Posted:
Credit for this brand new gorgeous banner goes to Maham (Allbut1)!
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Let's just take a moment, before we get to the show, to remember the people who lost their lives on 9/11, eleven years ago. I hope their families and friends continue to find strength to face their loss.
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Let's just take a moment, before we get to the show, to remember the people who lost their lives on 9/11, eleven years ago. I hope their families and friends continue to find strength to face their loss.
Why Pregnancy?
I was stalking from my phone last night (for me) and read Zee's confirmation of the pregnancy just before I was going to bed. I was shocked and felt almost sick to the stomach, and spent the better part of an hour (when I should have been getting my beauty sleep) trying to figure out what on earth was going on here...and in the end I realised that we have incredibly clever story writers! đ
Since I managed to put my own mind to rest with this explanation of mine, I thought I would share it with you all too. See the Hindi serial industry is a cruel one where I don't think the makers of a show every get to decide when the story ends. They just have to keep on churning out a story until the channel tells them to, because it is the channel who decides how long a show goes on when a show ends, without really looking at the story side of things. I think that is why we get so many stories stretched past their prime with meaningless "tracks" and misunderstandings to separate the already united couple.
By introducing this pregnancy, the Mittals have avoided a very common pitfall. Usually a romantic drama like this where the leads are married unwillingly ends ultimately with their consummation. That is always the end of the logical story after which it tends to go all over the place in the case of the general pattern daily soap. Here, they have surpassed the consummation as a mere tool to the main drama which will be emotional. So the audience is not on a predictable path anymore. They don't actually know where this is going to end, because the place where these stories usually end has been passed by like a common speed bump.
Now, when I was tossing and turning and night, unable to come up with a reason for this pregnancy, I thought to myself, what if they didn't have the pregnancy? And that is when it hit me. If this pregnancy wasn't thrown in, then the shelf life of the show would be about 5-6 months at best. Yash would have learned about Aarti's suffering eventually and would have allowed himself to fall fully in love with her, the family would have forgiven her eventually and that would have been the end of the drama. More immediately, it would have been hard to imagine a circumstance in which the Scindias allowed Aarti to stay with them despite learning her truth. Since Yash is mad at her too, and the kids are just kids, they would have separated and nobody would have really fought for the marriage.
Now that there is a physical nishani of the marriage, it complicates issues and hence extends the life of the show and the dramatic value without being contrived about it. Aarti and Yash sleeping together is perfectly plausible, especially under the effects of bhaang. Both of them had strong feelings that they were resisting with all their might. They just needed something to take away those inhibitions for them to be all over each other, that is how strong the attraction was, I think. I suspected Yash's longing for Aarti since the baawra mann song sequence and so I see this night as a natural thing. ONLY I hope Aarti remembers and just didn't want to say anything. But forgetting things under the influence of bhaang is not uncommon, so I will let it slide.
The pregnancy introduces all kinds of issues of custody because now Aarti will have a child from her second marriage, which will figure in a custody battle. Like I said, Prashant has no case to make but Papa Dubey does, especially in a society like India where the male heir is still given a lot of importance. The fact that Aarti has a child from her second marriage will make PapaD's case for Ansh a lot stronger because they will tend to give the kid to the side who does not have any and needs the child the most (correct me if I am wrong, law people).
This is going to bring out a poetic juxtaposition of Yash and Prashant. Prashant who claimed to love Aarti, and claimed he would love her forever did not turn back and look once at the child he fathered. On the other hand, Yash who never claimed to love Aarti will take her back for the sake of this child and claim full ownership. Unfortunately I do think we are going to have to see a lot of indifference from the Scindias towards Aarti, and a lot of "we are tolerating you because of our waaris inside you," but gradually Aarti will work herself back into their hearts, because really they love her a lot, though they will be angry. And we will get a lot of unspoken tension between Yash and Aarti with all the anger, desire, protectiveness and love in the air!
Finally, the possibility of a miscarriage is also interesting from a story point of view, as sadistic as that sounds. That might be the thing that finally breaks Aarti, and the occasion to which Yash will rise. Even at the thought of Prashant's truth coming out, we see Aarti strong and fighting to talk to Yash. Nothing gets this girl down. BUT losing this baby might, especially if she thinks it is her last connection to Yash. I see an Abhimaan like situation where Yash will have to bring Aarti out of the depression and defeat that finally catches up with her after all of these years.
All this to say. The writers know what they are doing, because with this pregnancy they opened up a whole new can of worms. And after seeing stills of the segment, I am doubly confident, because I know they were in love when they did it, though they had not acknowledged it to each other. The one thing I wanted was for any baby of theirs to be conceived in love, and I am at peace knowing that this one was!
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Episode Analysis
I loved today's episode, contrary to my own preconceptions about the pregnancy rumour coming to fruition, and there was one main reason for this: Aarti is finally dealing with the issues that Prashant left her with after his abandonment. What cruel irony destiny has thrown her way! The "ansh" of Prashant whom she hoped would be the force to join them back together turned out to be the reason she was forced to move on, to give him a father's love. Now when she has moved on, this baby may just be the reason Yash wants nothing to do with her...or at least that is the way Aarti sees it.
The manner in which Aarti found out about her pregnancy was well done, I thought! I still think that the Prashant truth is part of the reason for Yash's anger because of Aarti's "bargain" with Ganapati Bappa (these things matter in serials, of course). She said that before his visarjan she had to come to know of the reason for his anger and she did find out about the possibility that Yash knew of her lie. And just when she was thanking Ganapati, he was like, "wait child, there's more!" and that is when she lost consciousness. I loved the symbolism in this scene, where Aarti and Yash are both face to face with Ganapati. Aarti is holding her mangalsutra which binds her to Yash and Yash is doing aarti, which binds him to her. At that moment, Ganapati chooses to reveal the truth to Aarti, with both of them in front of him. This to me showed that he was blessing both of them with this gift of life.
This baby is a physical manifestation of Aarti and Yash's love. The moment she becomes aware of its existence, Aarti embraces it and is happy to share this experience with Yash, but is simultaneously weary that he does not feel the same way. Yash, naturally, did his part in creating this baby but remains unaware of its existence until now. It is following the same pattern that their love for each other did. It was conceived when neither of them were aware, and when they had let their guards down on the Mumbai trip, represented more literally by the consumption of bhaang. Aarti has now realised it and accepted it but is dealing with the many issues that her past raises in relation to this love, the most prominent being that she doesn't know if this was an act of love from Yash's side. The first time they fell in love, what we have seen so far, was all about Yash and Arpita and how he came out of his grief. With the divorce truth coming out, which it will soon, one way or another, we are "back to square one" in their love story, only this time it will be built with Aarti-Prashant at its centre and this baby being a very real manifestation of the unacknowledged love that these two have for each other. The way Yash reacts to the baby will, I think reflect the way he reacts towards his own feelings for Aarti, following a path of acknowledgment, acceptance, attachment and finally an all abiding and all encompassing love (of the love!).
It broke my heart to see that though Aarti claims to have learned to trust Yash, she doesn't give him enough credit to believe he will take responsibility for his own child. As a viewer and an observer of Yash's character, I can say without a doubt that he will. But Aarti's default reaction is to assume that he is going to abandon her because she betrayed him. She still thinks this is about Arpita and taking her place, which I really don't believe it is. Yash has amply proven that Arpita no longer pervades his thoughts, she is no longer his primary reflex, Aarti is. But for Aarti, she proved today that while she loves Yash body and soul, her primary reflex is still Prashant. She still has expectations of men and fathers based on what Prashant did to her, and her reasoning follows that if Prashant could claim to love her and then leave her and her child, what could stop Yash who never claimed to love her, and who she "cheated" by crossing all the lines of their relationship and having such intimate relations? Basically, despite all that Yash has done and been for her and Ansh, Prashant is still her yardstick by which she judges male behaviour and I am so glad to see this finally being dealt with.
Similarly, she was unsure if this was an act of love for Yash, which shows that deep down she hasn't really come a long way from before marriage when she suspected him of being a lech. As long as they were in this platonic relationship she had no doubts about him but the minuet their relationship gets physical she is almost certain that Yash was only attracted to her physically for a stray moment, as some sort of mistake. Even now the possibility does not cross her mind that he could have genuine feelings for her, after all that Aman has told her and all that she herself experienced. News of this baby is basically stripping Aarti down to her real self, not the one she projects and wants to be; her real self does not consider herself worthy of Yash's love in the first place and assumes that it must be an accident for him to have been attracted to her and forgotten his Arpita.
Finally, the pregnancy presents a new dilemma for Aarti in that she can't cure Yash of his sickness. When she thought it was the divorce lie, she was ready to take all the responsibility just to relieve him of his suffering. Now what she thinks is the reason for his suffering is gestating innocently in her womb and she has no way of taking that away. So should she be happy that she is carrying Yash's child or should she lament the fact that she is carrying a permanent reminder of his "mistake" and her "betrayal" that will haunt him forever? I am pretty confident that Yash will rise to the occasion and we will all be swooning for him shortly. If nothing the man takes responsibility and decisive action. I think what may happen is that he will continue to be mad at Aarti but take care of her for the child. This would work for me because it would be separating the baby from his issues with Aarti, while still taking responsibility for the former. And then slowly with lots of tension between the two thanks to their unspoken feelings, we can eventually have a reconciliation when he realises how much she has suffered and borne to be the person she is today, and she realises he is for real in every sense of the word, and that similar to her, he is a parent over and above an individual.
The manner in which Aarti found out about her pregnancy was well done, I thought! I still think that the Prashant truth is part of the reason for Yash's anger because of Aarti's "bargain" with Ganapati Bappa (these things matter in serials, of course). She said that before his visarjan she had to come to know of the reason for his anger and she did find out about the possibility that Yash knew of her lie. And just when she was thanking Ganapati, he was like, "wait child, there's more!" and that is when she lost consciousness. I loved the symbolism in this scene, where Aarti and Yash are both face to face with Ganapati. Aarti is holding her mangalsutra which binds her to Yash and Yash is doing aarti, which binds him to her. At that moment, Ganapati chooses to reveal the truth to Aarti, with both of them in front of him. This to me showed that he was blessing both of them with this gift of life.
This baby is a physical manifestation of Aarti and Yash's love. The moment she becomes aware of its existence, Aarti embraces it and is happy to share this experience with Yash, but is simultaneously weary that he does not feel the same way. Yash, naturally, did his part in creating this baby but remains unaware of its existence until now. It is following the same pattern that their love for each other did. It was conceived when neither of them were aware, and when they had let their guards down on the Mumbai trip, represented more literally by the consumption of bhaang. Aarti has now realised it and accepted it but is dealing with the many issues that her past raises in relation to this love, the most prominent being that she doesn't know if this was an act of love from Yash's side. The first time they fell in love, what we have seen so far, was all about Yash and Arpita and how he came out of his grief. With the divorce truth coming out, which it will soon, one way or another, we are "back to square one" in their love story, only this time it will be built with Aarti-Prashant at its centre and this baby being a very real manifestation of the unacknowledged love that these two have for each other. The way Yash reacts to the baby will, I think reflect the way he reacts towards his own feelings for Aarti, following a path of acknowledgment, acceptance, attachment and finally an all abiding and all encompassing love (of the love!).
It broke my heart to see that though Aarti claims to have learned to trust Yash, she doesn't give him enough credit to believe he will take responsibility for his own child. As a viewer and an observer of Yash's character, I can say without a doubt that he will. But Aarti's default reaction is to assume that he is going to abandon her because she betrayed him. She still thinks this is about Arpita and taking her place, which I really don't believe it is. Yash has amply proven that Arpita no longer pervades his thoughts, she is no longer his primary reflex, Aarti is. But for Aarti, she proved today that while she loves Yash body and soul, her primary reflex is still Prashant. She still has expectations of men and fathers based on what Prashant did to her, and her reasoning follows that if Prashant could claim to love her and then leave her and her child, what could stop Yash who never claimed to love her, and who she "cheated" by crossing all the lines of their relationship and having such intimate relations? Basically, despite all that Yash has done and been for her and Ansh, Prashant is still her yardstick by which she judges male behaviour and I am so glad to see this finally being dealt with.
Similarly, she was unsure if this was an act of love for Yash, which shows that deep down she hasn't really come a long way from before marriage when she suspected him of being a lech. As long as they were in this platonic relationship she had no doubts about him but the minuet their relationship gets physical she is almost certain that Yash was only attracted to her physically for a stray moment, as some sort of mistake. Even now the possibility does not cross her mind that he could have genuine feelings for her, after all that Aman has told her and all that she herself experienced. News of this baby is basically stripping Aarti down to her real self, not the one she projects and wants to be; her real self does not consider herself worthy of Yash's love in the first place and assumes that it must be an accident for him to have been attracted to her and forgotten his Arpita.
Finally, the pregnancy presents a new dilemma for Aarti in that she can't cure Yash of his sickness. When she thought it was the divorce lie, she was ready to take all the responsibility just to relieve him of his suffering. Now what she thinks is the reason for his suffering is gestating innocently in her womb and she has no way of taking that away. So should she be happy that she is carrying Yash's child or should she lament the fact that she is carrying a permanent reminder of his "mistake" and her "betrayal" that will haunt him forever? I am pretty confident that Yash will rise to the occasion and we will all be swooning for him shortly. If nothing the man takes responsibility and decisive action. I think what may happen is that he will continue to be mad at Aarti but take care of her for the child. This would work for me because it would be separating the baby from his issues with Aarti, while still taking responsibility for the former. And then slowly with lots of tension between the two thanks to their unspoken feelings, we can eventually have a reconciliation when he realises how much she has suffered and borne to be the person she is today, and she realises he is for real in every sense of the word, and that similar to her, he is a parent over and above an individual.
Geet - Hui Sabse Parayee
