30/7 Dragon Club: Little Cupids at Work

Aah. What a soothing and pleasant episode this was, with just the right hints of foreboding, drama, and the issues that have been plaguing the characters from day one coming to the surface to be tackled head on. I think the theme of the episode was Yash resisting healing. At every turn, there were signs, beckoning him into the present and future, and at every turn he resisted them, trying to stay firmly in place. But there is one force that he didn't bargain for and that is Aarti. Finally, she has gained the right as his equal, by winning Palak's trust the way he won Ansh's, by gaining his family's trust the way he always had her family's and she is finally able to face him head on, without hesitation. This episode made it clearer than ever before, how Aarti and Yash have managed to end up with such different attitudes, despite facing similar losses, and how Yash has managed to keep his would so raw despite the passing of all these years.

I think it is interesting that Yash voiced his dislike of childish actions, or "bachpana" the day he caught Aarti playing in the rain on their balcony. It defined an attitude that he has been displaying since the beginning of the series, and yet the pattern has always remained constant. He tries desperately to resist participating in the fun and frolic, but when forced to do so enjoys himself thoroughly. This was true of the bachelor party, the hosepipe scene, Chinese whisper and today, dog in the bone. It shows that the childish Yash of yore is trying desperately to break out, to be free, but the Yash who has suffered the greatest loss of his love will not allow it. Bachpana, I think to him defines the concept of being carefree, or acting with abandon, not thinking about what you do. For Yash, who lost Arpita because she was thoughtless, and carefree on that fateful night, cannot allow himself to indulge in any form of childishness for the danger he sees in being vulnerable and not calculating every action.

I just love that Vidhi has become Aarti's spokesperson. What information Yas does not care to know about her, Vidhi supplies! The nuance of surprise on Yash's face as he found out that Aarti had been a star athlete was great. It is as though he is struck by these moments in which he realises that Aarti is a person, that she also had a past and a life before she became his mother's children and his annoying new roommate. And oh, I just about died during their face off over that single red cloth. Their eyes spoke volumes, and I loved the ambiguous expressions GC gave Yash, which were both playful and intense. Like the disguise of Zeenat and Aarif, the game gave him a chance to express those hidden, budding feelings towards Aarti...or he was just REALLY into the game.

I spent a lot of time thinking about what Aarti's look at the end could mean, which was a fantastic detail by Kratika. She looked knowing, and yet hesitant and happy yet pensive. The most obvious explanation would be that she senses Yash is indeed falling for her. But there was some very interesting symbolism involved here too, with the white handkerchief around Aarti's hand and the red handkerchief with which they played. If we consider the red handkerchief falling in love, then we see that Aarti did indeed pick it up first, and wanted to run quietly away with it, but that her hand was caught. The hand that Yash caught was wrapped in the white handkerchief, which I think could represent the widow lie hiding the divorce truth, a white cloth hiding the true wound underneath. As soon as Yash caught her hand, Aarti dropped the red cloth which to me meant that she is not yet ready for Yash to reciprocate her love and is afraid of him catching her with the red cloth.

Yash then picks up the red cloth, and waves it around triumphantly, which I think indicates that he will fall in love with Aarti when she feigns indifference for him, and will be the first one to declare it happily, that is confess. But in all this, the white handkerchief remained on Aarti's hand, and Yash did not even ask about it. This could either mean that Yash will not care to question Aarti's past, or that he will fall for her without knowing it. Finally, I found it interesting that on the same hand as the wound and the handkerchief, Yash created a new sensation in a new place, by holding Aarti's wrist. Finally her line, "main haar gayi" could not be more apt because on the same hand are the wound, the lie that covers it and the new sensation created by Yash. At this point there seems to be no winning for Aarti!

The last thing I want to talk about in this analysis is the danger of Yash's selfish and self-centred attitude. I can understand why he is feeling this way, but there is no excuse for acting on every selfish impulse as though it is his birthright, especially when his kids' feelings are involved. Palak made a beautiful request of him today. She gathered the vague memories and recollections of the last time she remembered her family being complete and sought out Yash to recreate that with her new family, now that she felt that once again. I was especially touched that she included Ansh in her plea, saying that she wanted to be a family once more, where they had been a family so many times before...and Yash just cannot see past his own grief and his own difficulty of facing his past. It is painful, I understand that Arpita has now become "pehli mummy" instead of just "mummy," but he knew that was coming, he knew it was for Palak's good and still he let his own grief get the better of him, stopping his daughter from healing.

But things have changed now. Palak has given Aarti the official license to be her mother, the only permission that Aarti was waiting for and she is going to fulfill her duty, even at the cost of Yash's anger, because dagnabbit, she is a mother! Yash has no idea what he is dealing with because Aarti the hockey-gundi pales in comparison to the strength and stubbornness of Aarti the mother, and I for one cannot wait for her to tell him that she will not stand for someone hurting her child so they can lick their own raw wounds. It was so telling how what was so incomprehensible for Yash, "if you know why I don't want to go, then why are you pushing it?" was so simple for Aarti "for the kids." I think that says it all!

There was an uncanny resemblance in the course of events today to that of Palak's birthday. The family was happy, they played games and they forced Yash to face his past. But the difference lies in the fact that while that day was permeated by deceit and doubt, through which Yash could legitimately unleash his grief through frustration and anger, taking the focus off his own inadequacies as Palak's parent, Aarti has left no room for him to wriggle out of his responsibility to his daughter this time. She has cornered him into that darkest place of his heart, where he has no choice but to confront his demons, and I say, you go girl! It's about time!