Is Arnav treating Khushi right? *Updated.

Warning : This is very long. 😳

I have seen some pretty strong reaction towards the current track and the debate is still on. I have seen both sides of the argument and I have a little something to add to the debate too.

I am sure those who know me at the forum, know that I am not the one to the blindly defend a character or senselessly bash a character. The current track isn't what I was expecting to see after the kidnapping fiasco. As the matter of fact, I wasn't expecting IPKKND to turn into a romantic comedy and I still hope I will get the intense love story back but I guess all things serious are connected to Anjali-Shyam and things will only turn intense once Shyam makes his comeback. 🤔

But nevertheless, SaRun make it worth watching and I think the current track may look terrible at first, but maybe, it's not all that bad and actually has a few positives in it.

I think what really went wrong was Arnav blaming Khushi for the Shyam fiasco out of frustration. I honestly felt that was not needed and I was seriously angered when he said those words to Khushi. I thought Khushi would decide to walk out because Arnav brought up the contract but to my disappointment, the self-sacrificing Khushi took the blame on herself for causing hurt to Di and Arnav and decided to leave using the contract as an excuse.

Arnav and Khushi are both flawed characters and being flawed is what makes them realistic. Despite Arnav's caustic tongue, hurtful behavior and rash decisions and Khushi's impulsiveness, erratic behavior and meddlesome ways, they have one thing in common. When they love, they love deeply with their heart and soul and they can go to any lengths to make sure their loved ones are happy. That makes them similar and that's why they are able to connect at a deeper level.

Let's go back to past for while, Khushi and Arnav have been in love for quite a long time. It started off as attraction which grew into affection and as it deepened it slowly turned into love. Love is incomplete without trust and respect. The marriage happened in an inappropriate way and base of their marriage was on shaky grounds. Both Khushi and Arnav learned the truth during their confrontation after Khushi's suicide attempt. She learned why he actually married her and he realized he made a blunder by only confronting Shyam after the terrace incident.

Why did Khushi never hate Arnav for what he did to her?

Although she was already in love with him when he forcibly married her, that was not a sufficient reason for the love to not turn into hate. The reason she doesn't hate him is because Khushi and Arnav misunderstood each other right after their first meeting. But later Khushi developed an understanding about Arnav. She had the opportunity to observe him closely and she discovered his softer and caring side. She learnt that maybe his ways are wrong, but most of the time he doesn't realize the gravity of his mistake and sometimes he adapts wrong ways to make things right.

That's why she was hell bent on finding out why he married her and when she did, instead of holding it against him, she became eager to prove her innocence and clear the misunderstanding.

Similarly Arnav also developed an understanding of Khushi. He made a blunder of not confronting her with the Shyam fiasco, which he regrets and has admitted that mistake. He has realized that this is one selfless girl, who can go to any lengths to ensure her loved ones are happy and protected from all harm. He has realized that she can even agree for a contract marriage to ensure her sister's happiness. Yes he did use that for his advantage at one time. He blackmailed her into marrying him. But he did pay a price for believing Shyam's words and taking a rash decision. He was kidnapped, tortured and punished for that sin for two weeks. That was karma.

Although we never really got to see exactly what went through his mind at that time, I believe he had his moment of contemplation.

During those two weeks, their love grew stronger and later they escaped from the clasps of death together.

But does that mean they have corrected all their flaws, shortcomings and insecurities? No.

Arnav still hasn't gotten over his habit of doing right things the wrong way. Arnav doesn't know the exact reason for her leaving. He doesn't know that she has walked out to ensure his and his Di's happiness. He believes she walked out because the contract is coming to an end.

As for Khushi, she is still the girl who is ready to sacrifice her happiness for her loved ones. She is still the girl who puts others first. Khushi maybe all chirpy, bubbly and confident on the surface but a part of her believes that all the good things in life is not for her. In a way she suffers from a complex which she covers up with a smile and by exuding confidence.

She doesn't know that she can have a right over people. She doesn't know that she is worthy of being loved and treated like a princess. She still doesn't realize that she can make demands and exercise her rights as a wife and that Arnav has happily given her that right. And that is exactly what Arnav is trying to make her realize.

Why is he doing all this?

Because he loves her, accepts her as his wife and he knows that she loves him too and deep down she considers him as her husband. What gives him the confidence? She has expressed her love and subconscious acceptance countless times through her gestures. She has even risked her life to rescue him.

She may have walked out because the contract is coming to end but the contract means nothing to him and he knows that deep down it means nothing to her as well.

He knows after what they have been through together during the kidnapping episode, their relationship has reached the where there is no going back.

Now coming to question of whether Arnav is ill-treating her.

Khushi has walked out without telling him the actual reason. He believes she did it because of the contract. Although he didn't specifically apologize for it, he tried to make up for in various attempts. He tried to pacify her with expensive gifts at first and tried his charms on her. All of that may have looked a bit materialistic, but then again, he isn't used to it and is still learning. 😳 Besides his simple and eccentric wife like simple gifts like chana and a beautiful flower bed is enough to bring a smile to her face. His initial attempts went futile but Khushi later gave in and hugged him. So her walking out came as a surprise for him.

He has accepted her as his wife and wants her to accept her as her husband. He loves the idea of her being his wife. In fact the mere thought of it make him gloat and he wants her to make her demands as a wife.

Is he using her family's financial condition to his favour?

Khushi did not tell him about buaji's 24K rent. He overheard and found out about that on his own. He paid the rent as he thought it was his farz. But the strong, self-respecting Khushi was angered by his actions. She thought it would hurt her pride to borrow money from him and take his help.

She doesn't know that taking money from her own husband doesn't fall into the category of favor. It doesn't make her indebted. It's her right.It there was anything wrong in it, then no wife would ever take anything from their husbands as it would make them indebted.

When Khushi was angered that he paid the rent, he took it back not to humiliate her, but to make her realize that she has full rights over him and if he pays the rent she has no reason to be ashamed off.

He doesn't want to break her ego, he wants her to embrace him as her own and accept that she has a right over him, his house and his money. Not only that, he wants her to realize that just like she has a responsibility towards his family and she does things for them, he can do the same too.

After she asked Happyji and Shuklaji for help, Arnav's intentions became even more clear from what told them. He said that it would bring them closer.

Later when she came to him, he kept insisting that she's his wife and she has a right over him. But she was adamant and she offered to work for him. She wanted to work for a month but he told her she just has to work for 24 hours because that's how much time she has. She agreed.

After Arnav came to GH, he asked her to entertain him and act out as a TV. It wasn't really a proper work but his intentions were not to humiliate her either. His wife can easily be termed as the eighth wonder of the world and she is capable of doing things no one else can. He wasn't laughing at her expense, he was just having a bit of fun and he was genuinely amused by her antics. 😳

She did have a little accident but hurting her was never his intention. He massaged her foot which was followed by a sincere apology. Khushi I am sorry I hurt you. To me it didn't look like the apology for just for that sprained ankle only. It meant much more.

This was followed his fall and the back message session.

After that he gave her more work. He asked her to wrap the gift for his office staff and during her 24 hour job that was the only real work he gave her. Now I lot of people complained about 40 minutes time limit and the unpacking and repacking. If you think about, when we work, we work under deadlines too although the timing is longer, if we make mistakes, we usually have make correction within that timeframe.

He knew that Khushi would never take money unless he gave her some work and it was proven when he Khushi received her mehnaat ki kamai.

I really don't see anything wrong with sending the money with his driver. The driver doesn't really know what the money is for does he?

Why did he ask her to stay up all night?

I don't think he realized she would actually stay up and would probably dose off once he stopped calling. But when she didn't, he realized his mistake and entered GH through the window to put her in bed. No he didn't come for himself. He switched off his cell phone and the landphone, she called his staff and there was no one else she could call. She couldn't possibly wake nani, Payal or NK up.

Is he treating her like a princess and making her feel special?

Yes he is doing that too. He told her that her mom's payal are beautiful. Those anklets are special to her, not only because they are from her mother but also because they have their own memories attached to them.

Later when she gave him a back rub, he praised her saying, "Khushi ke hathon mein jadoo hai".

He is trying to evoke the woman in her through his touch, his gestures and his actions. He wants her to know he longs for her, he wants her and that she wants him too and there's nothing wrong in that. But he will only take the next step when she's ready.

Guptas moving out of GH.

We are yet to find out what is really happening here. I firmly believe that Arnav would never harm the Guptas and wouldn't purposefully put them in difficulty. Irrespective of his equation with Khushi in the past, he has never hurt them. So now that he has developed a bond with them and has a deep sense of respect, harassing them is out of the question.

What I didn't like.

The one scene I didn't like was involving the secretary. If the purpose was to show that he can't bear anybody disrespecting his wife, it could have been done without involving the secretary. Khushi could have just walked in and that guy could have still unknowingly called her item and received the slap. 😳

What was need for that scene? It left a bad taste.

CVs get thumbs down for that scene. 👎🏼

That sums up my reaction based on what I have seen on the last four episodes.

ASR may not be the world's best husband yet, but he's slowly getting there. He is still making mistakes but I guess he needs times.

Feel free to agree or disagree.

I will get back with my replies later.

Thanks.

UPDATED: I think the problem with this current track is that a lot of things are lacking in it and there are abrupt changes. The biggest problem lies in the execution and characterizations. We were expecting to see Arnav contemplating about what Khushi went through but the focus was on Anjali at that time. They completely ignored Khushi's issues. Arnav came back home after kidnapping and needed some looking after but even that wasn't dealt properly. They couldn't balance the focus between Khushi and Anjali.

Later they shifted focus to Arhi due to the viewers reactions but that was again, an abrupt change. Khushi took a sudden decision of leaving. We didn't see any self talk other than her convo with DM but that was half baked. We didn't see any self talk of Arnav either so we don't know anything about his thought process.