Credit for this gorgeous banner goes to Maham (Allbut1)!
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Wonderful takes everyone! I don't have time to comment on everyone individually but here are a few thoughts from me, which have come from the various discussions.
I realise that it might be Dubey but I don't want it to be. Ask me why, because I don't think I can handle another dramatic disowning scene with Shobha's quivering lips and her holier-than-thou attitude. I just can't. Dubey with shades of grey is an entirely appealing idea, especially with Amit Thakur's range and nuance, but I just can't stand the idea of giving Shobha one more reason to think she is the best and most righteous person who ever lived, and destiny did her wrong. In fact, as you all must know by now, I am eagerly awaiting a turn of events which humbles Shobha, not one which validates everything she rigidly holds on to and fuels her self-canonisation. 😕 PLEASE.
So, SP is back in the game! 😎 What I loved most about this scene was SP's inscrutable expressions as Yash begged forgiveness. In some ways, this could be SP's continued effort at the emotional blackmail he was indulging in during the court case. Whenever Yash would try to confront him about supporting Prashant, SP would turn the whole thing on Yash and play the pained father who was merely devastated to be separation from his son and wanted Aarti, the agent of this separation to "understand his pain." This silenced Yash, though not his anger, and sent poor Aarti on a guilt trip every time and today we see that the SP who couldn't get Yash to be guilty during the trial finally managed it. He is possibly trying to play with Yash's mind by association, in a clever way:
1. He plants evidence, in the CD, that he is the kidnapper by placing that condition, knowing the evidence is stacked against him after he supported Prashant in the custody battle.
2. He knows his son's nature and that Yash will jump to conclusions, get emotional and go against his non-confrontational nature to ensure everyone knows his commitment to Aarti and Ansh when he feels it's threatened. After all this is behaviour that SP has been seeing for years in Yash with regards to Arpita's memory.
3. He then turns around and puts up the ruse of finding Ansh, pretending to do it in secret so he appears even more saintly and unselfish, i.e. He took all of Yash's taunts in stride and helped him anyway, without asking for credit.
4. He proves to Yash that though he may not look it at face value, he has his best interests at heart and loves him dearly.
5. He makes Yash guilty for ever having doubted him; the guilt erases SP's previous wrong doings with Prashant and makes Yash feel like the villain, when in fact he was totally justified in his assumption that SP was behind the kidnapping.
6. Now comes the clincher. SP is trying to instil the following reasoning in Yash's mind: I thought Bauji was against me but in fact he was helping me the whole time; I shouldn't have ever doubted him. What SP wants now is for Yash to apply this to the order to leave Aarti. "Even though I feel like Bauji is making me miserable by separating me from Aartiji, even though I feel like he is my enemy, he actually has my best interests at heart... so I should leave Aartiji because Bauji can do no wrong and I would be completely wrong to doubt his intentions."
SP has always been a stealthy player, especially when he realises he is up against something that threatens his authority. He is ready to shift the blame and walk away scot free at any given instance because he knows that power is all about keeping your eye on the bigger picture rather than the smaller battles, so I wouldn't put this kind of thing past him. And I also wouldn't put it past him to have a scapegoat at the ready; that is why I think Bua is his accomplice. In the previous post-kidnapping scenario too, she played a vital role and was the one who actually got her hands dirty while SP remained serenely diplomatic. She was the one who did the whole kangan business and also manipulated Yash into signing those papers.
So yeah, I am back to thinking it's SP. BUT, BUT, BUT what is different this time around is all the factors he hasn't considered in his power play... which will ultimately be his downfall:
1. Aarti and Yash: You can't win against people who aren't "playing the game."
If my speculations about SP wanting to plant that idea of his good intentions in Yash's mind is true [Inception, anyone?] then there is one vital factor that he is not considering: Aarti is not competing with him for Yash's allegiance as he seems to assume. SP's plan involved making Yash so ashamed that he couldn't look his father in the eye, and so indebted that he would be willing to do whatever SP proposed. However, Aarti is neatly, though unintentionally, counteracting that by erasing Yash's guilt/shame and in fact putting a totally positive twist on the whole scenario, making it about love and faith rather than accusations and conflict. If only all of the Scindias had learned the lesson Aarti taught the confused, little Palak: you don't win by finding the negative in others; you win by embracing the positive in you! Aarti made Yash win today by seeing the positivity, his respect for his father and his father's love for him, in himself and deriving confidence from that. This draws Yash closer to Aarti as evidenced by that beautiful appeal for her never to leave.
2. Maya: Opponents can only stab you in the front but allies can stab you in the back.
So this is purely based on my theory that Bua is SP's second-in-command. That is why she looks like the cat who swallowed the canary these days, especially when she is talking to Akash. But what SP doesn't know is that Bua doesn't care about him, or his ego or his honour, at all. What she cares about is her vengeance. So tomorrow if SP tries to push her off as the scapegoat then she will turn right around and give him away. She would only enjoying this because I think the idea of SP's family being torn apart at his own hands is something that satisfies her. Remember after the first kidnapping, she appeared to be doing SP's bidding as his minion but in fact was one step ahead, enjoying watching him tear apart his own son's, and therefore the family's, one shot at happiness.
3. Akash: Don't point fingers at others because three point back at you
This comes from the speculation that Akash is SP's illegitimate son. All this time his grouse against Aarti has been that she separated him from his son, but what if we find out that he managed to do that once upon a time without any help from Aarti! Yash did not abandon SP, SP abandoned Yash and it appears he did the same with Akash many years ago. So where does that place the bereaved, wronged, but righteous father SP wants to project himself as to Yash and his other sons? Akash is falling for Ansh and fast. Who knows how long he can hold out before he caves into Ansh's demands and somehow manages to return him to his parents? How he will manage this without incurring the wrath of the kidnapper is the question to be answered.
All these factors are going to come together to bring SP down from his pedestal, if he is indeed the kidnapper as I postulate today. Who knows what tomorrow may bring? 😉
Anupamaa
Cricket
