This week has really been an epic one on PV, as near flawless as weeks go and I am completely in love with the way the story is gradually unfolding. Today's episode was divided into distinct parts so I will talk about each of them individually.
Shobha - Aarti Confrontation
Ok, Shobha is really starting to get on my nerves. While I understand her concern for Aarti, and the ramifications of telling the truth to Yash straight away, I am beginning to see that her definition of the perfect relationship is one in which there is no conflict. Every time Aarti has set herself to confront Yash with the difficulties and complexities of their relationship, Shobha has stopped her and made her wait for some moment in the distance when Yash will no longer be angry with her and when his love for her will out weigh any other information he might here. The truth is that there is no such ideal moment. Yash's anger will exist as long as the issues are not cleared up, and the issues can never be cleared up until they have a confrontation. It really makes me wonder if Shobha had a more active role in the failure of the Prashant - Aarti marriage. Did she advise Prashant in the same way she is advising Aarti now, so that when he had some problem with Aarti, instead of bringing it up with her he waited for the "right moment," while his resentment grew inside?
It makes me think back to all the times Shobha has advised Aarti this strongly, namely, when Aarti wanted to reveal the divorce truth after the kidnapping and then when she was trying to become Arpita in order to win Palak's heart. Both times there is a trend where Shobha, at all costs wants to avoid conflict in the Aarti-Yash relationship. She wants the problems to get solved "eventually," yes, but in an eventual moment where there will be no anger, no frustration and no conflict, and until that moment arrives, she would rather not address problems at all. But see the difference. When Shobha did stop her from telling the divorce truth the consequences are still before us, and now worse than ever. On the other hand, though Palak's birthday was a disaster, it gave Yash a chance to articulate his feelings on AKJ and for Aarti to learn how to tread lightly around that subject...which one was better for the relationship?
What really upset me today about her speech was that in her effort to stop Aarti from confronting Yash, she actually perpetuated Aarti's idea that Yash was like Prashant; she used Aarti's past experiences to blackmail her and make her weak in that moment and that really killed me.
It was so wonderful to see an Aarti who was finally willing to stand up for her own honour, not for her children or her parents or her husband, or any other gosh darn person but for herself. It was perfect semi-loop closure to the Prashant confrontation where Aarti defended Ansh and the Dubeys but not her own honour. Yash's love, and the proof of it that she saw on that video, if nothing else, has given her this self worth that she is a woman who deserves better, that what they had on that night was LOVE, and just when she is going to demand it, Shobha obtusely reminds her that this place, that grovelling, waiting and pining for the father of her child is where she belongs in the scheme of things. I know that Shobha would be horrified if she knew she was doing this, but that doesn't take away from the fact that she is jeopardising the little self-love Aarti has cultivated in her relationship with Yash. More over, Yash has every right to know about his baby and his reaction to that news is not for Lord Shobha to control! She does love playing god, doesn't she? By telling Aarti she should wait, she is killing the belief that Aarti could hold her own to whatever Yash's reaction may be, and for that today I was really disappointed in Shobha.
Vidhi - Paridhi
Gosh, I so loved this scene! It was so poignant to the issues the show is raising about the identity of a woman. Even though it is admirable that Paridhi is working, the thing that they are addressing is the fact that she thinks house work is some how beneath her, and therefore Vidhi somehow inferior to her. On some level I still feel for Paridhi because if this is her real self then we can see clearly how hard she was trying before. She has given up trying because she sees that Prateek is not willing to give as much to the relationship as she is, so she reverts to her previous self and stops even trying to fit in with the Scindias. But what I loved was that Vidhi was playing with Paridhi on her own level. Neither did she stop Paridhi from going, nor did she let her walk all over her. If Paridhi wanted the benefits of a family, that is, the tiffin, she had to do her part in that family's system, with sincerity. But Paridhi has gone off the edge and seems to some how feel that the Scindias owe her this right to work and be exalted for it. The message Vidhi conveys is clear; do your part and we will do ours, but Paridhi is too far gone to be reasoned with. Sigh, all bad timing.
I loved Vidhi's little monologue later where she is sorry for having to be rude. She is such a wonderful, maternal character who knows her worth in the family system. She is very aware of her responsibilities and takes them very seriously which is why I am starting to understand why she isn't all over her husband. He really doesn't appreciate the value of what she does. In his eyes, she is giving time and attention to every one but him but if we look from Vidhi's perspective, she is doing her job, and while Pankaj's job may end when the office closes, Vidhi's is 24/7. I love this contrast they are bringing out between working women and ones that prefer to stay at home and care for their families. The show is demanding respect for the housewife, or rather the matriarch and I am really happy about the way they are handling that.
Yash & Yash - Aarti
Wow! I know the hand kiss was clearly not them but to me it was an important little snippet to have and I guess they realised that a little too late. I loved the love scene between these two because it spoke of so much more than raw desire or passion, though those were there. There was a gravity about the way Yash handled the whole situation that I found completely moving. His expressions made it clear that he was keenly observing Aarti's every move to see how she was reacting to his advances, he gauged when she wasn't ready and gentled or slowed his movements, again at each moment making sure that she was with him.
Aarti would have surrendered to him in any case, given that she is totally in love with him, BUT he didn't for one moment take advantage of that fact. His satisfaction from this experience was inseparably connected with her feelings about it and because she was hesitant, he was patient, waiting at each step for her to be ready for the next. Like, I love that after the hand kiss when he moved the first hand so it no longer shielded her body, he just held her hand for a while and looked at her as though saying, "we are in this together and you don't have to be scared of me. Also, you are breath taking." ☺️ More than anything else, he was attentive to her every feeling and hint and he was in no hurry to reach any stipulated destination; that must have made all the difference to a woman like Aarti, who is used to her feelings being disregarded entirely for the pleasure of others. In short I am totally happy with the way things went.
The punching bag scene was really interesting. First of all it was raining outside and Yash was totally exposed to the rain: he hadn't clsoed any of the windows. It is as though part of him wants to go back to that night, those feelings and that belief that this was the right thing to do. And there is the dominating, bitter, and self-loathing part of him that doesn't allow him to do that. So he is in a battle with himself and I think the punching bag represents him before that night. He is beating himself up, beating himself until the sand pours out of the bag. Sand is nothing but dry earth, and it contains no moisture. I think the sand was the feelings that Yash had for Arpita and his drive for life in general, dry and arid because he wouldn't let the rain back into his life after he lost Arpita in it. In Mumbai, Yash let the rain back in and the dry sand emptied from him. Yash is basically that empty punching bag now, the sand and the rain both outside of himself. There is no satisfaction in punching an empty bag, and Yash feels he can't punish himself any more than he has; he has reached the end of his ability to inflict pain on himself, and still he has no peace, so he goes to someone else to do it for him.
I found it most fascinating that this habit of Yash is not a new one. It startled me when Prateek said that Yash has been doing this since college and the first thing that struck me was that in the most twisted way possible, the Scindias got their "old Yash" back. But what I thought was really interesting was that this is something that has nothing to do with Arpita; it is a piece of Yash's identity that is not centred around her memory and her loss, and that is new, something we only started to glimpse in Mumbai with the pottery and the karela. So Aarti has come to occupy a space in Yash's mind that goes beyond what is and is not Arpita's place, because in dealing with the pain she has some how given him, he goes back to something he used to always do when he broke a promise or hurt somebody, get beaten up without defending himself. Even though this can most literally be interpreted as a penance and self-punishment, I think it is more than that. I think Yash gets relief from the pain, because often when you are dealing with mental stress or emotional pain, you use physical pain to sort of distract yourself from it; it's like people who cut themselves, as morbid as that sounds. I think this habit of Yash is more about allowing the physical pain to numb his emotions, because he is a hyper sensitive person who feels things keenly.
Why I say this is because of the last scene where Aarti runs to Yash and catches his head on her lap. She fights for him to come out of his stupour, much like she has been doing on a larger scale with his Arpita-depression, and until he is actually in that state of pained haze, he finds peace and comfort in her voice and makes an effort to meet the sound of her voice. However, once he is in his senses once more and realises who brought him back, he rushes to get beaten up once again so he can go back to the haze of pain he longs for, where his awareness is not so acute and his faculties are dimmed. Yash sought death because it made him feel closer to Arpita (during the Neelam debacle) and now he seeks pain because it distracts him from Aarti. He associates her with everything but pain, and so where there is overwhelming pain, there is no Aarti.
I still think there is something we don't know about the reason for his anger, but I am willing to wait patiently to find out because we are finding out so many other things on the way. Aarti's expression at the end of the episode was the only thing that made Shobha's lecture okay because I think we are going to get our confrontation any way!
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Geet - Hui Sabse Parayee
