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Rudra had left the haveli on his high horse after torpedoing Kakisa's attempt, however fake, to build bridges with his curt: "...this rope is not just to keep you out, but also to keep out all relationships."
He returned today prepared to climb-down. The reason was simple: he'd run out of choices. The haveli and Paro established in it as his fiance were the only secure cover he could find for her. Which was why he'd turned on the charm in the haveli's courtyard when Kakasa introduced him to the workers. He'd looked pleasant while his uncle said all the right things to ease his entry into this little world, even apologised to them, his eyes distant all the while.
Except when his uncle announced that the haveli belonged to Rudra's father. Then, his gaze had locked on to his aunt's, soaking up the fury he could see flaring in them. That brief burn would be the only warmth he'd come close to today.
Sure enough, Kakisa demanded her pound of flesh when he turned to her mouthing the apology and acknowledgement of his family that he'd prepared for. The vile woman had savoured the moment. "Blessings and apologies are sought with bowed heads and by touching the feet," she'd said, triumph kicking up the corners of her mouth.
And while Kakasa quailed and Paro quaked, he'd calmly gone down on his knee to touch her feet and paid up in full. And had the pleasure of seeing hers dim.
But he'd had no time to dwell on that unexpected victory, because Sunehri was already leading Paro away and he needed a word with her. He'd called for her in tones that had Kakasa gripping his arm in restraint. So Rudra had maintained his facade of a man impatient for time alone with his fiancee...
...Until he closed the doors of his room. Then, he reverted to Major Rudra intimidating his chief witness. "Don't you dare tell anything to anyone, or else..." Paro was unfazed. She'd heard it all before. So he slammed her back against a pillar, bracketing her in with his arms and leaned his face in close to hers as he bit out the two commandments that she would live by as long as she was here: "You shall not tell anybody the truth; and you shall not step out of this house. This will save your life..." His eyes bored in, fierce with the need to make her understand, to bend her to his will.
But Paro was unswayed. It was an irony, she pointed out, that the man who'd destroyed every relationship known to her, was now talking about saving her life. At that, he stepped back and turned away. But Paro wouldn't let up. "Do you know why I'm obeying you now?" "Because you have no other option. Because all the other doors are closed," he hammered into her lest she forget.
But she turned the tables on him: "That's true not just for me but for you too. You too are worried; you too are scared that I'll run away; that I'll talk. But I won't. I'll remain silent. Because my silence will bring you to your knees. And then..."
It was an unfortunate choice of phrase. Rudra may have gone down on his knee before his aunt without so much as a flicker of an eyelid, but it had cost him. And as the sting of the reminder flicked him on the raw, his anger erupted. It was only Sunehri's timely entry that saved Paro from his fury.
Rudra's return remained unfinished, until Kakasa visited him in his office attempting a rapprochement; a new start. Rudra refused point-blank. There was no way forward, Rudra told him, the way it had all ended left nothing with which to make a fresh start. It was best not mix the past with the present.
Completing the rites of her return, Paro was getting to know the haveli and the women members. And they her. Sunehri gushed her excitement much to Paro's discomfort: "Matching-matching!...Parvati and Rudra!...Both wearing rudrakshas...made for each other!" And then the questions tumbled out evoking no happiness in Paro: "When did you meet?...how did you get engaged?... where are your parents?...how did your parents agree to send you with Rudra?..." Paro remained silent.
Mythili tactfully tried to stem the free-flow of questions and sent her sister-in-law to make tea. Then embarked on her own pleasant small-talk: "Whenever I look at you two, I feel you must have asked for him from your heart and BholeNaath granted your wish from His!" She could have had no inkling of the anguish her innocent words caused Paro, sending her back as they did to the moment she had prayed to Him at the peak of her happiness, in another perfect life, since reduced to ashes. It was the ashes that twisted Paro's lips into breaking their silence: "You are right! One must think before one asks so that one does not get destruction instead of happiness."
She was not to know that with those words she betrayed herself, and Rudra, to Kakisa, who'd been watching the tableau play out from afar, growing increasingly suspicious. Now she was certain that it was all a lie: Paro was not Rudra's fiance. And she would find the proof.
An interesting episode, short on drama, but where nevertheless quite a few milestones were crossed. So we had PaRud forced to return to the haveli; the intro of Sunehri's childhood love; and the first doubts emerging about PaRud as an entity.
The Thu-Fri PaRud romance may never have been so completely were the traces wiped away. Today the CVs made Rudra desperate and a tad scared. Paro was now bitter and unforgiving. Yet we saw Paro's discomfiture when Kakisa asked Rudra to apologise properly. Does that mean that Paro is not completely unconcerned about Rudra? And it was funny but nice to hear Rudra respectfully asking Paro to step aside for a word!! There were also some heart-warming moments today in the bonding between Mythili and Sunehri.
Great acting all around. The actress who plays Mythili was a revelation. Ashish and Sanaya were as usual impressive. But the episode belonged to Ananya Khare, whose largely silent confrontation with Rudra nevertheless spoke louder than words. 👏👏👏
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