The Mousetrap & To Be or Not to Be
The story of Hamlet begins on a chilly night at Elsinore castle. The guards see the ghost of Hamlet's father and bring the news to him. Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark - a young man in love with Ophelia - is a tortured soul. His father, King Hamlet had been murdered and his mother, Gertrude had married his uncle, Claudius; young Hamlet was tortured by the death of his father, because he did not know who had done it. He goes with the guards to meet the ghost and it is, indeed, his father's ghost who tells him about Claudius' betrayal. Claudius had murdered his father by pouring poison in his ears. His mother, Gertrude did not know about this and had married Claudius for the sake of the kingdom. Hamlet is beseiged by these thoughts and wants to avenge his father's death. Seeing his erratic behavior Ophelia is convinced by her father to speak to him. He enters her room and utters one of the most famous lines in the history of plays - 'To be or not to be.' There have been many many interpretations of this line, and essays written on it. But in one sentence one can say - should I just live on, let things continue as they are or should I do something, take some action that will finally reveal the true face of Claudius to my mother? Should I destroy what she has today to avenge the past?
A group of actors visit Elsinore, and Hamlet persuades them to recreate the scene of King Hamlet's death. He wanted to observe Cladius' reaction to the play. The name of the play is The Mousetrap. During the reenactment of his father's death, Hamlet gives a running commentary on what the scene is all about. Cladius gets up and goes away, this convincing Hamlet of his guilt. What follows is misunderstandings, tragedy and mistakes - one upon another. At the end, the stage is covered with dead bodies - including Hamlet's and Ophelia's. Their love was also killed along with them.
The method that Khushi, and along with her, Arnav and NK, have taken to reveal the true face of Shyam to the Raizada household is a tried and true method. This has been done hundreds of times before. Hamlet was written somewhere before 1603 and it was not even an original play, that is, Shakespeare got the idea from somewhere else!
The parallels to Hamlet and IPKKND (at this point) are easily drawn. One can see that conflicted soul in ASR. He has not been contributing to the plan, just supporting it, so far. He knows it has to be done. Yet he cannot bring himself to destroy his sister's happiness - a sister that he truly is devoted to. A sister that holds the place of his mother (Gertrude) in his life today. But he is loth to take action.
Like Hamlet, ASR too has the love of a beautiful woman in his life - a woman that is beautiful inside and out.
The only comparison I can draw between Ophelia and Khushi is that Ophelia went mad and Khushi is called Sanka Devi. The comparison ends there! While Ophelia died inside when her father died, Khushi rose up. Every challenge that has come her way, she has stood up and faced it - either confronted it head on, or borne it through her silence, until she cannot bear it. Then she turns into a lioness. It is she who has come up with a plan to unmask Shyam. It is she who has come up with the details. It is she who has recruited NK to help them. And finally, it is she, who has convinced ASR that this is the only way to do it.
Her plan is beautiful in its simplicity. Recreate each of the scenes that led to the murder of the baby. The shards of glass, the abortion pills, the electric shock. Psyche him and put the fear of God into his heart. He has walked into the lion's den of his own free will. Now let the lioness have her little game with him before the lion can pounce.
Shyam on the other hand, has one big fear. Fear of exposure. He has not left anything to chance this time around. He has not left any evidence of his misdeeds. So these incidents are unnerving him, but will they rouse his guilty conscience as Hamlet hoped it would do to Claudius?
Her little speech to ASR is one of the best that she has had in a long time. The wise Khushi makes an appearance here. She understands her husband's inner conflict, and gives him the courage to stay firm on the course he must take. She takes away his guilt by telling him that evil needs to be punished, and the faster it happens, the better for all of us. Khushi has donned the mantle and taken up the arms in this battle. But for it to succeed, she needs Arnav to be with her, support her and actively participate. She needs him to step up to the battle.
'It's no use your glaring at me, and shrugging you shoulders and saying What The. You have to do something!' she had told him.
Now she tells him why he must do something. Because this is justice, it is not just for him but for also for his sister and her unborn baby. It will hurt, yes, but then the healing can begin sooner. It's not that she does not understand how much this will hurt Di, but NK - ever the trusted guide helps her see that this must be done. And so she forwards the message to ASR. This needs to be done.
For Arnav, its a decision that is a 'not to be.' He has still been wavering between 'I don't believe this is going to work' and participating reluctantly (hence his bad acting) so far. He watches his sister's happiness as she shows off the scarf she has knitted for her husband and was going to gift it to him on their anniversary, the next day. It is breaking his heart to do what he must. It is Khushi's final words to him bring him to his decision point. We will unmask him. I will do it. He doesn't say 'We' will do it. Finally he is ready for the face-off. His moral dilemma has been resolved and now he knows there is no going back.
A word of caution to those planning vengeance or retribution. Shyam and Dadi both wanted their plan to work. Both thought they had a fool proof method for tearing Arnav and Khushi apart. But both had missed out on one big factor. For their plan to succeed, they NEEDED Arnav to reject Khushi. Arnav was not someone they controlled - he was the variable in their equation. They did not know and did not factor in his love for Khushi, a deep undying love that would not let him leave her side, that wouldn't let him think of living without her.
So also with Khushi and Arnav. They have also laid a plan out. Yes, it is beautifully simple. Psyche Shyam and Shyam will confess. Notice that it is always Arnav - the level headed business man who always questions that one factor. Will Shyam confess? Will this be enough to make Shyam confess? Because slipping up and being caught in lies is one thing. Doubt can be cast upon it. This both Khushi and Arnav have experienced first hand. So Arnav, with the training he has and his ability to find loopholes (technically speaking) has seen the big one in Khushi's plan. It DEPENDS on Shyam's behavior for its success. A confession is only possible when the confessor has a conscience that tells him right from wrong. Shyam so far has showed he has none. So it will have to be the fear of exposure that drives something out of him.
Khushi's plan can drive Shyam to the edge of the cliff, but will he fall or will he find a safe ledge? Neither of them talk of the possibility of failure, but they both know that it exists.
They know that if the outcome is not what they are hoping for, then there will be major repercussions for both of them. The biggest being that they will lose Di's trust. The last time she had taken a long time to be friends with Khushi again. This time, if the plain failed, it could be worse. The entire Raizada household would be torn apart once more. And Shyam would still be in their lives, this time more aware, more alert and more dangerous.
They cannot afford failure.
As Arnav gets ready to go to work, passing by the living area, Mamiji throws out a challenge to NK. 'Agar dimaag hai to chaal chalo' - Make your move if you have the brains! A challenge to Shyam? So far he has not made a single move, as he has been at the mercy of Khushi's plans since he was forced to remove the cameras.
Khushi needs Arnav by her side as she makes the final preparations for the grand reveal. To make Arnav stay at home, she concocts a story about their first outing - which no body believes at all. I am sure they had a vision of Khushi in those days, in a constant battle with Arnav. There is one person in the whole group who understands that Khushi has something else going through her mind - one of her sanka plans. And that person is her sister, Payal. Payal gives a smile that tells, hmmm.. I wonder, what are you really planning, Khushi? It's not just to keep him home and er...ummm...
Arnav is equally baffled at this 'outing'. But since they can't go out, he brings it in to her. Her favourite foods, and a sari, hand picked by him for her. He knows the stress she is under. He understands that while this is about helping his sister to see the true face of Shyam - on some level, she also needs it for herself, because she has also been hurt at Shyam's hands, and for her husband - who was almost killed by him.
She, seeing her husband's concern and love for her, recreating their imaginary first date becomes emotional. They hug each other. They know that tomorrow is a tougher day. But right now, they have each other to have and to hold. The dream date has been recreated successfully. Will the other recreation be a success too?
Tomorrow is another day. Will it be - as Mami said to NK - 'Check and Mate' for Shyam?
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Edited by GirlOfFire - 12 years ago
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