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After watching the episode and reading through the discussion so far, there are just two points that I want to discuss.
The first is Aarti's characterisation, which I think is absolutely beautiful... painful to watch and experience, yes, but not butchered in the least. In fact the CVs sometimes baffle me with how consistent they are in the details. When everything else fails to make sense and she takes a decision that could be wrong, Aarti turns to the one constant in her life: God. How many times have we seen her proclaim, "mere ishwar jaante hain..." (my lord knows...), in justifying claim to the innocence of her intentions and actions? She has not seen much justice in her life, nothing that has happened has been fair. She is a kind and principled person who throws herself mind, body, and soul into any relationship she enters, and what has she got to show for it but abandonment and loneliness? It isn't fair and it is enough to make anyone hugely angry at the world. But not Aarti, and the reason for that is her faith. She has this unshakable belief that god knows about her intentions and for that reason will make everything right in the end, and if things are not right, it is not the end! It is this faith that gives her the resilience that we see in her.
And yet, unfortunately, it is this same faith that allows her to justify a lot of her actions in the present. Because "her god" knows that she did it for honourable reasons, she sort of expects things to come right in the end, no matter the decision she is forced to take in the present moment. Here, she very well knows that it is wrong for her to take Ansh for the BMT and yet she justifies lying to Yash by confessing before god, the only person who she feels listens to her without judgment. It reminded me of that scene after the reunion when Aarti and Yash are praying, which irks me to this day. Aarti thanks god and claims that it is her faith and devotion that brought Yash back to her. This clearly showed that she still did not trust Yash; she trusted her faith and the justice of "her ishwar," the same sensibility that is even allowing her to lie to Yash today. She sees Yash as a "blessing" with relation to her still, not really as his own person, which is why she keeps him on a pedestal. For Yash to break out of this image, he has to do something that is outside Aarti's conception of divine justice... which I imagine will happen when he finds everything out and accepts her in spite of it, when she is ready to be abandoned yet again.
The emotions and confusions that Aarti is facing now are so complex that it is hard to even understand her adverse reactions to the entire situation. Prashant's life hangs in the balance, and she will do whatever it takes to save him, taking no unnecessary risks in the process, which is what telling Yash would entail. Sure, she is underestimating Yash's humanity and his generosity to help people, but if she has overestimated him, it will cost Prashant his life and at no cost does Aarti want that to happen. It is not a simple situation with right and wrong clearly demarcated. Of course it is wrong to keep this from Yash and undermine his role as Ansh's father and her husband, but it would also be wrong if in her insistence to tell Yash, she allowed Prashant to die. Of course she should have told him when there was still time, but she didn't and the situation stands where it is now, where she had choose between these two horrible outcomes. I love that this is causing us to question what Aarti's love for Yash actually means, when the spotlight is on her and not Yash.
I also loved the little scene with Palak and Payal. I know a lot of people are disappointed that Aarti was shouting at them, but to be this was so natural and real. She is in a stressful situation, I agree, but I do not believe her sternness with Palak was at all misplaced. You can't always be best friends with your kids; sometimes you have to be the bad guy for their own good and Palak was being a bit of a brat, testing her boundaries as kids do all the time. Aarti was being a good parent by strongly enforcing those boundaries, saying that Palak could not skip school simply on a whim. To her credit, she tried to reason with Palak first, saying they would have ice cream another day but only when Palak insisted did she take on a slightly harsher tone. But it is left to wonder why Palak was being so insistent and that reminded me of the scene when Aarti and Yash were separated after the kidnapping and Palak saw Aarti and Ansh eating ice cream together. I think the CVs are very subtly hinting at Palak's lingering fear of abandonment and that is why they are showing this zidh in her; after what happened at her father's birthday, imagine how Palak feels when she sees Aarti and Ansh going somewhere together while she and Payal are sent off to school! Just to be clear, I don't think Aarti was at all wrong in her dealing here, but I think they are subliminally building up to something else with Palak and Payal.
Also, we see Bua getting desperate to undermine Aarti so much so that she is nitpicking the tiniest of interactions. That desperation is a grim foreshadowing of what is to come, because of all people, Bua will have the closest eye on Aarti from now on, looking for the smallest thing to tear apart. So when such a huge secret comes her way, you can be sure she is the first to dig it out!
Yash is such a good parent. He didn't have to come see Ansh after his vaccination, but he did because he knew that Ansh would be a little less affected by the experience if he was. He is, and has always been, Ansh's security, and today Ansh sealed the deal by saying that Yash took away all his pain when he came. The interesting thing about this whole lie really, is that though Yash might be furious at Aarti, and with good reason, it is going to make him even more possessive of Ansh, which complicates any notion he has of ending the relationship with Aarti. Isn't it ironic? Aarti was in this marriage for Ansh and Yash for Palak and Payal, and now after the truth comes out and there is a falling out between Yash and Aarti, Yash will be in the marriage for Ansh, and Aarti for the girls, whose abandonment issues are being hinted at; after they are blown open, neither Aarti nor the Scindias will be able to deny them their mother. Very interesting progress indeed!
Naagin 7
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
