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Why I think Prateek Will Come Through for Yash
Prateek is the only Scindia who took Yash's word that he would never marry after Arpita seriously, he is the only one who really understood the depth of Yash's grief and the only one who has given us glimpses of Yash and Arpita's relationship, outside of Yash's own memories. This is why he put forth his condition, because as long as Yash did not find a companion, Prateek sort of vowed to be his companion and take care of him.
Prateek was also keenly aware that Yash did not need just any girl, who would cower in a corner at one of his infamous glares, he needed someone like Prateek himself who could take all the glares from those big eyes in stride and barge into his heart for all of it. And one fine day he met the endearing Gundi and her hockey stick, heard how she dealt with his brother and made him back down and thought to himself...hey, this is THE ONE!
Again, he was the one that told Yash about Gayatri's condition regarding Ansh. And he was the one that faced willingly Yash's wrath over the Arpita name issue. No matter how Yash tries to push people away, Prateek is always coming back and always trying to make sure that he is happy. Even though it was misplaced, you can't deny that he spent time on his own wedding night, trying to make it special for his brother and Aarti.
Even when Yash did not, he took responsibility for bringing Aarti to this house and genuinely had a friendship with her. He got around the name change by coming up with his own special endearment of Gundi Bhabhi and there was a lovely friendship forming there.
And now long after Vidhi and Pankaj have gone silent he continues to reason with his father, asking him if this is hasty, if it is right.
He genuinely cares about Yash to his very core and that I hope is what is going to make him tell, what makes him the right person to tell Yash what really happened. What is more, in Aarti he has found a kindred spirit who cares or at least has the potential to care for Yash just as much as he does. Even after being thrown out of the house, she does not take offense and calls to make sure he is ok. For her it is all about Yash and that is just what Prateek wants for his brother. He has a beautiful love and admiration for Yash and an all-consuming desire to right the injustice the universe has done to his "perfect" big brother. And I am confident that he will come through!
Episode Analysis
Bua played a clever but dirty game with reverse psychology. I was astounded at how minutely she applied pressure onto the exact part of both Yash and Aarti's hearts where it would hurt the most and get them to do anything she said. But what she did to Yash was downright cruel. By working the reverse psychology on him, she basically demanded that he prove his love for Arpita, something that she knew he would go any lengths to do. And Yash, being the passionate lover that he is, rose to the challenge and bit the bait. It makes me sad actually because Bua reads people so well that she could work wonders if she put her super powers to positive use. She understands in so much detail how the Arpita dynamic works between Yash and Aarti and milks it dry to her convenience from both ends! And unlike SP and Gayatri, she is not clueless, she knows very well that she is ruining Yash's life by destroying this marriage and she is taking great satisfaction in that fact. SP was sitting there looking like a cat who had swallowed a canary, when his sister played the game to perfection but little does he know that she was silently declaring, checkmate in her head.
I liked the significance of the fact that she didn't get the kangan back from Aarti, she had to take them by force. So to me it was like Aarti saying, it was Yash's right to give these to me and it is his right to take them away, but it is my choice whether to give them to you or not. I know it is a technicality but it is an important one that Yash is upset that Aarti "gave the kangan back" but she didn't. They were taken from her, the same way she didn't give this marriage back, it was taken from her. And she is smart enough to figure Bua out...but is utterly flabbergasted by the signed divorce papers.
Even though I was hoping Prateek would speak up, I am okay with the fact that he didn't because it would have really set Yash into a frenzy, or on the other hand made him even angrier, assuming that he thought Prateek was lying to him. Also, I think it was in a way good that he gave Yash a chance to vent, to release the one fear that has been playing on his mind. Maybe fate has ordained that he is not meant to have happy relationships, neither with Arpita nor with Aarti. It broke my heart and I just wanted to scream into the TV, no Yash, it's not fate. It is those poor excuses for human beings that you call Ma and Bauji!
But if that was heart break then the scene with Aarti and the divorce papers was heart SHATTER. Why, she asks, why does this always happen to me? She put her trust into this relationship, a bit late yes, but she overcame her fears and put trust into Yash because he was the real thing and he rejected her. And it was even more shattering to hear herself accepting her "faults". I mean she was guilty of nothing more than Yash or the Scindias, forming a new relationship but living in her own world. They all needed time and understanding and nobody was willing to give her that. Of course she is going to think there is something wrong with her if an upstanding guy like Yash can betray her. Prashant was awful, he was materialistic and opportunistic but Yash wasn't. He was perfect (after that bullet wound anyway) and he was everything Ansh wanted. And if a guy like Yash who "never goes back on his decisions" can reject her, then there must be a reason, right?
I love how both Yash and Aarti do and do not sign the divorce papers under the premise, "last time cannot happen again". Yash thinks this in the sense that Aarti cannot take Arpita's place and so he has to sign the divorce papers to protect Arpita and Aarti thinks it in the sense that she cannot be abandoned again. But the sad thing is that while Yash can have the satisfaction of doing something pro active, Aarti is left with nothing, no choice, no agency and no respite...only the choice of when she finally accepts his decision, just like she had the choice when to finally accept Prashant's which she clung to until her wedding day. I hate that. Nobody gave her a choice. And that is what I love that Shobha is fighting for. Aarti's freedom to shape her own life.
The only thing that remains in Aarti's, for which she can decide is Ansh and she vows to do right by that. How can this humble viewer not fall in love with this beautiful character over and over again? She is so strong and so vulnerable, so much able to escape her pain but not able to eliminate it. She is just so wonderful!
Today Palak and Payal were just happy to have their father back I think and they wanted all of his attention. I thought it was interesting that they stopped Prateek from being able to pursue the conversation about Aarti. I think it showed that Yash's trust for Aarti has to come through them, the same way her trust for him came through Ansh. Prateek is important but he is not the right medium and it was not yet time...
Finally, something for Palak! I knew from the minute Vidhi put that coloured clip in her hair (kudos for the attention to detail!) that Palak was going to mention Aarti. This scene showed that Aarti was making progress in their lives, entering at a superficial level and then with her patience and goodness, persevering until she made a place in their hearts, the way she vowed to do the first day. She was well aware that she had not come close to winning their hearts but she was trying, until Gayatri and Yash created so many problems for Ansh all at once that she had to deal with. I also think that PayPal had more of a problem with sharing their father with Ansh than Aarti. They always seemed fine with her. In retrospect, Aarti would have had to do more to counter act what Bua and Gayatri had already done with the girls but there was no way she could know that. It is sad that retrospective vision is 20/20 which causes Aarti to blame herself.
I also loved the confusion in Palak about nayi mummy vs sauteli mummy. Her first instinct was to say nayi mummy and then when she didn't hear any response, I think she got either insecure about what she had said, thinking it was wrong, or thought that the adults didn't understand who she was talking about. So she elaborated with"sautheli" mummy. It established for me how much confusion is in the girls' minds about who Aarti really is in their lives, a confusion that only Aarti with the help of Yash could have cleared easily. It was nice to see that even Gayatri does not have the gall to lie to a child and diverted her with a mango shake.
Prateek! I knew he would come through! He just could not bear Yash's pain where his restlessness due to the Aarti issue is worse than the pain from his bullet wound so much so that he prefers the latter. Prateek gets Yash and I am so glad he told his mother off. And yes, Gayatri, he is old enough to be doing that. Something is brewing for sure at the Scindias. Hey, maybe the school meeting is arranged by them since Prateek is there!
Yash don't be fooled by Aarti's smile! She is in just as much pain, if not more, than you are! Man up and verbalise those thoughts! It was Palak who noticed Aarti, just like it was Ansh who noticed Yash the day the scooty broke down. The children are the real cupids here! It was again heart breaking to see Yash blame himself for the break down of the marriage. Not your fault guys!