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Hi YHMians
I took a leave from the forum for past two days coz I was reading Custody. Finished it today morning and then thought of sharing my views on the book here with you all.
Custody is never a love story as you all know. The simple message the book gives is however hard you try, once the normal structure of a family is broken it is the children who suffer most and however hard you try you can't protect them from its harmful effects. There are two kids in the novel Arjun(Aditya in the show) and Ruhi. According to the book the age difference between them is about 8 yrs. Hence the author shows clearly how it affects the two children.
Here is my take on the book character and their current position in the show :
Arjun/Adi the elder one is not able to accept the fact that his mom and dad are no more together. However he is attached to his mom very much and is loyally devoted to her. He fails to accept the other people in his parent's life be it Ashok or Ishita. The change disturbs him as he fears what his friends might say to him. It affects his studies. He was a topper in science and Maths coz his father taught him but now without him he failed and he cannot turn to his friends because they looked up to him till now. He stops going to school and Ashok decides he would join the boarding school in which he himself studied. He wanted to mould Arjun/Adi like him become a tougher and competitive man. Arjun/Adi who wanted to escape from the chaos that was his family declared the boarding as his refugee. Once he went their, he cared less about the family and became a part of the academy. The academy is a student fraternity sorority kind of thing. This factor brings Arjun/Adi and Ashok closer. But that is far away from the bonding of a dad-son but atleast the solidarity of the brotherhood helped them to get along. Slowly with the less frequent visits to his father that Shagun took care of as a return of not sending Ruhi to her, Arjun lost that connection from his father. Or even before when his mother taught him that his father would take him away from her and never let him meet her, he stayed away from Raman. Not only Raman, he never opened his heart to anyone even his mother. He became much more matured than his age and lost his childhood and innocence. In the book, there was no instance of Arjun/Adi being a brat but yes he behaves rudely to Ishita and turns Ruhi against her. He never cared for Ruhi. She was a stupid whining girl for him but he knew his mother wanted Ruhi and made sur ehis efforts were there for that purpose. He scared and confused Ruhi and not even once had an emotional attachment to his sister. Arjun/Adi looked like his mother. He was way too handsome and his mind was equally vicious as his mother as Ishita thinks. But in a way all he saw was plotting and calculations and mind games. He ebbed them and became the ruthless and selfish person as he grew up. The show adds modern aspect to this version of the story
Ruhi : She is the most positive and innocent character in the book just like the show. But Ruhi in the book is not so confident or resembled Shagun. She was an ordinary child who resembles Raman to the T. She was just 2 when her mother left Raman. Initially Shagun took both kids and went away with Ashok. She stays away from Raman because of the false threats from Shagun but as a kid his love breaks her inhibition unlike Adi. When she is four, Shagun leaves her with Raman as she was getting married and moving to NEw York with Ashok. Ashok wasn't keen on children in general. Adi was a grown up so he didn't need attention. But Ashok was never really interested in Ruhi. The separation of the kid from her mother made her a withdrawn child. Raman did everything but with his workload and solitude whatever he did the space of a mother ws not filled. She met Ishita when she was four. Ishita loved Ruhi and they had that connection as in the show. With Raman-Ishu's marriage Ruhi benefitted a lot. She found a mom in Ishita. Ruhi's admission showed the trauma the kid was suffering from. She couldn't answer simple questions like whats your mother's name. With Adi's intervention and Shagun's visitation rights Roo was confused as to who was her mother. She felt disturbed had bad dreams and wetted her bed. Ishita beautifully supported her and explained the complexities of marriage and divorce to her in simple words. Ruhi had feelings for Shagun her biological mother but in Ishita lied her happiness. With Ishu's training she manages to tell the court that she would like to stay with Ishita. In the end Ruhi who couldn't answer a simple question in a school interview was transformed into a kid of age 7 who tells the judge that she wants to be with Ishita and not Shagun. The kid deserved better but atleast she had someone like Ishu on her side.
Ishita : Initially a feeble and weak girl, she compromises with her desire to study and work and becomes a dutiful wife to Suryakant (Subbu). After 2 yrs of marriage her infertility is discovered nd the love in her life disappears all of a sudden. Instead of fighting, Ishita hates herself and surrenders to her fate getting a divorce. Then comes the next phase where she works for an NGO and finds herself. Losing all hopes of marriage, she looks for an adoption. Amidst this her mother Mrs. Rajora (Mrs. Iyer) tries to get her married. The frustration and anguish of Ishu and her family is similar to that of the show. Her mother and Raman's mother creates situation for her and Raman to meet. Ishita connects with Ruhi and Raman and Ishu naturally become friends. And one night when Ishu accompanies Ruhi to her home, there starts a fling between her and Raman. It develops into a relationship and they get married in a court. Ishita found in Raman the excat opposite of her ex, Suryakant/Subbu who was a mumma's boy in its bad sense and who never showed anything more than conventional love. Raman on the other hand considered and treated her like an equal. He even made her open up in the bed and Ishu found a new life with Raman. Her timidness was loved and her devotion was respected and complimented by Raman who got a cold shoulder all these years from his ex-wife. Together they completed each other, and were definitely soulmates. Ruhi and Raman becomes the centre of her life. And when Shagun comes as a threat to take Ruhi away and disrupt this family Ishita fights by all means. She even renamed Ruhi to Roopi considering astrological significance. She who refused to wear a pearl to have a kid in her first marriage left no stone unturned. Unlike the show she hated Adi even though she felt guilty about it. But her insecurities were such that she didn't care if it was fair. She kept Ruhi away fom shagun and was relieved with less visits of Adi. The only think that pushed Ishita to the extremes was her fear of losing Ruhi. Otherwise she is a good wife and mother and a daughter-in-law. Ishu's character in the show is actually a more positive one and confident too which is well executed by DT. Her character is what draws her to everyone.
The striking feature of Ishu is not her beauty but her smile dunno if DT does that warm smile deliberately or if it was why she was cast for the role. Somehow I love the show's Ishu more than the book's who is not as clear and confident as the show. Thnk the writers for the change. 😊
Raman : After reading the book, you can never blame the CVs for showing majbur Raman becuase that is what he is throughout the end. Raman was named after Lord Ram by his mother and he is actually as righteous as Ram. He loved his family a lot and would do anything for them. Shagun's betrayl made him a bit cold and bitter person but he never crossed limits unlike the Raman in the show. He was helpless (majbur) and so broken that he got a heart-attack. He didn't want this for his children and even detested the idea of wiritng things about Shagun int he court statement. But situations made him let things take their course. Raman even tried to forgive Shagun fort he kid's sake but she didn't want that. In the end he hated Shagun as he saw everyone who loved and whom he loved was in pain just because of her. Meeting Ishu was a welcome change and his life found order again but at the cost of his son. Even Ishita knew that when it came to Adi there was no use of saying anything to him because he was blinded by love to a son who never let him in his life. In the book there is a point when Raman realises that he never actually took notice of the warmth and unquestionable love of her daughter while he was busy in deliberately trying to win the love of his son. The Raman in the book declares that if ever his life gives a second chnce he would never be the one who worships his wife. But after meeting Ishita, the way she held back herself made Raman to take the lead. With Shagun who was an exotic beauty Raman was the one who took every pain to let her know how much he loved her or tired to please her but she remained an ice queen according to him. But without any of his efforts Ishita was already showering her love on him coz she was cured of the rejection that she faced in life by him. With Ishita he knew his daughter was in good hands and he felt himself responsible for the situation that Ishita was in because of his strained marriage. Even in the end Raman is not ready to let go of Adi as we can read from Ishu's thoughts that he could believe the myth that he played a part in Adi's life being a father but he was not. Raman was such an idealist that he could not see what was inf ront of him. Reading the book, I appreciate even more KP's acting skills. He portrayed every emotion of Raman to perfection. His untimely outburst on Ishita for some other emotional turmoil. His inability to understand Ishita's insecurities and at times knowing her pain without even voicing them is all well emoted on-screen. Take a bow KP!! 👏
And last but not the least, Shagun and Ashok : Shagun is a character with various shades to her character. Married early and unsatisfied with an ordinary life, she falls in love with Ashok. Ashok is the one she connects with. The enigmatic personality of Ashok draws her towards him. She loves her children but the thing is she devoted all her attention to Adi as a loyal mother but then came Ruhi. She was impatient and couldn't devote the time and attention that kid needed. Meanwhile she met Ashok and left Ru in a play school before she was even 2. She is too self-centered that she couldn't see the effect of her actions on her kids. She didn't plot against Raman or Ishu unlike the show but her solidairty with her son was mostly to keep him at her side. She may have the love for Adi but then again never more than that for herself. She left the kids with Raman for a divorce and by the time had already managed to turn Adi against Raman. Then she planned to comeback for them and in Adi's case he was already in the boarding school. But Ruhi needed time and she was not ready for it. She feared if her attention towards the kid woudl affect her second married life. Ashok who was a man who got whatever he wanted in his life was proud to conquer someone like Shagun, He was in love with her but her repeated worries about her kids irritated him. With his persuasion, Shagun started working but that couldn't take her mind off Ruhi. She loved Ruhi or atleast she said somay be in fear that not wanting her would make her a bad mother. And even if she had some blood ties with her daughter she didn't have it in her to give the attention and love to Roo like a real mom. In the end we see she was starting to get bored with her new lfie too but atleast it was better than that with Raman she believed. Ashok Khanna was Raman's boss and had the audacity to woo his wife. A womaniser before meeting Shagun, he was a tough and shrewd businessman. He held nothing against Raman but Shagun's brooding over her past irritated him after their marriage. He didn't care much about Shagun's feelings as compared to Raman and Ishita and mostly liked to flaunt her around. One of the reason for Shagun's loss of Ruhi's custody was Ashok's absence from the court hearing. Ashok loathed Indian values and customs and was equally a sefl-centered man like Shagun.
Thats all from the book. Mr. Bhalla and Mr. Iyers characters though small in the book but were similar to the show. Unlike the show Ishu-Raman relationship was physical and then emotional. Lets see how it unfolds from emotional to physical in the story.
PS : The book says Raman taught oral s** to Ishita 😲 😳 😆 😆 😆. Is this why PH wanted a 11 pm slot 😉 😆 Just kidding but it was in the book and I felt like telling you all if you survived reading this longgg post!! 😆
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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