The symoblic significance of Kesar

soapbubble thumbnail
19th Anniversary Thumbnail Rocker Thumbnail + 7
Posted: 15 years ago
#1
Just a few thoughts on Kesar.

Kesar is of huge symbolic interest in the serial Mann ki Awaaz Pratigya. She represents the most downtrodden of women, a woman without support, a woman without finances, a woman who does not receive emotional care, someone who does not have a voice - a section of society that is beaten, bullied, abused, used and kept around because she is sometimes a convenience. Also Kesar is significant because she does not have a way out. Her family is missing from the scene - there is no one, NO ONE, who can help her.

It is fortunately not a situation that we, the members of this forum, are in. It is impossible for us to fathom the helplessness of her situation.

Kesar observes, she stands by and notes the wrong doings - now and then she gathers the courage to mutter protest - but she is brushed aside. The Thakurs do not even pay her the compliment of keeping her out of their plottings and conspiracies. To them, she poses no threat, no danger, no importance.

Kesar, for the first time, has received some support from Pratigya. She has seen for the frist time a woman who could have been in the same position as herself reacting differently. Courage, like fear, is infectious. If one person stands up for themselves, somewhere the idea uncurls itself in other people: Maybe I can too.

Kesar stood aside when they plotted to kill Pratigya. She has not yet warned Krishna or Pratigya of this danger. She has stood mute at injustices to herself and she has stood silent at injustices being meted out to other people. But Protest is stirring within her - we have seen evidence of that here and there. She is no longer passive - she is uneasy, she is beginning to sense that whether it matters or not, she must speak up. Will she keep quiet today as well? Will she wring her hands and let Shakti go to Arushi with his bad intentions? Or will she at least run to Krishna and Pratigya and warn them of the danger to Arushi?

Because if she doesn't, Kesar too is culpable at some level.
I remember a radical decision that was given out at a panchayat in North India a few years ago. A woman was stripped and beaten in front of a crowd of people. When the Panchayat sat in justice, they punished the offenders, but they also punished the members of the village who had stood around, witnessing but doing nothing.

It is important to see what Kesar will do. Because the day Kesar starts to assert herself is the day the serial will come to its core message - Be Fearless. You might go down anyway - the fight may be too big for you, but it is important not to lie down and succumb to oppression.

Bubble

Created

Last reply

Replies

9

Views

2k

Users

8

Likes

46

Frequent Posters

tanthya thumbnail
16th Anniversary Thumbnail Trailblazer Thumbnail + 5
Posted: 15 years ago
#2

Kesar to me is like a proverbial grass, who will sway,bend,get crushed but cant be destroyed ,,,She is strong and resilient..She has borne so much without losing hope..Pratigya in her place would have cut her losses and would have packed of her bag..She is reasonable , has enormous capability for affection...she knows the right and wrong and even more importantly she knows when to interfere, when to take action, when to speak and when to stay silent...she is not brash like Pratigya !!

She has stayed in that hell for 5 years,while Pratigya has not even completed a year , already plans are made to roast her ...to me Kesar is a survivor ...
soapbubble thumbnail
19th Anniversary Thumbnail Rocker Thumbnail + 7
Posted: 15 years ago
#3

Originally posted by: tanthya


Kesar to me is like a proverbial grass, who will sway,bend,get crushed but cant be destroyed ,,,She is strong and resilient..She has borne so much without losing hope..Pratigya in her place would have cut her losses and would have packed of her bag..She is reasonable , has enormous capability for affection...she knows the right and wrong and even more importantly she knows when to interfere, when to take action, when to speak and when to stay silent...she is not brash like Pratigya !!

She has stayed in that hell for 5 years,while Pratigya has not even completed a year , already plans are made to roast her ...to me Kesar is a survivor ...



Yes, certainly a survivor. Clearly she has survived - she is not maimed or dead. A little soul shrivelled perhaps, but she has survived.
But I wouldn't take Kesar's model over Pratigya's.

And as for cutting your losses - that's another point. There is no great virtue attached to 'staying to fight' vs 'cutting your losses' - both are very worthy battle strategies, invaluable in the right context. For that matter Amma is a survivor too - albeit a VERY brash survivor. Ghanti Dadi has survived too, by deliberately silencing herself. There are many survivals - as many as there are contexts.
Bubble

Edited by soapbubble - 15 years ago
Dyehard thumbnail
15th Anniversary Thumbnail Navigator Thumbnail
Posted: 15 years ago
#4

Originally posted by: tanthya


Kesar to me is like a proverbial grass, who will sway,bend,get crushed but cant be destroyed ,,,She is strong and resilient..She has borne so much without losing hope..Pratigya in her place would have cut her losses and would have packed of her bag..She is reasonable , has enormous capability for affection...she knows the right and wrong and even more importantly she knows when to interfere, when to take action, when to speak and when to stay silent...she is not brash like Pratigya !!

She has stayed in that hell for 5 years,while Pratigya has not even completed a year , already plans are made to roast her ...to me Kesar is a survivor ...



If there is a virtue in Kesar it is that is not AMMA. She has neither that woman's natural core of venom nor has she become converted to evil within her own heart. As for the rest, it is all potential, till the day that she decides that her soul is going to have a day out in the sun. To an extent some goodness has survived. But courage is the life-blood of goodness. If you know what is right, but don't have the courage to stand for it, that is a somehow worse than those who are wholly ignorant.
Millions of women suffer oppression in exactly the effacing, meek and silent way that Kesar adopts. Some still get killed, from injuries or from direct attempts of murder. Some live on a diet of Ten-hits-per-week and still manage not to die. It is not a case of great survival tactics, but a case of hit and miss. If Kesar had been from a poorer family (apparently her Khandaan is even more powerful that the Thakur's) if her pregnancy had not been exposed in time, if Piyasiya had not gone upstairs that day, Kesar may well have been one of those misses, that you read about all the time.

You say Pratigya is Brash. You seem to indicate that the thakur's plans to roast her are actually triggered by this BRASH behaviour. Are you in all earnestness, suggesting that a more meek approach to things will ensure her not getting killed?!! That it is the fault of her tactics and not that the inherent evil of the Thakurs here? The Thakur's are very interestingly potrayed character's, but I think even the Cv's will be dismayed if they think that they might have acquired any sort of moral allegiance form the audiences.
Pratigya is not a great strategist, she does not think twice about speaking her mind if she feels the compulsion. Which is really not that often given the rot the Thakur speak and do on a daily basis. She does not know much about how to play people. (never even learnt how to play her own adoring husband) Sometimes the more naturally cautious among us might feel a frustration with her lack of fear and the fact that she thinks nothing about putting her head in a den of hyenas, but you cannot discredit her courage and straightness. That would be patently untrue.




--Hope-- thumbnail
15th Anniversary Thumbnail Rocker Thumbnail + 2
Posted: 15 years ago
#5

Originally posted by: soapbubble

Just a few thoughts on Kesar.

Kesar is of huge symbolic interest in the serial Mann ki Awaaz Pratigya. She represents the most downtrodden of women, a woman without support, a woman without finances, a woman who does not receive emotional care, someone who does not have a voice - a section of society that is beaten, bullied, abused, used and kept around because she is sometimes a convenience. Also Kesar is significant because she does not have a way out. Her family is missing from the scene - there is no one, NO ONE, who can help her.

It is fortunately not a situation that we, the members of this forum, are in. It is impossible for us to fathom the helplessness of her situation.

Kesar observes, she stands by and notes the wrong doings - now and then she gathers the courage to mutter protest - but she is brushed aside. The Thakurs do not even pay her the compliment of keeping her out of their plottings and conspiracies. To them, she poses no threat, no danger, no importance.

Kesar, for the first time, has received some support from Pratigya. She has seen for the frist time a woman who could have been in the same position as herself reacting differently. Courage, like fear, is infectious. If one person stands up for themselves, somewhere the idea uncurls itself in other people: Maybe I can too.

Kesar stood aside when they plotted to kill Pratigya. She has not yet warned Krishna or Pratigya of this danger. She has stood mute at injustices to herself and she has stood silent at injustices being meted out to other people. But Protest is stirring within her - we have seen evidence of that here and there. She is no longer passive - she is uneasy, she is beginning to sense that whether it matters or not, she must speak up. Will she keep quiet today as well? Will she wring her hands and let Shakti go to Arushi with his bad intentions? Or will she at least run to Krishna and Pratigya and warn them of the danger to Arushi?

Because if she doesn't, Kesar too is culpable at some level.
I remember a radical decision that was given out at a panchayat in North India a few years ago. A woman was stripped and beaten in front of a crowd of people. When the Panchayat sat in justice, they punished the offenders, but they also punished the members of the village who had stood around, witnessing but doing nothing.

It is important to see what Kesar will do. Because the day Kesar starts to assert herself is the day the serial will come to its core message - Be Fearless. You might go down anyway - the fight may be too big for you, but it is important not to lie down and succumb to oppression.

Bubble




that was beautiful and apt and I think you hit a bulls eye.

I think she will react slowly but surely. I don't know whowbut I have read her character in the same way as you have and noticed her quivering protests more often than before
Love-u-all thumbnail
17th Anniversary Thumbnail Rocker Thumbnail Engager Level 1 Thumbnail
Posted: 15 years ago
#6

Originally posted by: soapbubble

Just a few thoughts on Kesar.

Kesar is of huge symbolic interest in the serial Mann ki Awaaz Pratigya. She represents the most downtrodden of women, a woman without support, a woman without finances, a woman who does not receive emotional care, someone who does not have a voice - a section of society that is beaten, bullied, abused, used and kept around because she is sometimes a convenience. Also Kesar is significant because she does not have a way out. Her family is missing from the scene - there is no one, NO ONE, who can help her.

It is fortunately not a situation that we, the members of this forum, are in. It is impossible for us to fathom the helplessness of her situation.

Kesar observes, she stands by and notes the wrong doings - now and then she gathers the courage to mutter protest - but she is brushed aside. The Thakurs do not even pay her the compliment of keeping her out of their plottings and conspiracies. To them, she poses no threat, no danger, no importance.

Kesar, for the first time, has received some support from Pratigya. She has seen for the frist time a woman who could have been in the same position as herself reacting differently. Courage, like fear, is infectious. If one person stands up for themselves, somewhere the idea uncurls itself in other people: Maybe I can too.

Kesar stood aside when they plotted to kill Pratigya. She has not yet warned Krishna or Pratigya of this danger. She has stood mute at injustices to herself and she has stood silent at injustices being meted out to other people. But Protest is stirring within her - we have seen evidence of that here and there. She is no longer passive - she is uneasy, she is beginning to sense that whether it matters or not, she must speak up. Will she keep quiet today as well? Will she wring her hands and let Shakti go to Arushi with his bad intentions? Or will she at least run to Krishna and Pratigya and warn them of the danger to Arushi?

Because if she doesn't, Kesar too is culpable at some level.
I remember a radical decision that was given out at a panchayat in North India a few years ago. A woman was stripped and beaten in front of a crowd of people. When the Panchayat sat in justice, they punished the offenders, but they also punished the members of the village who had stood around, witnessing but doing nothing.

It is important to see what Kesar will do. Because the day Kesar starts to assert herself is the day the serial will come to its core message - Be Fearless. You might go down anyway - the fight may be too big for you, but it is important not to lie down and succumb to oppression.

Bubble



@ Bubble
What a nice character analysis, beautifully written. Loved it. 👏
trina_saras thumbnail
18th Anniversary Thumbnail Engager Level 4 Thumbnail + 7
Posted: 15 years ago
#7
Agreed with every word bubble. Kesar has already started to show signs of revolt, like undoing the lock on Pratigya's room and asking Pratigya to tell her sister to stay home. Her SIL has already planted the seed of rebellion, and seeds of truth within her. She knows without Pratigya her inner and outer hell will only get worse.
One DIL saying no is bad enough, but two? Kesar can threaten to destroy the SS's first grandchild, she doesn't realize what power she has.
...Binny... thumbnail
15th Anniversary Thumbnail Rocker Thumbnail + 2
Posted: 15 years ago
#8
Soapbubble 😊

I completely agree with you in fact I believe Kesar was being smart up till now she was well aware of the fact that odds were against her too many people were ready to attack her at even the slightest bit of revolt from her side. She had no support her husband was useless and the rest of the family could care less about her needs or expectations from life.

For the first time she found some courage inside of her and acted because she witnessed a women in her situation willing to fight for her rights despite the situation though she had her husbands support now Kesar has prats. She seems to keep quiet when we want her to speak but that is her nature and gradually her patience is being tested which will eventually force her to speak up against the injustices taking place in that house it has already started when she decided to go against the family in order to help prats escape because she knows the only individual who has ever given her any affection or respect in that house has been prats and she may be a bit slow to react but will not let anything bad happen to her.
Edited by Binny1247 - 15 years ago
birju4baby thumbnail
16th Anniversary Thumbnail Navigator Thumbnail
Posted: 15 years ago
#9
Very very well wriiten post ... To me .. Kesar is not a survivor .. she is a real victim .. All her life ... she has not known rebellion .. she has not known that it is not allright to treat Women like the way she has been treated .. With Pratigya around .. she has started to get some courage ... But she is still scared and confused ... The Day when Kesar stands up for herself and ... refuses to accept illtreatment will be the day when she will be survivor ...
I bet when Kesar might have complained to her parent's family .. they would have just asked her to be quiet and bare ... Because Sadly , even today in lot of families .. it is still ok for a husband to hit a wife .. Wives themselves dont mind .. they accept anything which comes from their husband .. People glorify when they see how a woman is bearing all the illtreatment and still not saying anything .. they think Women is tyaag aur sacrifice kee murat ... Allthough I believe a woman can personally bear more than a man but there are somethings which no one should bear .. no matter who it comes from .. Physical and Verbal abuse falls in that category ..
To me this serial's story should be about Kesar ... She should be the one who shud liberate as her story is the real one ... not Pratigya .. Pratigya's track has become very filmy
trina_saras thumbnail
18th Anniversary Thumbnail Engager Level 4 Thumbnail + 7
Posted: 15 years ago
#10
Do you remember when Krishna slapped Prats in front of everyone and her father dragged her back to their house? Prats' father felt dishonored by him, he wouldnt stand there and watch his daughter being rebuked. But who is there for Kesar, besides Pratigya? Pratigya is different from Kesar, in two respects. Firstly, she has an education. Secondly, her husband and family support her. Krishna once in a while gets mad but he supports her publicly. Before AND after the trial's outcome. Pratigya does nothing but think. Whereas Kesar is forbidden to do that, heck they tell her how to pray in front of the Goddess and what to ask for! The two may be bahus in that house, but their situation is different. Pratigya's power also stems from the fact that Krishna is behind her. When she returns his love, then they won't be able to object openly. They won't be able to say what kind of girl he married, because he will know then she does love him, she has nothing further to hide from him and their love is pure, unlike the other two marriages in that house. A marriage defined by victimization is not a marriage, it's a prison. And only Pratigya has ventured outside of that definition.
Edited by trina_one - 15 years ago

Related Topics

Top

Stay Connected with IndiaForums!

Be the first to know about the latest news, updates, and exclusive content.

Add to Home Screen!

Install this web app on your iPhone for the best experience. It's easy, just tap and then "Add to Home Screen".