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Today, the CVs gave us an emotion-filled episode that tracked the fall-out of yesterday's rain, and gave us a look into an upcoming storm.
It was a relentless night for Paro, Rudra and the Thakurain as they tried to lay to rest the ghosts that the rain had churned up.
For Paro, the red bangles were a torment too far, an insult too harsh, a stab too deep. It was inevitable that they would draw blood. She'd kept her back straight, held her head high, showed no weakness to the monster who had put them on her, and waited for her to shatter. And now Sunehri's sleeping presence stopped her from rubbing that red stain off her wrists. So she sought refuge in a remote corner of the haveli. And away from watchful eyes, concealed behind the curtains, she wrenched them off; and gave in to her grief.
It was a cry from the heart - a wail that she could no more hold back than a dam a river in spate. "Haili mhaaro..." And it surged up to the heavens - resonant with the depth of her suffering, pleading for release from this torment, for peace.
The cry reached Rudra, defences down in sleep, and threw him into the rushing path of his past. An oncoming gush of pain, which evaded his searching eyes, broke over his furrowed brow, flooded down his convulsing throat, in a tide of bitterness so hot that it seared his soul, and swept him along gasping for breath to the source of the sound.
It was Rudra's yell that splintered Paro's peace and tumbled the bangles into broken pools of red by their feet, pools as bottomless as the pain in Rudra's eyes. Eyes that brimmed with questions. Where had she learned the song? Why was she singing it? Why had she sung it that day too in the hospital? Why?
Paro's eyes were full too, but she kept her voice steady. She sang for peace, for strength, for a return to the days when she was happy, when all was well...
But Rudra's control had surrendered to the battering waves of his torment. The song only brought him grief, transported him back to the days he wanted to forget. She was not to sing this song again. Never again. Not after today.
Rudra walked away, uncaring, over the glass bangles he had so carefully eased over her hands just hours before. His cavalier gift smashed by his own footsteps. His cruel intentions spectacularly backfiring on him. Snatching away his peace of mind as he'd wanted them to destroy Paro's. So it was right that the object of both their torment, and misery was ground by both of them into dust.
But there would be no let up for Rudra. The song had unlocked his misery. And returning to his room, he was swamped by memories he had spent fifteen years repressing, burying deep. Now they rose up in a tidal wave: memories of being sung to sleep by his mother, of being protected, warmed, reassured, comforted, engulfed by a mother's love that had been so ruthlessly wrenched from him, had so unfathomably vanished, was just simply not there. And giving in to his grief, Rudra wept.
It was a relentless night for the Thakurain too. After fifteen long years she had never been closer to her child. So near, yet still so far. There was no relief for this ache, an old yearning that ate away at her insides. Compelled her to search through the drawers until she found the photograph of her son. Found and held close to her heart. As if she held the flesh of her flesh, blood of her blood, her very own heart pressed against hers just once more. But the grief and longing would not abate. So instead, she clung to the Thakur and asked him to hold her, just hold her close.
Today the CVs showed us the connected heartstrings of Paro, Rudra and the Thakurainsa - the three players whose fates are irretrievably linked. We saw Rudra flinch far away in his room when Paro wept in the balcony. And the Thakurain was inconsolable too. Three key characters, none of whom will know peace in isolation from the other two. Three people whose paths will cross soon.
Sanaya's acting brought a lump to my throat. Ashish was compelling with the violence of his grief - right for the untempered reaction of one caught defenceless in sleep. But perhaps his breakdown in his room could have done with a tad more control. Today, Sadiya's restraint worked for me, and I had no problem feeling her pain. 👏👏👏 to all three for an evocative performance. The CVs also shone a light on her relationship with the Thakur - he questions her movements, and she shuts him up with tears. How deep is this love?
The rest of the episode set the scene for tomorrow's Mahaepisode and gave us the PaRud moment of the day: when Paro's veil flies up and Rudra steps in to rescue her.
Kakisa should have known she'd never get away with it. Rudra's eyes were searching for Paro even before she entered. And once she did, they remained glued to her, at first dazzled by her veiled presence. And then reassuring themselves that she was okay. The only time his eyes lifted from her was to scour the area for hidden dangers. But they homed in inevitably on her.
So it was that when Kakisa, despite Rudra's warning, tried to lift the veil from Paro's head, that Rudra arrived in time to clamp it down on Paro's shoulders. Not even the sunlight or the desert sands would see her face if he didn't will it! And if his hands lingered a little longer than was strictly needed, then he didn't realise it, and Paro didn't indicate it by so much as a twitch.
So Kakisa brought in the dancers and had Paro removed from Rudra's hold. Had Paro join in the dance. And then switched on the fan to blow the veil off her face. But again she reckoned without Rudra. A Rudra fascinated by this new dancing Paro, entranced by the graceful twists and turns of her form, but a Rudra who was nevertheless vigilant. And sure enough his eyes caught Kakisa's mischief and he moved quickly to undo it.
Rudra stepped inside the veil to block the sight of Paro's face with his own and was stunned afresh by her luminous beauty a hand's breadth away. The impact robbed him of his senses, so that he drank her in with his eyes and was so awe-struck and enraptured that he forgot what he wanted to say. And Paro, despite her resistance to him, didn't protest Rudra's intrusion or continued presence. Both so lost to the outside world that it took Sunehri to break the spell.
Kakisa would do well to learn from Rudra that if you are going to play games then you have to be prepared for the consequences. And it looks like Kakisa is overdue for some lessons. She might succeed in showing Paro's face to the villagers tomorrow, but will have to bear with the effects of the Thakur's murderous men.
The butterfly kada made its way to Paro and reminded her that she had seen it before. When will Paro remember? Paro now knows that Kakasa is still in touch with Rudra's mother. I wonder, will she be called upon to put this information into use soon? Or will it just implicate her later on when the Thakurain is revealed to Rudra?
Kudos to the cast and crew for a good episode with the story moving along, building towards the confluence of the marriage, court-martial and Mahashivratri. Waiting for the Mahaepisode and more developments and drama!
Anupamaa
Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon
Indian Mythology
Sampoorna
