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Today the temperature surged slow but sure inside and outside the Ranawat Haveli on the back of an ever upward increase in pressure.
Kakisa's mercury climbed when Paro picked Rudra over her. She'd almost had the Smoke Maiden in her grasp, this close away from confessing, and then she'd asked her the name of her village. And in an instant the smoke drifted out of her fist. The girl admitted she didn't want to marry Rudra, that she was scared of him, but she wouldn't pick the hand that was raised to humiliate. She trusted Rudra more than Kakisa. And even Kakisa's threat wouldn't budge her. Instead, the girl had the nerve to fling Kakisa a challenge, which left the smoke coming out of her ears. She'd put her life into Bhole Nath's hands, she said, was a puppet on His strings. Well, this time it would be Kakisa, and not Bhole Nath,who would pull the girl's strings, and not even her enemy-friend would be able to save her from destruction.
Quite another challenge had Rudra burning so high with affront that he barely felt the singe of candle-flame on his fingertips. That delicate, fragile, slip of a girl whom he could crush in one fist had had the temerity to call his bluff; to agree to marry him rather than sign. It wasn't that he was frothing, he was just thinking of a way to get even - something drastic. And then Laila, a suddenly-irritating Laila who insisted on touching him when it was the last thing he wanted, gave him the solution. It was an iron fist wrapped in a velvet glove that drew Laila's hand down, before he left for the haveli in triumph.
The silver beads of Rudra's happiness and Kakisa's frustration rose sky high when he confronted her with his choice of drapes for the wedding decoration. Blue like the sky, the sea and the shade one turned after swallowing poison, he told her looking directly into eyes that dripped venom. Then he handed the decorator an advance - making sure he knew to get the rest of the payment from his aunt twice-over.
In Birpur, Raja Thakur's fury was mounting. His men had returned after so many days without finding Paro baisa. And to top it all Bhima was trying to mollify him with the same excuse he had tried on the Thakurain. He let them feel the edge of his temper. They would just have to disguise themselves and search every house in Chandangarh. He wanted Paro baisa found and killed.
Sumer, sleeping off his drunken binge, woke up to his mother's furious demands for results. And having sluiced off the remnants of his sleep, proceeded to vent his recently-acquired ill humour on his partners-in-drink.
Meanwhile, Rudra, already in good humour from winning his round with Kakisa, felt his anticipation rise at the sight of Paro in the courtyard smiling at something his sisters-in-law had said. It was time to light her fire. He stared at her until she felt his eyes on her and dropped her own in confusion, losing her smile in the process. Good! He turned on the heat - layering the dare in his eyes with insolence and sensuality - and broadcast his come-hither without wavering. She was right to be apprehensive; to mistrust his intentions; to fear him; but neither could she look away. Her gaze returning to him time and again. And he pulled the invisible strings drawing her like a puppet to his bedroom door.
The bedroom door opened beneath Paro's touch, and she walked in warily with the tea-tray. There was no sign of the monster. All to the good. She was bending to lift a magazine from the table so that she could put down the tea-tray when her wrist was grabbed and twisted behind her, bringing her flush against the length of his body, driving the breath from hers. Eyes dilated, she exclaimed at his behaviour, ordered him to release her. That's when he captured her other wrist and brought it alongside the first in the small of her back, forcing her body closer still against his.
"What are you doing? Let me go!" Her eyes shouted their shock and panic at him. But the devil was smug, insolent, unmoving. It was payback time. "This is an ideal and loving husband's way. You had so many questions about my wedding. Now I have one question: is this wedding/relationship just the way you'd imagined it?" His voice was slow, savouring her discomposure. It was intolerable. Paro struggled, her body jerking against his, which only increased her agitation. But he only shushed her. Then told her: "Don't move, Paro!" Hearing her name in his languid accents was no doubt the reason why, even though he released it, one wrist stayed where it was, unmoving.
Out of the corner of her eye she could see his hand rising to her face, and now there was panic in her voice. "Don't you dare...!" In response, he breathed out a "shhh" that stoked up her nerve endings. And then with lingering sensuality, rubbed a streak of fire down her cheek. "Tea." At his explanation, she raised heavy lids over eyes wide with bewilderment, agitation and something else. That suddenly, all his languor evaporated. Intent, unsmiling eyes, lit with a dark, hidden heat met and held hers for one slumberous, heavy beat. Then Paro's lashes flickered and broke the spell. But it took a while for their breathing to even out, for the heat to dissipate, for sanity to return.
Rudra recovered first and pressed his advantage before Paro could calm down. "You didn't answer me. Is this the kind of marriage you wanted?" She bent, hiding her face, but Rudra grabbed her wrist so that her eyes flew to his. He wasn't going to let her evade him this time. She pulled her hand from his as if she couldn't bear him to touch her any more and gave in. No. This wasn't what she had in mind when she'd talked marriage, she admitted. Finally!
But still she wouldn't back down. She knew he didn't want to marry her. He hated her. And no matter how big a sentence this was for her, it was also a sentence for him. An equal punishment.
She was wrong there. How could it be equal? This fake marriage would open the doors to pain, hatred, bitterness and rage, he told her. He was used to this poison, it was his friend. But she? her friend was the butterfly. He didn't need to look at her to feel her spirit drain, her eyes moisten with defeat. So, he just asked her to close the door on her way out.
The CVs gave us some high-octane fireworks today: Paro's refusal to play ball with Kakisa, her revelation that she trusts Rudra more, Kakisa's threat to destroy her, the reappearance of Laila and Raja Thakur, Rudra's run-in with Kakisa, and yet another attempt, a sizzling one this time, to break Paro, that almost backfired on him. But most important, the photograph is out of Sumer's pocket now. And it won't be long before it's in Kakisa's possession.
Today, Rudra won in both his dealings - with Kakisa and Paro, which makes me nervous for tomorrow. Whose turn will it be to win then? Today, most everybody tried to play God. Kakisa, embarking on the road to master-mind Paro's and therefore Rudra's and Dilsher's fate. Rudra putting into effect plans to bend Paro to his will. Thakur trying to find and kill Paro. And Paro, the girl at the centre of it all, deciding that her salvation lies in surrendering to His will. It will be interesting to see how she succeeds.
Acting-wise, Sanaya and Ashish stole the show for me today. The new shades of sensuality they portrayed, completely in character, and completely convincing, definitely raised my temperature. š But it was also nice to see Tarun and Ankita returning, breaking Ananya's stranglehold on the show. Screenplay was evocative in the PaRud scenes. ššš to the cast and crew for a good episode.
Looking forward to some more PaRud dynamics tomorrow.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
