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The first slap was bad enough - Kakisa's retribution for Paro's interference into 'a family matter' marked Rudra and drew blood. But it was the ricochet of the second slap, which Rudra blocked, that would ring in everybody's ears over the next few days.
In the heartbeat in which Rudra held back Kakisa's vengeful arm and forced it down, as Paro buried her face in the shield of his back, matters took an ugly turn. Never mind that their mother more-than deserved Rudra's very circumspect reprimand, Samrat and Sumer were ready, eyes ablaze, to take him down if needed. And Kakisa, unsatisfied, thwarted, actually bested, despite landing one on Rudra, was not mollified by the sight of Rudra towing Paro away to his room. Paro's escape merely added fuel to Kakisa's wrath.
It was the awareness of the cliff on which Paro, and he, had teetered just minutes ago that made Rudra fall off the edge now in the safety of his room. He smacked her down verbally. "Have you gone mad?...What was the need to interfere...You've only been here for a few days and will stay here for a few more...telling them all about yourself...why did you open your mouth?"
Paro, unnerved and distraught by the spectacular backfiring of her efforts, laid out her reasons. Quite simply, she had not been able to see Mythili Jija's pain and torment any longer. But her response only drove Rudra to more no-holds-barred plain-speak. Mythili was not Paro's Jija. This was a story thought up by Ranawat to save her life. She needed to stop forging bonds with those people. They were not her relations. This was not her house!!
He was almost out the door when Paro spoke, bringing his feet to a halt. "Then where is my house?" He remained remote, unseeing. But she drew closer and closer, until he felt her words ricochet in every fibre of his being. "Tell me, where do I belong? To which village? To which family? To which relationship? To which world?" He wouldn't let himself see the pain in her eyes, hear the bruise in her voice, feel the rend of her soul. But he couldn't swallow past the lump in his throat either.
Cursing himself for allowing her to get to him, he told her to go to Sunehri's room, and tacked on a warning: "Don't take on that woman again, because I may not be around to save you." It must have been the pain in his throat that made him wish that he'd let Kakisa slap her, at least then she wouldn't try to cross her limits. He didn't realise that he'd spoken aloud until she retaliated. "Then why didn't you let her hit me? Why did you take the blow that was meant for me?" Leaving him speechless as she walked off.
Paro returned later that night, while Rudra lay asleep in his bed, with a turmeric paste for his wound. A dab of paste on one finger-tip, she bent over his bruised cheek, dark now against the white pillow. For just a moment her fingers choked with apprehension...and something else. But she fought the constriction to touch one cool tip to his broken skin in the lightest, faintest, most tentative of touches...
...And was knocked off her feet by the explosion that tumbled her head-first on to his bed, until she lay dazed and breathless. It was a ruthless hold that pinned her wrists on either side of her head, but it was the warrior's feral gaze that held her in place. For a few moments; for an eternity. Until his eyes fierce and wild with the remnants of a reflex, burned with an elemental heat. Until her eyes receptive, troubled, uncertain, melted into an age-old panic that demanded that she pull her wrist free.
And sanity, reality rushed back like a whirlwind to catapult them to the opposite sides of the bed - she to straighten her dupatta, and he to sit hunched over hands holding on to the bed-frame with bloodless fingers as he sucked in air and swallowed past a suddenly dry throat, straining to get his body back in control in the aftermath of the adrenaline rush, fighting to keep his mind from returning.
What was she doing here? The question was drawn from him. "I brought a salve for your wound..." She was composed again, unlike him. His eyes found the bowl without difficulty. He swallowed. She was telling the truth. "And you thought I'd let you apply it?" "No," she admitted, "That's why I got it while you were asleep. It'll sting a bit, but heal quickly." He was past being hurt by a woman, he told her. She should go from here. After a few steps, she stopped and told him to apply it if his wound hurt. And if it hurt too much, he could chant "bumble-bee, bumble-bee" and that would stop him thinking of the pain.
But Rudra's eyes narrowed with suspicion. Why was she doing all this for the monster who had killed her husband? At that, Paro's eyes squeezed in pain. "Because that wound was meant for me... I have no great desire to live now, but I don't want to die every moment thinking I am beholden to you. Just because you are a monster doesn't mean that I should behave like one to you. Then what would be the difference between us?" And as Rudra eyed her incredulous and yes, hurt, she turned to say one last thing.
"I know you think I'm wrong; that I wear a mask," and now Rudra finally turned to look at her. "...I will not betray my land, my country; nor will I let anyone betray it. I'm innocent and you will discover it yourself one day soon." And she walked off, leaving Rudra with newly-kindled hopes.
It was the ricocheting of unfulfilled fury that brought Kakisa to Rudra's doorstep where she bumped into a delighted Dilsher, who would not share his private joke with her. Nor would he pass on the message to Rudra that he should keep his fiance under control. There was nothing wrong with her tongue or Rudra's ear, the old man said, and she could deliver the message herself, unless she was afraid that he might once again take sugar to her cup of tea. Kakisa, afraid? Her reach went very high. But Dilsher only laughed at her, asking her to conjure up some rain with her high reach then. Pity he'd taunted her, because now she'd unleash a storm that he wouldn't forget.
Today's episode was a packed, emotionally charged one. So much happening! Rudra and Paro's relationship passed turbulently through yet another phase, where she can now rely on him to protect her and he can now expect her to take care of him. Their new knowledge disconcerting both of them. For Paro, it was the tell-tale change in her nightmare that she couldn't quite square - the juxtaposition of the destroyer with the protector. For Rudra, it's the first feel of tenderness and care that he doesn't quite know what to make of.
Yet the turmeric salve and the talk must have healed Rudra a little bit because they brought out a reciprocal tenderness in him in the morning. Seeing Paro hurt by her rejection from Mythili. he reassured her that he'd be there for her in this way too - that she could tell him if she wanted anything, even if only to talk.
Paro may have learnt her lesson, but it has come at a cost to Mythili and Samrat's adoption plans, to Rudra and Danveer's peace of mind thanks to Kakisa, and to herself. The repercussions will no doubt unfold over this week.
Some excellent acting by Ashish, Sanaya, Ananya and Kali Prasad Ji. Kudos to the CVs for a tight, fast-moving story today. The screenplay was sure and brilliant! And hats-off to Raghuvir Shekhawat for Dilsher's crisp, caustic lines that made me laugh out loud. 👏👏👏 👏 to the whole cast and crew of RR for a lovely, memorable episode!
