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In the space of a day, her life had changed out of all recognition. As the sun rose, Paro'd stepped into her doli a bride, and now as the sun sank, so it seemed did her fortune, for she stepped out of the police jeep a widow.
Such a dizzying reversal of fortune that she couldn't wrap her head around it. But if she was living the nightmare, than what had that other ceremony been? Had it even taken place? That's why she'd sat staring at his name hennaed into her hands, and then stood before the mirror taking in her red bridal dress, raising trembling fingers to where the sindoor hid under her tikka, holding on to her mangalsutra. And they were there - all the signs of her suhaag. Then where was he?
She'd looked her husband's killer in the eyes and asked him why he'd murdered her beend, and he'd backed off; looked away. Not retreated like her, skittering away like an abused animal till her back hit the wall, but he'd left her alone all the same.
And then he'd returned to her dark cell and hauled her up yet again. And as with Varunsa, here too the words had spilled out: "Now what do you want from me?" And he'd opened the handcuffs and dragged her after him till she'd voiced her fear: "Where are you taking me?"
"Back..." he'd said as if that was possible.
But he'd driven her to the middle of Birpur, her Birpur, that close to Mamisa, to home, to Thakurain Masa, to the end of her nightmare, and offered her her freedom in exchange for signing on a lie; the biggest lie of all. The devil! She'd never do it.
So he'd flung her at her Mamisa...Mamisa who wouldn't hug her back, or weep with her, or stroke her hair, or shush her and tell her it'd all be okay... Mamisa must make her see sense, he'd said. But Mamisa herself wasn't making sense now...
Another dramatic episode, the tragedy a sure-fire tearjerker (I'm proof). Sanaya, Sanaya, Sanaya!!Such a nuanced portrayal of a new widow, of trenchant grief, suffering, shock, fear, hope, disbelief, rage, and still more devastation. 👏👏👏👏 How glad I am that I'm following this serial.
👏👏👏And kudos to Ashish for giving us so many shades of Rudra in one episode - brutal, restrained, charming, sinister, furious, shocked - such a joy to watch.
CVs, cast and crew, much applause for a finely-crafted episode that's subtle and nuanced but still wallops us with emotion. What a week! And there's still one amazing episode to go...
Ishaani
