PR today, despite the usual flitting back and forth between the characters, was, in essence, Purvi-centric. And what a Purvi! Composed, confident, not rattled or descending into hasty, shrill speech even under stress, and unhesitatingly and openly supportive of the man she loves, both within herself and to him. We of the AAP are justifiably delighted with the unexpectedly rapid progress made by our protegee, which has only whetted our appetites for more of the same. Kya karen, dil hamesha maange more! (What can we do, the heart always wants more).
But first things first. In a short opening scene where Arjun briefs Farooq about his sighting of the mystery man and what followed, he makes a contribution of Rs.51/- to the neighbourhood Dahi Handi festival to be celebrated on Janmashtami, to celebrate the birth of Lord Krishna. This is but an opening flourish or ouverture to what is to follow under the same heading, but of that later.
Face to Face at the temple: Now to the grand confrontation of Ovi and Purvi at the Siddhivinayak temple - a literal one, face to face barely a foot away from each other, on either side of the mushikam, the mouse that is Bappa's vaahan (vehicle). With Archana, who has finished praying to Bappa to guide in choosing the right side to take in the dilemma she faces (again, no prizes for guessing which these choices are), some distance away and out of their sight.
Ovi has earlier insisted on going alone, so there is no Savita or Teju or even Manav to clutter up the scene. She walks barefoot all the way, disregarding the cuts and bruises to her feet, and arrives at the temple just after Purvi.
Ovi is calm and never raises her voice, but her bitterness against Purvi and Archana spills out unchecked. She asks Purvi what more she had to ask of Bappa, since she had already taken 'my Arjun' away from her. She had always asked only one thing of Bappa, Arjun, and she was sure Bappa would be on her side, as her aaji had assured her that he granted all wishes made with genuine devotion. She refuses to believe Purvi when she says that she had asked for something for Arjun - that he should get the strength to overcome all the obstacles in his path - and insists that she must have asked for something for her aai, perhaps that Arjun should give her the Rs.10,000/-.
Purvi chides her for insulting her own aai, but Ovi denies that Archana is her mother at all. 'She is your aai', she adds, 'if she had been mine, she would have felt my pain, and would not have taken your side and helped you take Arjun away from me'. She goes on to recount ' and the anguish in her voice rings true - how much Teju and she had suffered from the absence of a mother for all of 18 years, and having not been there for them all these years, she now did not deserve to be with them. As a parting, Parthian shot, she asks Purvi "If you are so concerned about me, why do you not give up Arjun? Why are you still after him?" Purvi closes her eyes in helpless desperation as Ovi walks off to the sanctum sanctorum. Archana slips away quietly.
We are left with no clues as to what Ovi will do next, when she realizes, in due course, that even Bappa cannot get Arjun back for her. For today, I felt both admiration for the unexpectedly dignified way in which she behaved, and sadness for her suffering, which is as real as it is unavoidable, and for which there is no remedy but acceptance. I was reminded of the words of the ancient Greek poet and dramatist, Aeschylus, which were quoted by Robert Kennedy, on April 4, 1968, in his eulogy at the funeral of the assassinated Dr.Martin Luther King:
'Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.'
One can only hope that sooner or later, this "awful grace of God" will cure Ovi of her obsession with Arjun, and the pain it causes her.
Now what struck me wrt this scene was not what happened, for that was pretty much expected, though I must confess that I anticipated a shriller exchange and more fireworks. Ovi was quite dignified, and from her point of view, everything she said was true and could not be denied. The real significance of the scene lay not in what was said, but in what Purvi did not do afterwards. She did NOT sit down and start commiserating with Ovi Ma'am's misery, as she would have done just 2 weeks ago. She did NOT get emotionally blackmailed into thinking of ways to bring Arjun closer to Ovi.
Most important, and keeping in mind that her dearest wish is still to see her aai reunited with her family, and especially with ther daughters, and also that Ovi's main accusation against Archana is that she had sided with Purvi and helped her take Arjun away from herself, Purvi does NOT even think of going down the self-sacrifice route even for her mother's sake. The umbilical cord is still strong, yes, but it is no longer that strong.
Archana-Sulochana: If there was a daily prize for the most popular character, Sulochana is all set for a hat trick. For the third time running, she is the voice of reason trying to make Archana understand that she is wrong in being so focussed on Ovi that she disregards Purvi's feelings, and warning her that she is deliberately turning a Nelson's eye to the fact that Purvi loves Arjun deeply. Archana can no longer, after the events of the day before, cling to her 'not fit for either girl' mantra, so she concedes that because he saved Sulochana's life, she does realize "kahin na kahin" (somewhere) that he is something of a good boy. But, and here comes the sting in the tail, she cannot ever forget that he betrayed both Ovi and Purvi.
Sulochana, a smug smile on her face, asks Archana why she was so mild with Purvi yesterday when she had gone to get bail for Arjun and had met him, in sharp contrast with her violently negative reaction when she first found out about Arjun and Purvi. If I had been Archana, I would have promptly replied 'Because I was under a huge debt of gratitude to him, I could not object to Purvi helping him out', which is exactly what she says at the hospital, to Purvi's great relief. But now, she avoids giving this answer, for whatever reason, and simply leaves.
This has the (to my mind) unfortunate effect of strengthening Sulochana's belief, which she had inculcated in Purvi as well the day before, that Archana has, in her heart of hearts, accepted the Arjun-Purvi relationship, even if she does not acknowledge it. My own assessment is that while Archana is naturally pulled both ways, as she tells Bappa, her grief at Ovi's self-inflicted suffering (which does exasperate her, for she realizes that Arjun does not even think of Ovi) is greater than anything she feels for Purvi at present. This is also a permanent irritant for her whenever she sees or thinks of Arjun, and sours her on the Arjun-Purvi love affair. We have to wait and see how this plays out.
Dahi Handi hijinks: One thing is for sure (and this will undoubtedly please those counting the parallels between Manav in PR I and Arjun in PR II) and that is that Arjun is going to break the dahi handi this year. He starts rehearsing with full vigour for the great day, and impresses one of the organizers with his enthusiasm for the new sport. He also sets Purvi off into peals of laughter as he slips from the top of the pile and lands,unfazed, on his rear end.
Now comes our rebooted Purvi. She makes a cheeky come-hither gesture and walks off, while lover boy retrieves his shirt and runs to catch up with her. They end up near a little park, and have the second entirely natural and normal, and yet snugly romantic (if there is such an expression!) conversation of their lives. And yes, there is NO rain, and I almost fainted, but not quite, as I did not want to miss any of this new, confident Purvi, so comfortable, so unembarrassed and so unapologetic about being with the man she loves. Gone is the robot-like obedience to her mother's ban on meeting him, she does not even seem to remember it!
What they talk about is totally unremarkable, it is their ease with each other that is remarkable. There is no shyness or coquetry on her side, and no high romantic effusions about getting her the moon and the stars on his. She seems still a little sad about all that he is having to put up with for her sake (she prays at the temple for strength for herself to be able to witness his struggle). He firmly nixes any such ideas, and goes into raptures about how she has reformed the khaddoos Arjun Kirloskar, and about the new Arjun being entirely her creation. He is confident that very soon, he will be able to save the required amount and hand it over to Archana, and that this will change her views about him and Purvi. "I will just be have to work a little harder at my struggle", he says, and she chimes in promptly "Our struggle", in which she would be with him.
He takes her up on that with a Cheshire cat smile and a sudden show of mischief "Well, then, what will you for me?", and when she responds with "Anything", he asks her to join him in the dahi handi, and gets a playful punch in reply. She teases him, saying that it will be impossible for him to tackle the dahi handi. His reaction is at once surprising and, in another sense, entirely predictable: "Remember that I am Arjun Kirloskar, and Arjun Kirloskar loves to take up impossible challenges".
While Purvi responded to this mock heroic sally with affectionate pride, I was rejoicing at this demonstration that that Arjun Kirloskar was still very much there inside the garage mechanic, ready to re-emerge when the time is right.
Our Arjun and Purvi are now a real, true blue couple, comfortable with each other and with their love, which no longer needs any of the traditional props: repeated affirmations that "I love you", or hugs and kisses. It has outgrown all this, and can survive and thrive on just a glance from across the street. It is this, and even more so the swift emergence of the newly confident Purvi - ready to stand up for her love and her lover, without yielding an inch, even when confronted unexpectedly by Ovi, and in defiance of her aai's diktats - that gives me, and should give us all, fresh hope. Hope that when the chips are down and they have their back to the wall, Purvi will not be Arjun's weakness, his Achilles' heel, but his strength, and that together as one, they will prevail.
Shyamala B.Cowsik
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