idealistic pair who were so in love, not even understanding the first thing about each other.
It is also interesting that we always said that Paridhi and Prateek were a foil to AarYa and their relationship, being the "normal," romantic, young couple who are newly married but with their marriage sharing the same time line. While Prateek is already taking Paridhi and her compliance to domesticity for granted, Yash is discovering new things about Aarti every day that do not permit him to take her for granted. The minute he makes an assumption about her, she startles him with her attitude or her approach, all of which are completely new to him. And the familiarity and therefore ownership that he felt for her merely needed an outlet, a situation in which Aarti was vulnerable and today the burns did the trick.
I loved Yash's commanding tone as he told her to put her feet up and the way he blurted the little things he had observed about her over the course of the time they have spent together. When he said that Aarti wants to go to the doctor for one sneeze, it completely amazed me to realise that he was talking about the temple scene, the one where he told her not to take Arpita's place. One would think that a little detail like his sneeze and her reaction would be insignificant but no, Yash remembers it enough to refer to it.
Twice today there were repetitions of things Yash had previously said to Arpita, but with a new twist I think showing Aarti's position as his wife but not taking Arpita's place. First when he told Aarti that she didn't have to put her feet on the ground for the next 2-3 hours, it reminded me of when he said the same to Arpita. However, while Arpita was challenging him in jest, Aarti challenges him by being herself, without any self-induced triggers. She challenges him by having cared enough to do something like that for him in all seriousness and so she is making him a good husband, not in jest or in clever wordplay but in the true essence of the ideal.
Similarly, when Yash says that Aarti is very ziddhi, it reminded me of when he told Arpita, "zidh mat karo" when her wipers stopped working the night she died. While he saw Arpita's zidh as dangerous and irrational, he speaks of Aarti's with almost a kind of awe, as though he sees the strength of reason behind it. I thought that contrast was fascinating. I also found it interesting that though Yash spoke of his need to save Neelam for concern of what Kunal would become if she left him, it was Aarti who saved Neelam's life by suggesting that Yash call her. Even though she kept her distance as Yash did his thing, she was the one who fixed what Yash saw as his own tragedy repeating itself. She has given him new life and now she will right the wrongs of his life..all symbolically represented by her presence at the shraadh.
Another interesting juxtaposition was that of smell. From the five elements it looks like we are moving to the five senses here! With Yash it was the fudge and taste and now with Aarti it is smell. Smell played a huge part in the sensual flashback with her seducing Prashant. And yet there is an innocence about the way Aarti craves Yash. It is clear in the way she innocently talks about the sponge bath and then realises how it must have sounded. 😆 She doesn't crave him physically but more like she craves his essence and that is what she feels in the shirt he wears. And the she sees him getting into his car.
Again, I thought this was an interesting throwback to when Yash stopped Aarti from going to get Palak's cake. Here, Aarti instead of stopping Yash gets into the car with him so she can ford off any danger that comes his way. It is such a typical demonstrations of their different approaches where Aarti prefers offense while Yash prefers defense.
Finally in closing, I thought it was interesting that even though Yash told her to stay down, Aarti sprung up, not letting the ointment take its effect. She chose Yash's healing over her own, even denying that her wounds hurt her at all...sound familiar? Thought so. I also liked how she dealt with the question of the children. It didn't have to be either or as long as they worked together. Still, it was worth consideration that Yash felt he could pull this daredevil stunt that was leading him towards healing because he was confident that Aarti would be there for his kids if he wasn't. Thankfully I think Aarti showed him a better way and continues to surprise him with how useful an ally she is, be it as a co-parent or a co-conspirator.
But first things first. I was so proud of Aarti for standing up to Vidhi the way she did. She understands that traditionally it is the right thing to confess your love when you realise it. It is the way to take the relationship forward. But Aarti knows the difference here. This is no ordinary love story, as she says herself. It has a twist or three. She is fully aware of the Arpita situation but what I think most impressed me was the fact that she felt her responsibility for the children and therefore could not be reckless and selfish about her love for Yash. She is ready to enjoy it within the bounds that her respect for his boundaries and her responsibilities as a mother permit. And Shobha's reaction startled me. I guess she and Aarti are more in sync than I have given them credit for in a while. Shobha wanted Aarti to realise her love because she knew it would empower her in many ways and give the relationship a fighting chance. I am pleasantly surprised by that reaction.
As for Prateek, I really wish he would understand that romance is not what his wife wants. She wants her job back, she wants to feel appreciated for the person she is and she really wants her job back. But it seems like Prateek has given up before he started and is expecting everything to fall into place when he woos her with red roses and a candle lit dinner. Poor Paridhi, poor Prateek. We all saw this coming before they were even married but it is still tough to see them, the idealistic pair who were so in love, not even understanding the first thing about each other.
It is also interesting that we always said that Paridhi and Prateek were a foil to AarYa and their relationship, being the "normal," romantic, young couple who are newly married but with their marriage sharing the same time line. While Prateek is already taking Paridhi and her compliance to domesticity for granted, Yash is discovering new things about Aarti every day that do not permit him to take her for granted. The minute he makes an assumption about her, she startles him with her attitude or her approach, all of which are completely new to him. And the familiarity and therefore ownership that he felt for her merely needed an outlet, a situation in which Aarti was vulnerable and today the burns did the trick.
I loved Yash's commanding tone as he told her to put her feet up and the way he blurted the little things he had observed about her over the course of the time they have spent together. When he said that Aarti wants to go to the doctor for one sneeze, it completely amazed me to realise that he was talking about the temple scene, the one where he told her not to take Arpita's place. One would think that a little detail like his sneeze and her reaction would be insignificant but no, Yash remembers it enough to refer to it.
Twice today there were repetitions of things Yash had previously said to Arpita, but with a new twist I think showing Aarti's position as his wife but not taking Arpita's place. First when he told Aarti that she didn't have to put her feet on the ground for the next 2-3 hours, it reminded me of when he said the same to Arpita. However, while Arpita was challenging him in jest, Aarti challenges him by being herself, without any self-induced triggers. She challenges him by having cared enough to do something like that for him in all seriousness and so she is making him a good husband, not in jest or in clever wordplay but in the true essence of the ideal.
Similarly, when Yash says that Aarti is very ziddhi, it reminded me of when he told Arpita, "zidh mat karo" when her wipers stopped working the night she died. While he saw Arpita's zidh as dangerous and irrational, he speaks of Aarti's with almost a kind of awe, as though he sees the strength of reason behind it. I thought that contrast was fascinating. I also found it interesting that though Yash spoke of his need to save Neelam for concern of what Kunal would become if she left him, it was Aarti who saved Neelam's life by suggesting that Yash call her. Even though she kept her distance as Yash did his thing, she was the one who fixed what Yash saw as his own tragedy repeating itself. She has given him new life and now she will right the wrongs of his life..all symbolically represented by her presence at the shraadh.
Another interesting juxtaposition was that of smell. From the five elements it looks like we are moving to the five senses here! With Yash it was the fudge and taste and now with Aarti it is smell. Smell played a huge part in the sensual flashback with her seducing Prashant. And yet there is an innocence about the way Aarti craves Yash. It is clear in the way she innocently talks about the sponge bath and then realises how it must have sounded. 😆 She doesn't crave him physically but more like she craves his essence and that is what she feels in the shirt he wears. And the she sees him getting into his car.
Again, I thought this was an interesting throwback to when Yash stopped Aarti from going to get Palak's cake. Here, Aarti instead of stopping Yash gets into the car with him so she can ford off any danger that comes his way. It is such a typical demonstrations of their different approaches where Aarti prefers offense while Yash prefers defense.
Finally in closing, I thought it was interesting that even though Yash told her to stay down, Aarti sprung up, not letting the ointment take its effect. She chose Yash's healing over her own, even denying that her wounds hurt her at all...sound familiar? Thought so. I also liked how she dealt with the question of the children. It didn't have to be either or as long as they worked together. Still, it was worth consideration that Yash felt he could pull this daredevil stunt that was leading him towards healing because he was confident that Aarti would be there for his kids if he wasn't. Thankfully I think Aarti showed him a better way and continues to surprise him with how useful an ally she is, be it as a co-parent or a co-conspirator.
Cricket
