Friends, today's episode was not the kind of episode one should look at in isolation. It was a kind of bridge episode, aiming to galvanise the the momentum of the "pregnancy track" and take it towards a fever pitch by tomorrow perhaps. I expect that tomorrow will see things escalate to a state where something drastic will have to be done, and thereby the remedial actions of Jalal may start surfacing by Friday. Perhaps the final solution to the whole issue may come only by early next week!
Meanwhile, as of today, anger and hurt was seen building up in Jalal and Jodha, even as Maham began to scent trouble between them and looked for an opportunity to exploit the situation ... but simultaneously it also looked like someone else (not Maham) was an active culprit aiming to contaminate the food and milk of Jodha to keep her pregnancy-like symptoms alive! This someone could be the actual "brain behind the plan" while Maham remains just an "exploiter of the available circumstances".
One of the best parts of the episode for me was the hint we got of the likely involvement of Salima in this track, who till now has been a relatively quiet bystander to events at the palace. If this track has some vital role for Salima to come to Jalal's aid with information and some clues, I will be very happy, for I like her character immensely and have always wanted her role to be a little heavier in the story.
Anyway, here's a pick of three topics that I think shaped today's episode ...
Jalal and Jodha: I felt very, very sad and sorry for these hurting souls
Yesterday Jodha came to Jalal's room and said her long piece about how much she hated the fact that he had taken advantage of her unconsciousness to trangress the promises he had made. Jalal instead of voicing his doubts on Jodha's infidelity in front of Ruq (and looking like he was being cuckolded), chose instead say that he had promised not to do anything, but then Jodha was not in control of herself that night, leading perhaps to this pregnancy now!
Today when the episode opened, the distaste of yesterday's conversation seemed to linger with Jalal as he and his family watched some qawwali singers perform, in the company of the visiting Maulana who had come to bless them. All through the performance, Jalal looked like his blood pressure was slowly and steadily building up to a dangerous level. He kept up fake smiles at the people around but couldn't help his occasional accusatory dagger-like glances at Jodha - who also looked like she was ready for a hateful-eyed staring match!
Then the Maulana made them both hold hands under a holy chaddar and say prayers thanking God for "the blessings of the child, their marriage and their love". Jalal got through the prayer OK, but when it was Jodha's turn to say the words "marriage" and "love" the sarcastic smirks from Jalal were barely hidden! He was all scorn and derision!
Hardly had the prayers been done, than he strode into Jodha's room imperiously and just directly attacked her with the question: "Who is he, this man with whom you've been having an affair and become pregnant by?" He further added: "I said nothing before Ruq yesterday about all this, but I demand answers now!" Shocked speechless, Jodha held up her hand to stop him from going further, and said "Bas!" with all the fury she could command. She then hit back saying he was the man who had taken advantage of her annd made her pregnant. She said he was dithering and betraying his own culpability. He had first said he slept with her that night, then he had said he didn't, and again yesterday before Ruq he had said he did, and now he was saying again he didn't!
Jalal however held his anger about the "affair" swearing vengeance on the man whom she had slept with, while she pulled all stops to say she was a Rajvanshi and she could not ever be accused doing something that would blot the Rajvanshi code of honour. Jalal was so consumed with what he wanted to say, and so was Jodha, that they hardly heard each other properly. No argument of the one made any sense to the other. Accusations flew thick and fast. By the time they were done, I thought I saw not just anger in his eyes and her eyes, but both had unshed tears of deep hurt.
I felt very, very sad folks to see these two people so at odds ... both unable to reach out to the other, deeply affected by the cheapening content of those wild mutual accusations and both being unable to offer proof to soothe the nerves of the other.
My heart feels very heavy today, because I cannot bear to see people hurt so much inside, and all that fury and harsh language could not hide their hurt from my eyes. I feel like saying to them both: "Jodha and Jalal, please for heaven's sake, cool down and try to make sense of all this as a team! There are too many people looking to split you up before you've even begun to find yourselves and each other! Don't become such easy fodder!"
The Maham angle: character assassination to bring down Jodha
While Jodha and Jalal were well into their slanging match, there was Maham lurking behind the curtains doing what she was best at: eavesdropping. What she heard confirmed the suspicions she had been having all evening that something was not okay in the Jodha-Jalal relationship. Now she knew what exactly the problem was. Jalal said he hadn't slept with Jodha. The midwife said Jodha was pregnant. Put two and two together and you get four hundred... in other words, Jodha must have been indulging in an affair, and that was what was biting Jalal!
Maham wasted no time in getting Resham to summon the Khwaja Sera post-haste to her room - the same quack that had diagnosed Jodha's pregnancy. She began by asking the Khwaja Sera if she was dead sure it was a pregnancy? The Khwaja Sera swore on her years of experience and loyalty to the palace. Maham then asked again: "I hope you're not in the pay of someone to say all this? For if you are up to some hanky-panky, your head will be soon rolling." The Khwaja Sera still maintained she was kosher. Maham then asked her to name the symptoms she had found on Jodha to confirm pregnancy and here was the big joke of the evening: the Khwaja Sera said she found Jodha irritable and breathless! For God's sake! Is that the best they could do in those days? Anyway Maham herself thought it was too little proof perhaps, for she then asked "Which month is Jodha on?" and the Khwaja Sera said Jodha was on her first month.
Whether Maham believed in the Khwaja Sera's diagnosis is still not clear but she sure found the diagnosis invaluable for exploitation - for in the last one month Jodha had been to Amer and back and could be suspected to have done anything with any man there!
From what transpired today I am personally convinced that Maham may not herself be the "brain behind the plan" of this pregnancy story. But Maham did look like she had been handed a hand-grenade to throw into the crowd to get a great "scandal" going. She decided that the person to not alert in this case was Jalal, because her game was going to be to "shame Jodha" in public. She gave some mute instructions to Resham, but it was not hard to guess (seeing the precap) that the idea was to "character-assassinate Jodha" and then pretend to be Jodha's friend and offer to douse the flames. Hamida in the precap is also seen to be telling Jodha there was no more place for her in the palace or at Agra ... which suggests that Hamida has bought into the scandalous story, and she now believes the worst of Jodha!
The culprit angle: milk tampering to enhance Jodha's symptoms
So if Maham is not the "brain behind the plan" then who is? Spoilers told us two days ago that Sharif would fan the rumours ... and so we thought Maham or someone else may be the originator of the plan (if at all there was a plan and not a simple misdiagnosis). But now it looks like Maham and Sharif may have swtiched places. Sharif may well be the "brain behind the plan" and Maham the rumour-fanning agent!
Anyway the henchwoman of the plan originator (a hooded person) was seen in the kitchen today adding something suspicious to a jug of milk. Salima came to the kitchen to fetch milk for Rahim and almost at the same time Moti was there too to get milk for Jodha. Salima thought she heard something when the hooded lady ran to take cover behind some stacks of provisions. When Moti was about to pick up the "contaminated glass of milk" Salima, alert to the the treacherous ways of this palace, decided to taste-test the milk going to Jodha. As she took a spoonful of milk, the hooded lady was seen hitting her forehead in dismay! Then Salima declared the milk to be okay and took another glass for Rahim. Somewhere in the glass going for Jodha or the glass going for Rahim, it looks like a mixup is about to happen. Maybe tomorrow Salima may betray the same pregnancy-like symptoms of Jodha (from that spoonful of milk she took) or else Rahim may have the symptoms if the contaminated glass went to him.
Either way Salima could be in possession of some vital clues about milk contamination, pregnancy-like after-effects of the milk, and her suspicions of the person hiding in the kitchen. If Salima carries all this to Jalal it could put Jalal on the scent to chase down the plan originator and silence the scandal-fanner.
If the Maulana is still going to be at the Agra palace as all this happens, he may well do a re-examination of Jodha's symptoms and say she is not pregnant. As always the evil ones will look lily-white in the end, and the palace will go back to its usual pace, while Jodha and Jalal will have to pick up the pieces of their broken trust in each other.
My two questions at this time are this:
Web Series
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
Love Friendship Dating and Relationships
