Komal – Villain or Victim
If one were to believe in the old adage that First impressions are lasting impressions, then Komal at first glance comes of as loud mouthed, sadistic and just plain old mean…………….
Yet let's give this character a second glance
Her familial environment - Komal lives in a home dominated by men (unlike Pratigya or Arushi). The women in this house in their traditional roles are serfs not citizens. Komal survives in this home and has the support and affection of her tough guy brothers and her autocratic father because she behaves like them – a homegrown bully. A very male way that seems to come to her naturally. She has neglected her feminine characteristics (unknowingly since birth) to fit into this male dominated environment. Her tone, her dress style, her reactions to situations and people are very macho at best and child-like at worst. If we were to see someone like her in real life we would say she was "tomboy" or "bindaas". Conventional girls are not bindaas, in fact quite the opposite, their first reaction is emotional and then pragmatic (if your lucky). Women's libbers may not agree but as this is a democratic forum you can throw tomatoes at me.
Her expectations - Komal is as treasured and indulged as a child of her family as both Pratigya and Arushi are within their family. She too has a sense of entitlement and an expectation of her sasural , just like Pratigya and Arushi, and this sense/ expectation is very much influenced by her parents selection. Her brother has repeatedly tried to impress upon her that his selection was better than anything that her parents would have selected for her as the latter would have involved a life of degradation and abuse.
The Singh DILs are treated the way that they are because the family is like the mafia. This may not necessarily be the case with other Thakur families. Even if it were, the chances are that SS's protective love for his daughter, his own power and influence, his riches and his sons' strengths would have tempered or negated any such abuse. Komal would have found herself in an environment where her creature comforts continued, her illiteracy and lack of conventional etiquette would not be a matter of daily ridicule and taunts (by Dadi, Arushi, her husband) and her relationship based on convenience rather than revenge. When the original decision was made she seemed ok with it, it was just in the days leading up to the marriage that she realized the implications and underlying currents and grew rebellious as she realized how far removed from her expectations this future would be. Her future went from being a dream to being an evasive manoeuvre in an active battleground, through no fault of her own.
Her POV – The Saxenas and Krishna think that they godsends for Komal as her needs are being very well accommodated and she is not being abused and therefore her behaviour reeks of ingratitude and non-cooperation.
But what about her point of view, every coin has two sides, right? With his well meaning yet selfish decision to pick her sasural, he did the following:
• Moved her from the jungle into the nunnery
• Married her to a man who does not even treat her as well as he treats the furniture and does not even bother to hid his attraction to a very close family friend (unlike her evil older brother who only cheats with kept woman far away from his family)
• Placed her in a collegial environment when she was barely equipped to deal with preschool
While this may not appear like such a bad thing to us, to a girl like Komal it is a culture shock. Imagine, one day your non-veg and the next your pure veg; your wish is everyone's command and the next day your wish is the biggest sin or inconvenience in the world you inhabit; you are 200% indulged to the next day you are 200% tolerated more because of your blood line (which is really beyond your control) than for any intentional action or fault; where any communication to you is patronizing rather than loving.
Every life altering decision requires some adjustment and a defined period of transition. One's actions during this period are usually reactive and illogical rather than proactive or pragmatic. It is the nature of the beast. So while most would see Komal as the villain, in my opinion she is a victim of circumstances beyond her control and is coping with her own insecurities and disappointments using the only skill she ever learnt – schoolyard bullying and defence tackle.
Well that's my thoughts. What do you think?
Hope
