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Episode Analysis
I loved the episode. It was touching and uplifting for those of us
rooting for our two dunces, and yet drove a lot of points straight home.
It's all about TAKING RESPONSIBILITY
Today for the first time, Yash took responsibility for Aarti's decision to leave, and actually began to understand her. "If only you ever understood me Yashji," Aarti once lamented, and after all this time, and all these events, it is only today that Yash has started on that journey that will take him through Aarti's true self, her suffering and pain along with her smiles and strength. Yash has always mistaken Aarti because of the fears in his own mind coupled with the way he interpreted her behaviour. Little did he know that her behaviour was influenced not just by her feelings for him, but the baggage of her past and the pressures from his family, that she acted on but that he was obtusely unaware of.
Mostly, I would say, it was because of lack of information from Aarti's side for various reasons, be it the truth about her first marriage, the truth about how his family treated her, or the truth about what she expected from their relationship as it changed, that Yash could not quite understand the truth of Aarti. Aarti tried to protect Yash from all these truths because she thought he couldn't handle them, and she succeeded but their night together in Mumbai, and the events and confrontations that followed, brought a lot of these hidden truths in front of Yash all at once. And only when he realised that Aarti was so hopeless as to run away from the people who care about her, does he begin to see each and every event from her perspective: you faced so much turmoil because you married me, but the very people who gave you pain are now worried about you, including me. No longer is he questioning why Aarti made the decision to leave; he has evolved past that. Now he understands her, takes responsibility for his and his family's role in her decision, and moves to the next step: he wants to make it up to her, to assure her that every single member of the family is concerned for her and Ansh, invested in her well being...including him.
And that is precisely why Prashant's medicine fell to the ground and the medicine Aarti ended up being healed with was from Yash's hands. Prashant is finding it mighty easy to slip into the role of Ansh's guardian and Aarti's husband. How easily he chides Yash for making the medicines fall, when both of them were not paying attention and were equally at fault, declaring that they were "his wife's" medicines! The medicines being dropped and breaking, showed not only Prashant's inability to claim his share of responsibility in the situation, but also how false his claims really were. When he went to the counter again, what do we find but that he was trying to heal Aarti on false premises, with medicine that he had not paid for? I think this showed that he didn't have what it took to be Aarti's husband or Ansh's father, literally and symbolically. On the other hand we have Yash, who not only followed him to the pharmacy to insist that he pay for the new round of medicine, which we can argue was a sense of responsibility, but also gave Prashant some extra money, out of sheer humanity and sympathy. Prashant refused to help save Ansh when he was kidnapped, saying that he was "Yash's son" now, but Yash helped to save "Prashant's wife" despite having no idea who she was.
The lines between Prashant and Yash blurred in Aarti's head because she thought the past was repeating itself. In many ways, Prashant is doing exactly what Yash did, he is trying to slip back into things the way they used to be without taking responsibility for what he has done in the past. What right does he have to passionately claim Aarti as his wife in front of a stranger? Similarly, what right did Yash have to expect Aarti's trust and attention after the way he had behaved and misunderstood her? But here lies the difference. Yash may have been slow on the uptake (to be fair, he was a lot faster than Prashant!), but he is taking responsibility for what he did, and for Aarti's decision to leave.
When the adults and parents act like children, what choice to the kids have but to become the adults?
This was the heart breaking part of today's episode. The way Vidhi described Palak and Payal's state, the two girls have stopped eating, sleeping and in general, being children. The one who came into their lives like a fresh breeze, coaxed their trust out of them and taught them that they could be children once more because they were not alone or unprotected, that she would help them face any obstacle that came their way, be it stage fright or an ill and raging father, was gone. She was the one who unfettered the the children within them and allowed them to be free, and their happiness became completely dependent the assurance of her constant presence. Now that she is not here, and there father is also not with them, they can feel that sense of responsibility descend on them once more. They go through the motions without complaint because they don't know if anyone will be there to catch them if they make a mistake!
I did love the scene between Ansh and Prashant though. When Prashant questioned Ansh's memory of Yash's number, Ansh was offended by two things. In Yash's absence, Ansh sees himself as the man in Aarti's life, her keeper and her protector, and though he is very grateful for this uncle's help, he doesn't take well to being spoken to and treated like a child. Second, he seems insulted by the seeming challenge of his closeness with Yash. How dare this stranger wonder undermine his relationship with his dad, or his ability to take care of his mother? It shows Prashant firmly as an outsider to Ansh, someone with whom he negotiates as an equal, "I will make friends with you of you save my mother." He is not a person of authority in Ansh's life and Ansh makes that distinction very clear, with one poignant statement, "I miss my father." This is the first and only time during this whole ordeal that Ansh has shown vulnerability and the desire to be safe and cared for once again. He has faced so much uncertainty with his mother on this trip, and not once had he complained or been anything less than enterprising and proactive in a bid to get her better. But he is a kid after all, and in his impassioned speech to Prashant, he let that slip out just a little bit.
Dubeys vs. Scindas: What a change!
In the beginning of the story, the Dubeys seemed like the ideal of principled and progressive people. They had rejected their son and cared only about Aarti and Ansh's happiness. At this time, the Scindias seemed like blood thirsty and regressive people who cared only about their image in society and a male child for their son. What a change!
Today the Scindias are genuinely concerned for Aarti, with SP refusing to eat and even Pankaj, who at first blamed Aarti completely, seeing only the immediate picture, coming around to the hard fact that Yash was also at fault and both of them needed a good talking to. There is so much "apnapan" in this family towards both Yash and Aarti equally, whether it be to worry about them or to call them out on their faults. I loved Pankaj's talk to Yash where it seemed like he was preempting Yash's tendency to sink into depression in a seemingly hopeless situation. They may have flaws and differing ideals, but there is no doubt that they are a family and a solid support system to each other, knowing each other well enough to be of real help in such a crisis situation. Vidhi wordlessly takes the responsibility of the girls while Yash and Aarti are gone, and Pankaj, sensing his brother's flagging morale, knew just what to say to get him pumped up again. It was really touching!
And on the other hand we have the Dubeys in an argument that is completely about their own respective, selfish desires for Aarti. Why argue about something abstract like Aarti uniting with Prashant, when she is concretely in a delicate medical condition, god knows where? Today I saw no concern for Aarti in Shobha, only the need to prove her point that Aarti would never forgive Prashant. On the other hand, Dubey was rebuilding his perfect family picture in his head with Aarti and Prashant reunited and Prashant taking charge of his son, Ansh. Dubey was projecting his desires onto Aarti and Shobha was projecting hers...neither of them seemed in the least concerned what would actually make Aarti happy. Would Aarti want to go back to either man after what they had put her through?
First with her husbands, and now with her families, I strongly believe that they are building up to a point when Aarti realises she can't depend on her relationships to provide her with purpose and direction: she has to do that for herself. These relationships exist between human beings and as such are constantly changing and changeable, based on motivations and desires. Aarti cannot find her own happiness solely in making others happy because their happiness is not only in her hands, it is influenced by so many other factors. She has to dig deep and find her own moral, emotional and intellectual compass so that she can steer her life the way she sees fit, and not the way others dictate through their behaviour or their words.
It's all about TAKING RESPONSIBILITY
Today for the first time, Yash took responsibility for Aarti's decision to leave, and actually began to understand her. "If only you ever understood me Yashji," Aarti once lamented, and after all this time, and all these events, it is only today that Yash has started on that journey that will take him through Aarti's true self, her suffering and pain along with her smiles and strength. Yash has always mistaken Aarti because of the fears in his own mind coupled with the way he interpreted her behaviour. Little did he know that her behaviour was influenced not just by her feelings for him, but the baggage of her past and the pressures from his family, that she acted on but that he was obtusely unaware of.
Mostly, I would say, it was because of lack of information from Aarti's side for various reasons, be it the truth about her first marriage, the truth about how his family treated her, or the truth about what she expected from their relationship as it changed, that Yash could not quite understand the truth of Aarti. Aarti tried to protect Yash from all these truths because she thought he couldn't handle them, and she succeeded but their night together in Mumbai, and the events and confrontations that followed, brought a lot of these hidden truths in front of Yash all at once. And only when he realised that Aarti was so hopeless as to run away from the people who care about her, does he begin to see each and every event from her perspective: you faced so much turmoil because you married me, but the very people who gave you pain are now worried about you, including me. No longer is he questioning why Aarti made the decision to leave; he has evolved past that. Now he understands her, takes responsibility for his and his family's role in her decision, and moves to the next step: he wants to make it up to her, to assure her that every single member of the family is concerned for her and Ansh, invested in her well being...including him.
And that is precisely why Prashant's medicine fell to the ground and the medicine Aarti ended up being healed with was from Yash's hands. Prashant is finding it mighty easy to slip into the role of Ansh's guardian and Aarti's husband. How easily he chides Yash for making the medicines fall, when both of them were not paying attention and were equally at fault, declaring that they were "his wife's" medicines! The medicines being dropped and breaking, showed not only Prashant's inability to claim his share of responsibility in the situation, but also how false his claims really were. When he went to the counter again, what do we find but that he was trying to heal Aarti on false premises, with medicine that he had not paid for? I think this showed that he didn't have what it took to be Aarti's husband or Ansh's father, literally and symbolically. On the other hand we have Yash, who not only followed him to the pharmacy to insist that he pay for the new round of medicine, which we can argue was a sense of responsibility, but also gave Prashant some extra money, out of sheer humanity and sympathy. Prashant refused to help save Ansh when he was kidnapped, saying that he was "Yash's son" now, but Yash helped to save "Prashant's wife" despite having no idea who she was.
The lines between Prashant and Yash blurred in Aarti's head because she thought the past was repeating itself. In many ways, Prashant is doing exactly what Yash did, he is trying to slip back into things the way they used to be without taking responsibility for what he has done in the past. What right does he have to passionately claim Aarti as his wife in front of a stranger? Similarly, what right did Yash have to expect Aarti's trust and attention after the way he had behaved and misunderstood her? But here lies the difference. Yash may have been slow on the uptake (to be fair, he was a lot faster than Prashant!), but he is taking responsibility for what he did, and for Aarti's decision to leave.
When the adults and parents act like children, what choice to the kids have but to become the adults?
This was the heart breaking part of today's episode. The way Vidhi described Palak and Payal's state, the two girls have stopped eating, sleeping and in general, being children. The one who came into their lives like a fresh breeze, coaxed their trust out of them and taught them that they could be children once more because they were not alone or unprotected, that she would help them face any obstacle that came their way, be it stage fright or an ill and raging father, was gone. She was the one who unfettered the the children within them and allowed them to be free, and their happiness became completely dependent the assurance of her constant presence. Now that she is not here, and there father is also not with them, they can feel that sense of responsibility descend on them once more. They go through the motions without complaint because they don't know if anyone will be there to catch them if they make a mistake!
I did love the scene between Ansh and Prashant though. When Prashant questioned Ansh's memory of Yash's number, Ansh was offended by two things. In Yash's absence, Ansh sees himself as the man in Aarti's life, her keeper and her protector, and though he is very grateful for this uncle's help, he doesn't take well to being spoken to and treated like a child. Second, he seems insulted by the seeming challenge of his closeness with Yash. How dare this stranger wonder undermine his relationship with his dad, or his ability to take care of his mother? It shows Prashant firmly as an outsider to Ansh, someone with whom he negotiates as an equal, "I will make friends with you of you save my mother." He is not a person of authority in Ansh's life and Ansh makes that distinction very clear, with one poignant statement, "I miss my father." This is the first and only time during this whole ordeal that Ansh has shown vulnerability and the desire to be safe and cared for once again. He has faced so much uncertainty with his mother on this trip, and not once had he complained or been anything less than enterprising and proactive in a bid to get her better. But he is a kid after all, and in his impassioned speech to Prashant, he let that slip out just a little bit.
Dubeys vs. Scindas: What a change!
In the beginning of the story, the Dubeys seemed like the ideal of principled and progressive people. They had rejected their son and cared only about Aarti and Ansh's happiness. At this time, the Scindias seemed like blood thirsty and regressive people who cared only about their image in society and a male child for their son. What a change!
Today the Scindias are genuinely concerned for Aarti, with SP refusing to eat and even Pankaj, who at first blamed Aarti completely, seeing only the immediate picture, coming around to the hard fact that Yash was also at fault and both of them needed a good talking to. There is so much "apnapan" in this family towards both Yash and Aarti equally, whether it be to worry about them or to call them out on their faults. I loved Pankaj's talk to Yash where it seemed like he was preempting Yash's tendency to sink into depression in a seemingly hopeless situation. They may have flaws and differing ideals, but there is no doubt that they are a family and a solid support system to each other, knowing each other well enough to be of real help in such a crisis situation. Vidhi wordlessly takes the responsibility of the girls while Yash and Aarti are gone, and Pankaj, sensing his brother's flagging morale, knew just what to say to get him pumped up again. It was really touching!
And on the other hand we have the Dubeys in an argument that is completely about their own respective, selfish desires for Aarti. Why argue about something abstract like Aarti uniting with Prashant, when she is concretely in a delicate medical condition, god knows where? Today I saw no concern for Aarti in Shobha, only the need to prove her point that Aarti would never forgive Prashant. On the other hand, Dubey was rebuilding his perfect family picture in his head with Aarti and Prashant reunited and Prashant taking charge of his son, Ansh. Dubey was projecting his desires onto Aarti and Shobha was projecting hers...neither of them seemed in the least concerned what would actually make Aarti happy. Would Aarti want to go back to either man after what they had put her through?
First with her husbands, and now with her families, I strongly believe that they are building up to a point when Aarti realises she can't depend on her relationships to provide her with purpose and direction: she has to do that for herself. These relationships exist between human beings and as such are constantly changing and changeable, based on motivations and desires. Aarti cannot find her own happiness solely in making others happy because their happiness is not only in her hands, it is influenced by so many other factors. She has to dig deep and find her own moral, emotional and intellectual compass so that she can steer her life the way she sees fit, and not the way others dictate through their behaviour or their words.
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