Posted:
Today the CVs gave us some very tense revelry at PaRud's Sangeet that was pulsing on the razor's edge of danger, leaving us unsure whether a slip would result in a minor nick or a slice through the jugular.
After her row with Rudra about the danger she was inviting by showing her face to the villagers, Paro retreated into Sunehri's room, out of public gaze, much to Rudra's relief.
They were not to know that it was much too late. Kakisa's plan had worked beyond her wildest expectations. Danger was already stalking Paro, sherbet in hand, to Sunehri's room. This time around it would be stymied by Mythili, temporarily. But it lurked just around the corner.
Mythili, hoping to put a smile on Paro's wan face by reassuring her that Rudra bhaisa really cared for her, ended up once again opening the floodgates to Paro's grief. By reminding her that after all "you get married only once in a lifetime", pitching Paro back into the memories of unreserved joy that had been her first marriage.
But Paro's smile returned moments later when she rushed out of her room to watch the dancing below, unknowingly giving the resurgent danger the slip.
Rudra, scanning the assembled crowd for dangerous elements while his father and uncle enjoyed their drunken dance, saw Paro emerge like a princess in the balcony upstairs. The smile on her face drawing the tension from his. And he let her remain there under the protection of his attentive gaze, for once disregarding any threat to her. And when, moments later, Samrat and Mythili embraced on the dance-floor, his eyes sought out Paro's with dawning tenderness, unlike Paro, whose smile faded when she caught Rudra's eyes, although she couldn't stop her heart racing.
It was Rudra's heart that would drum when he saw Kakisa eye Paro with the intention of making her join the celebration. After all, if she was well-enough to stand and watch the proceedings, then she may as well watch it in the midst of the party downstairs - and be seen by the (in)appropriate audience. It was that apprehension that made Rudra's nod fierce as he silently urged Paro to return to her room. And then strode to the stairs to ensure that she obeyed.
Only to fail, as he was waylaid by danger in the guise of Laila. A Laila white-hot with the need to be avenged. What had he thought? That he'd get married without informing his lover of eight years? That he'd have a Sangeet and Laila would be absent? What she couldn't understand was how he came to be marrying that slip-of-a-girl he'd wanted to crush in his hand. Had the relation changed, or the girl changed or was it he who had changed?
Rudra tried to dismiss the danger. He had no time to waste on Laila or her inconvenient questions. She needed to leave. Except that she absolutely refused to go, insisting against his wishes on dancing; dashing into the courtyard and the middle of the party.
Rudra hesitated where she'd left him, torn between rushing up to Paro and staying downstairs with Laila. And then he followed Laila, this grenade without a pin, back onto the dance floor, to keep a close eye on her.
It was a while before his eyes swept upwards seeking Paro again. Only to find her not there. That's when he panicked, rushing to join her. But was foxed by Laila, who conveniently fainted in his arms, leaving him with no choice but to carry her to the privacy of his bedroom.
He'd thought he'd dump her on his bed and run to Paro. And he'd almost got away with it too, when the grenade exploded, catching him unawares. So that the next thing he knew was that he'd been flung to the bed and Laila was holding the wicked edge of a knife to his throat.
Had she lost her mind, he threw at her? Not her mind, her heart, she corrected. He'd better answer her questions if he didn't want her to slice him open and rip Paro out from wherever she was hiding inside him. It took him a moment to try and fail to reason with her. And then a moment more to overpower her and toss the knife away. To warn her that the next time she tried this stupidity he'd bury the dagger in her chest.
Instead of cowing her, his threat only stoked her fury into incandescence, so that she grabbed his collar and spat venom at him. For eight years she'd been hearing him say that he didn't believe in relationships; in love; that she needn't build her hopes on him. Then what had happened to him suddenly? A few days out of her sight and he'd started dreaming of weddings. Was this the same wretch for whom he'd come to borrow clothes? What spell had she cast on him so that he was willing to give his name to the same girl whose very name he'd hated. How was he so much in love with her that he'd accompanied her on her walk-about through the village?
And Laila, she'd seen them. Seen everything. With her own eyes. She'd seen it all.
Urgency edging his frustration, Rudra tried to reason with her, tersely, conveniently. Why didn't she understand that what she'd seen was not the truth. It was natural for Laila to ask him for the truth. And equally natural for him to tell her he hadn't given her the right to ask questions - not before, and not today. He was just reiterating the rules by which he'd run this relationship of convenience.
But Rudra had underestimated Laila's insecurity, the acute perception that it gave her, the desperation, the fear, the betrayal, the hopelessness that finally gave her the strength to not just question those rules but to tear up that rule-book and draft a new one. She had the right, she asserted, her eyes dark now with the death of her hopes. She had the right.
Then when he remained unmoved she harnessed the death-throes for one final assault on him. And she gave it everything she had, targeting his life for hers. There were three days left for his wedding. Well, as long as she lived it wouldn't take place, she vowed. Even if that meant that she had to take someone's life.
She'd rattled him. "What do you mean?" There was a note in his voice that she hadn't heard before. Triumph lent wings to her hatred, her need to hurt, to bring him to his knees. "Meaning, have you seen a wedding without a bride?" She'd found her mark! He lost control. Grabbed her and pulled her up to face him. "What did you do? Tell me, what did you do?"
Her revenge was complete...for now. "I've withdrawn your right to ask me questions. From today, from now, from this moment." She had him on the run, she thought, his words stumbled into each other in his urgency. "Laila, what did you do with her? If anything happens to her..."
And then he pelted hell-for-leather, leaving behind a Laila whose revenge tasted only of ashes, up the stairs to Paro. He ran wildly, uncaring of whom he knocked against, trying to ignore the shouting in his brain, the jangling of his nerves, the fear in his heart that danger may have already overcome Paro, while he dallied downstairs. Feet pounding, he wrenched the door open on a room that was mind-numbingly, heart-stoppingly, breathtakingly empty.
Today's was a good episode as the CVs ratcheted up the tension, danger and suspense in the run up to the Big Three events. The story was satisfyingly quick-paced. The Sangeet took place, gave us heart-warming moments that were infused with danger, which built, strengthened and left us hanging on a knife's edge.
The Rudra-Laila scenes were believable and much needed to give us an insight into Laila, but also to give us the reason for the next event, which will drive the story on. The PaRud scenes were a tender counterpoint to all the darkness of Rudra-Laila. And the dances between the brothers, Mythili-Samrat and the Ranawat family provided the sweetness. We saw Kakisa's triumph at having achieved the purpose of the sangeet. Which gives me hope that it's Rudra's turn to win tomorrow and that Paro will still be there in the haveli. The glass that Rudra picked up must surely be the glass that Mythili left behind. But storm clouds are gathering. Laila is on the war-path and tomorrow so will Tejawat be. Thankfully, for the moment at least, Paro remains unaffected.
Acting was superb today. Hats off to Ankita for her spot on portrayal of a woman scorned and to Ashish as the beleaguered protector waylaid by his mistress, and of course for showing us his tendre for Paro. 👏👏👏 to the cast and crew for a strong episode.
Cricket
Current Affairs
Anupamaa
