Balloons, Bandages, and Veils

The post TRP episodes of PV have definitely picked up pace, which is a very good thing, and also promise none of the heavy dose of moroseness of the previous tracks. However, with this development, the storyline is more "in your face" now, and battle lines are etched as strict divides that cannot be easily crossed. I miss the nuanced characterization, the layered shades of grey, and the aesthetic flair of the plot that used to be rife with all kinds of paradoxes, ironies, poetic justice, and subtle symbolism.

Still, today's episode had a few suggestive nuances of old that I wish to explore. What stood out were the balloons. Balloons represent soaring hopes and dreams that are in themselves short-lived as they are bound to burst. In PV, the appearance of balloons in recent episodes have always been ominous, and openly suggestive of the presence of Prashant. The first time we got to see a plethora of balloons was in the surprise date of Yash, which was eerily choreographed to the last detail by a voyeuristic and shady Prashant causing Arati to be visibly distressed. During Yash's love confession, too, the balloons were in abundance, and one of them with an arrow pointed the way to a disastrous and painful end rife with confusion and sorrow between Yash and Arati.

Today also, the appearance of the soaring balloons signalled Prashant's escalating threat to Arya's new found peace and happiness. Even as Arya purchased all the balloons, repatriating the child-laborer with his childhood, their own children were soon losing their innocence, and being forced to grow up too quickly. It is not surprising that Ashant and Ansh drove by the Arya balloon scene, without either seeing or being seen. Ansh, for the second day in a row was getting mixed messages about his sense of trust and loyalty. He was being exposed to too much information about his mother, and was trying to assimilate his father's supposed neglect of him. He was also being obligated to "pay back" the kindness of a stranger --a trait that is seen more in adults than in children. After returning home and realising what had happened, Yash, who had purchased the balloons with such enthusiasm could not even finish showing PayPal what he had got for them before little Palak had to grow up, rising to the occasion instantly, and assuring her parents that she and her little sister would be fine, and that they should go in search of Ansh.

Prashant's "rescue" of Ansh, as Abby has already pointed out, speaks poorly of the security of the best school in Bhopal, where the same child was essentially kidnapped twice. Further, as some people have already noted, who takes a child with a sprain to a park to walk around and play, and do "khub sari masti?" Only a maniac, which Prashant definitely is. However, it would have helped the plot to show Ansh continue to writhe and cry in pain and calling out to his mother and father, rather than walking around with the bandaged leg, and being brainwashed by Ashant. But here too, there is a layered meaning --the bandage really represented a bondage between Ansh and Prashant, a strained and wounded relationship of obligation, deceit, control, and exploitation, rather than the spontaneous expression of trust and friendship that it started out to be in Lalitpur. Bondage comes with the words "me" and "mine." When Prashant first met Ansh, he was still processing that this was his child that he had abandoned years ago, and hence he could briefly enjoy him for what he was, not for what he could be to him --a prestige issue, and a support for his loneliness.

Finally, the veil slipping from Arati's head at the end was a nice touch. I like that someone suggested that this happened because SP no longer deserves respect. I would take this further and say that the slipping veil symbolized a narrative of displacement. The mask of the patriarch was beginning to unravel along with his emerging peevishness. When SP behaved with heartless vengeance against his own son, his public image that he holds with pride outside the house --showing himself to be generous, kind, and compassionate, without necessarily being generous, kind, or compassionate-- slipped away in the form of Arati's veil, laying bare his lower nature --sarakti jaye hai rukh se naqab ahista ahista. Thank you for reading.

great take. especial the symbolism of the veil siipping. High time for Yash to c his fatherr dark side

Nice analysis

I love ya take...

Wow loved your analysis. All three of them

Awesome piece of writings! 👏👏👏 Beautifully written.. Good Job! 👍🏼