(25 Feb Epi) Relative Man-ipulations

Superb episode...and wonderful characterizations and their individual emotional display!!!


Pleasures can be supported by an illusion...but happiness rests upon the truth and only the truth.

Scindias have always lived behind a veneer of tradition...living a chimera of sorts. They truly love each other yet go all delusional when a dent is made on their perfect facade...They would rather the family lives an illusiory image because...oh well...because illusions commend them to us as they save us pain and allow us to enjoy pleasure instead.

Suraj Pratap Scindia refuses to let a blot from the past mar the perfection of the imagery of togetherness that he nurtured almost all through his family life...an imagery that hides behind its front tales of deceit, oppression, bias, despotism, and lies along with those of genuine love and understanding. A well-hidden lie has been exposed...and with that the mask of perfection has been taken off...exposing stark reality. Just as that little hutment in his lawns mars the beauty of his mansion, the presence of Aakash will mar the picture of a perfect family. SP has always gone out of the way...even resorting to dubious and sly methods...to keep the family together. The family is by far his biggest achievement in life...As per him, the tradition of family has the power to hide in its folds all the blotches and splashes as also the so-called errors of past...errors made under moments of weakness. All the instances from the beginning indicate this almost-obsessive trait of SP. For instance, when he asked Aarti to leave after her lie Yash wanted to follow her, so he worked around his own ruling and exiled them inside the house.

As and when the family have stood against him (whether for Aarti's return into the family or Pari's release), SP has worked the situations to his advantage and come out stronger and more revered. Even now he is trying to do the same. Already he has relegated his "mistake" to the background and is striking back when the iron is hot so to say...when the emotions are at their most vulnerable peak...when there's conflict between right and wrong...when there's confusion between who is family and who is not...When everyone around him stands broken, he who broke them, springs into action to gather the broken pieces and re-create the whole that once was. In his arrogance he thinks that all that is required is to buy a man's life with his silence... a thinking that Gayatri having learnt from him had already adopted once and had been rejected...Now her husband is doing the same. What a twist of fortune that while Gayatri was trying to buy off her son unknowingly...SP is doing so in full knowledge. His brilliance in playing the moves is intact when one sees him roping in Yash and making him central to all the cleaning-up ploys. Yash will soon realize that where he is now Aakash should have been...and that that 1 crore is in actuality the price of his life that he lived with this family. SP gave that pain to Yash and now he uses Yash only to erase the stigma in such a manner that when the righteous son wakes up from his painful stupor he would find his hands deep in muck and he won't be able to do anything to completely clean them. Only one person stands in complete control of herself and the situation in this post-storm havoc...and that is Aarti.

Aarti understands completely what each person is going through. She goes and stands next to Vidhi...she doesn't go on the self-blame path when Gayatri admonishes her for not upholding her duties. She doesn't walk that path any more...today she proudly walks the path of the truth and the right. And she can do so because Yash and the power of his love have given her the courage to do so. Today Aarti stands tall...stands guilt free in her self, in her entity. The fact that Yash held her hand when all the chips were down in her life has given back her self-confidence. Just as she didn't ward him away then...he won't ward her away now when she stops him from deviating from his chosen principles and ethics...She knows her husband is so vulnerable at the moment that he would do anything to regain the comfort zone of the family he loves so much. He is in dire need of the assurances that his family has not changed their stance toward him after learning of his changed identity. She sees Yash's weakness being exploited by the man who himself is trying to regain his lost respect by going for the offense. The last scene when she comes in front of her husband as the mirror to his conscience is epic. He sees himself in her eyes...his own essence reflected from her being...and it's as if his awakening has begun. The numbness of the pain is wearing off...as he gets shocks after shocks of his father's ruthlessness and coldness. Ironically, of all the three sons he is the one who is so attuned to his mother's pain. When Pankaj is focused on following his babuji's orders, Yash is trying to ease out his ma's pain.

Gayatri's bubble has burst...Her gentle chiding of Aarti was more of an affectionate complaint to a daughter for exposing her to the reality of her husband. Just like Yash, her life too turned into a big lie in seconds. As she looks at the son she loves the most, she is unsure whether to summon him to her or not. She sees the father and sons bonding and she doesn't know whether she belongs in that bonding or not. One thing is sure though, her viewfinder has been cleansed of all the haze and she sees her husband as he is..a human being...a man with weaknesses...not the God and not even the demigod. He will have her as his wife...yes...but he has lost her unwavering faith. She will never ever believe him.

In all this no one is really looking at Aakash and Gayatri's pain. Gayatri has suddenly been presented with a son she gave birth to...Is that knowledge enough to make her sprout maternal feelings in her? Perhaps that's what SP is playing at. He knows timing is crucial here...so he is bulldozing his way through, before any maternal or brotherly feelings start taking roots. Aakash is the one who is losing the most here. The woman who gave him birth has not extended a single gesture of acceptance...and the woman who stole him and reared him is showing clear preference for Yash.


That's it friends...SP has two women pitted against him at the moment...Aarti and Ishita...the intents of both are same...only the paths differ!!

Have a nice day All.😊

wow its lovely and very beautifully put

Lovely post, as always, dear Indu. This is a beautiful piece of writing that really sums up the salient themes of the track right now. Thank you for writing this. Om shantih.

Superb piece, Indu!

Since it was Suraj's mistake, why didn't he deliver the $$$$$$$$$$ himself?? Why is Yash always being used as a scapegoat?If he refuses, I sympathize with Aarya who will have to suffer the consequences for Suraj's evil intentions! Awesome analysis dear!

Great analysis, loved the relentless unraveling of each character's machinations and motives. I beg to differ on one point only, I didn't see SP's using of Yash as an effort to embroil him in muck but rather as an attempt to make it obvious to his favorite son his true worth. No, not the one crore, but the fact that SP is ready to turn his other son away for Yash's sake, this is SP's prayaschith of sorts, his apology to Yash. What SP does not realize in his arrogance is that he owes an apology to Gayatri and to the son he is spurning without a second thought.

You are so right, the one that is most wronged here is Akaash, by Radha (the switching of babies in itself), SP, Gayatri, and the rest of the family as well. Now to add insult to injury, Yash is bringing him the money to buy him off! All points to a villain in the making with a perfect accomplice, his spouse, Ishita.

agree, superb n lovely and very beautifully analysis

Indu simply brilliant 👏👏👏 .. I wrote a similar take on Illusion yesterday ... Its like entire Scindia family was living in a bubble which suddenly has burst because of Aarti and now that everyone is forced to face the bitter reality , they simply want to get rid of the reality itself by bribing them ... Scindia family r so high with their family prestige that they will prefer a false illusionary happy world over a bitter reality even if its at the cost of compromising on few blood relations ...

Whether its SP or Gayatri ., they all prefer living in a bubble forever and r just not ready to face the reality whereas when it comes to Yash , he is like a confused soul where on one hand he dont want to loose these 30 yr old relationships and on other hand he is finding it extremely difficult to compromise on his principles to keep these relationships intact and this is where Aarti comes to his rescue I feel by being his inner-conscience showing him the right route

Originally posted by: Zetter

Awesome, Pal 👏 👏 👏...true two woman are against SP one who is trying to save her family and bring them all together (Aarti) and Ishita the one who wants to destroy the family by instigating her husband...I loved how Radah reprimanded her fo not seeing Aakash's pain even though the former made a blunder herself when she showed preference towards Yash but I know she loves Aakash as well but he doesn't really feel it cause of all the anguish he is going through 😭

And just like Aakash, Yash is going through a tough time as well...he is afraid of losing his dear ones and is extremely happy when they tell him that nothing will change but what does SP do after that he asks his won to compromise his principles and the one person, who speaks up is the one who draws her strength from Yash...Aarti 👏

Those two are each other's reflection so when they silently look at one another, they understood what the other one was saying without words 😳 😳

Gayatri, Aakash and Yash are the ones that are being the most affected by all this mess 😔

Thanks Zet...Yup, one's heart goes out to Aakash. The blood son of SP and Gayatri was fated to turn to petty crimes to survive and listen to taunts and barbs by the upholders of society. And now when his parentage is established...his birthgivers turn the other way. What could be more tragic than this?