I have always supported Baldev and thought that he would be a great father to Anami once he fully and wholeheartedly accepted Anami, but today I'm suddenly divided.
I'm not going to analyze the different characters here or even the episode. I'm just going to look at what Baldev said. He said that he never promised to marry Sudha. Fine. But then he adds that she's mental. Are you kidding me? Did you not know this when you were going out with her or sleeping with her? Did you not think even for a second that how will a mental patient take care of a child and whether his own family would accept the child?
That being said I've come to understand this of Baldev's character. He's a very protected child. Vikram always gave precedence to males and patriarchy prevailed when Satrupa was married off to Baldev without any indication to Baldev's playboy history and Sudha. After his affair with Sudha, Vikram and Gayatri very easily swept it under the carpet by marrying Baldev to Satrupa, keeping Satrupa in the dark, sending Sudha to a mental hospital, and sending Narottam to be raised by kinnars. Even after Satrupa found out, she still had kids with him and put on a facade for the public of everything being alright between the two. Vikram protected Baldev from the heir by disowning him because if Baldev became heir then Narottam would have to become heir and the truth would come out about Sudha. Gayatri continued protecting Baldev by always blaming others and even telling others a half-baked story.
Baldev is both wrong and right. He's wrong in what he said and refusing to accept Sudha, but that's how he's always been raised and been treated. He knows that those around him will clean up his mess and protect him, so he isn't wrong in brushing his hands of this matter. For him it was a mistake and, after all this time, just a fling. It doesn't matter that at some time he may have loved Sudha or that he may have wanted to settle down with her. After all these years he has managed to convince himself successfully that it was just a fling and he was never serious about it because of the way his parents and, later, his wife protected him and saved him.
This is why I say I'm divided. On one hand I hate what he said and the way he's treated everyone in his life, but, on the other hand, I cannot fully blame him and that changes matters significantly. Somewhere I also believe that Baldev can still redeem himself and change his ways and his thoughts if he just takes ownership of his past, present, and future.
Edited by Athene - 7 years ago