Geet's Character Analysis
Hi guys,
I got this PM from Rachana which I want to share with you all. It gives a wonderful insight into Geet's character. Warning, it is a little lengthy discussion, so read it if interested.
Rachana's Question / POV
I love Maan and his sincerity and honesty in this FF. I feel for Geet. I am completely in sync with her innocence and naivety in this FF. Even after being through what she has been through, the fragrance of her innocence and purity surrounds her aura and it has been embedded in her being.
But working with women who go through abuse, etc. I do have a bit of a concern/judgement/feminist view in regard to Geet and her vision towards Maan.
I feel that she has placed Maan on a pedestal which is so high that is crosses the boundaries of self-respect and self-worth in today's world. She is overly grateful and almost has a tunnel vision towards him with no sense of doubt.
I am grateful that Maan is what he is in this FF. But my fear/judgement/criticism lies in the thought that - what if Maan was not what he is! What would happen to Geet's worship of Maan's character?
What would it lead? I come from my own biases here and hence feel that in an ideal world it would be impossible to have such a sense of faith, trust, etc. at this level towards a man. I can understand if it comes at a level later where things have been intimate, where both individuals have faced the rocky storms of the ravaging seas and have held on to each other and not let go of each other.
But at this stage I feel that it could lead to a recipe of disaster.
My response / POV
When I visualized Geet, I envisioned a girl who had never felt love before. Not only did her in-laws ill-treated her and she suffered mental as well as physical trauma but she never found love even in her joint family before marriage. Her parents tried their best but it was always too little and too late.
So I wondered that when such a girl, who has always been taught to listen to elders, to bear brunt of men's atrocities quietly and never to dream leave alone make them a reality, will behave when she meets a man who is very different from anyone she knows. A man who is not only full of principles like her daarji but is also a man with compassion. A man who not only has power like her brother Brij but also encourages women to progress. Someone who sees her as a person, as an equal and gifts her those dreams which she had stopped seeing.
For Geet Maan is a very different man. I tried to bring in a strong boss who taught her to work followed by a fair person who took care of Rahul. But how will she view the man who made her dream of studying a reality. That too without being overbearing and telling her what to do instead asking her to choose.
To me, a girl like Geet will definitely see that man as an angel of God only. Someone who is not only her savior but beyond that.
Now coming to this being a recipe for disaster and what if Maan was not the man he was. I again agree with your POV here. Not many noticed or commented but Meera asked the same question to Geet ' "What if he has an ulterior motive?". Geet discards the thought because she has started trusting Maan, mainly because he always asked her choice and never expected anything in return. There are many in this world who do favors but then try to harass under the name of same favor. Maan was always careful for example a) He asked her to do case on KC by highlighting KCs liability b) He made her sign contract of future work while giving her scholarship. He from his side never took it as a favor and hence Geet was even more able to put him on that pedestal.
But still there is a big problem. How does one accept that they are in love with a person who is considered so good and Godlike? This is the next phase of the story and will probably answer those questions. Not giving away too much I will only say that Meera plays an important role here. Her interaction with Maan is just starting but you will find a big difference in the way Meera handles her relationship with Maan or for that matter even with Geet. Meera was loved by her family till the incident. She grew up more confident and hence was the first one to question Maan's intentions. Geet is always thanking and asking sorry from Maan / Daadima whereas Meera has quickly accepted not only Geet but Maan too. She does zidd with her elder sister and accepted Maan's gift quietly as a brother's blessing. She quickly accepted him as a brother and started behaving like a younger sister.
The reason for this difference in behavior is to highlight that how difficult it is sometimes for a girl to move ahead from trauma even when the environment is conducive of it. Life long sensibilities drilled into her makes it easy for her to empathize with other girls, identify with Meera's pain and appreciate love given by Maan and Daadima. But when it comes to her moving ahead she is not ready. She will be first one to convince another widower to move ahead but she herself thinks to be a worthless person. It is easier to preach then to practice.
She always maintained that she has no right to love. She is a bad omen and is of no use. She is suffering from very low esteem and thinks herself no where worthy of any man leave alone Maan.
That is the next challenge for Meera and Maan to make her realize that Maan's happiness lies with Geet and she is not worthless but priceless because she has a heart big enough to provide love and color to anyone's life be it a broken person like Maan or battered one like Meera.
Only when she will realize that, she will be able to accept her feeling truly and move forward with Maan in a relationship'.not follow him but as his equal and alongside him.
As I said this is yet to come and I hope I will be able to do justice with this part.
Rachana's response
I agree on your POV as well. Being brought up with values and beliefs of obedience, submission, fear, repression, etc. Geet's life has basically been a journey of traumas one after the other.
But, do you think that a person who was moulded the way the world wanted to mould her, would have the ability and the thought process to even look out of box per say. To look out of what view she has been brought up with all along.
If she has the belief and if she has seen life a certain way, when she met Maan - her thoughts would have stopped there too. Yes, she can try and question and wonder why is this particular species of male is unique and different to the ones whom she has been in contact with and is accustomed to in her life.
I guess now that I am reflecting more, there is no right or wrong. It is what it is in that present moment. Whatever Geet could think of, feel of and experience of at that moment for Maan became real for her and if he is Godlike for her than, yes he is Godlike for her.
Going back to recipe of disaster part - "Trust". Once broken or crushed can take years to get built back to a certain degree. If Geet's trust has been broken or if she has been unable to put that trust in others due to her past - can it be so easy for her to trust Maan.
Intellectually, yes she can say Maan is a good person, but a person's subconscious patterns always overshadows the intellect. Due to her past experiences, her fight or flight would always be triggered in terms of any level of trust whether male/female.
I am curious to know more about how Meera and Maan's relationship will come up and would love to see the effect of it on Geet.
I agree with the worthlessness part here. It takes a lot of healthy ego for a person to gain back their inner power. It is a journey which is ongoing specially for trauma survivors. It happens one step at a time. Right now Geet is solely focused externally. She is trying to fulfill her pot of worth by helping our externally. Her worth will start to build once she starts to fill her pot of worth from the inside. Only when you see the beauty inside of you - a caterpillar turns into a butterfly.
My Reply
No, it was definitely not easy for her to trust. If you remember in the beginning, Maan was all lost in her but she was just professional. It was Rahul's incident which made her realize how Maan was for the first time.
Also, i know that I am yet to divulge the past but though Daarji / Brij were strict and finally betrayed her but she grew up in the environment where there harshness was accepted. I have not divulged any details yet on how her husband was but it was her in-laws which instilled this worthless feeling along with abuse. For her it is more of issue of her self-respect and self-worth compared to trust. She has not gone through any long physical abuse but mental harassment which has made her issues a little different. But as you said, it will not be easy. That is why even after realizing her feelings; Geet's first reaction is going to be denial. But Maan and Meera along with another important character will make her understand what she means to Maan and what is her ability and role in his life.
Also, she naturally has this rebellious streak. Her initial insistence to be independent was all about that. But her self confidence is still shaky and as you said, she focuses externally and what is required is her internal focus on realizing her self worth. Btw, I just loved your comparison to caterpillar turning into a butterfly – it is a beautiful metaphor...
Edited by ritzy09 - 12 years ago
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