ARC & Bon : Products of the same patriarchal society they are against

Brilliant post and analysis. It was a joy to read. You have nailed it! Congrtulations!

What troubles me most about this track is that a young girl is penalised, shamed, and emotionally tortured just for admitting her budding desire for her husband, even while she is fully unaware of the nature of that desire. Instead of giving her a secure and safe space to grow amidst the confusing messages of society versus her own thought-process, ARC is crushing the blossoming bud, Bondita.

In Indian society, it was never okay for women to have desires, much less to express them. Bondita is a pure-hearted and innocent being, who is going through the normal process of physical and emotional puberty. Granted that ARC would feel uncomfortable at being the object of Bondita's infatuation mainly because she is underage and also because it is impossible for him to reciprocate her feelings, but instead of taking help of elderly female relatives, such as Bondita's mother,  ARC instead went into overkill in his reaction, which is excessive for several reasons:

1. To gang up on a young girl not yet in her teens, and shame her publicly for her devotion and attachment to her husband is just plain cruel

2. To distance himself from her so thoroughly was a shock, and to conscript the services of Bondita's own mother and to distance her from the two people who she trusted with all her heart is a sadistic travesty.

3. To commit polygamy under the guise of teaching young Bondita a lesson, when she is unable to comprehend her so-called mistake of being infatuated with her husband is revengeful and regressive.

4. To bring down the wrath and disapproval of then entire patriarchal society for no fault of her own is to crush all enthusiasm, creativity, and ambition in Bondita.

5. To hold Bondita solely responsible and punish her for society's regressive practice of child marriage, and its attending evils, is not only unjust but an irredemable act.

Under the guise of making Bondita "see the light" there are extreme steps that will neither "reform" Bondita, nor the patriarchal society in which is trapped.

Wow👏

U have done a great job penning down the reality buddy👍🏼

Its commendable how u have managed to summ up everything we all r feeling since last weeks😳

U have already covered everything I wanted to say...This is just a small addition from my side

ARC had once told Bondita 

"Apni kismat likhnewali kalam kabhi kisi aur ke haatho mein mat dena...Apni kismat khud likhna"

I somehow just want Bondita to remember this!!

Coz this is exactly what everyone is doing right now with that child..Taking away her right to choose her future and happiness.

I dont what end the makers have in mind for this track but for me the greatest lesson for bondita from all this should be that everyone can be wrong!!

Till now she had faith that her mother always says d right thing..Its time she realised her mom even though might love her beyond limits but does not always do or say the correct things for her life and future.

Bondita has repeatedly said to ARC" Mujhe pata hai aap mere saath kuch galat nahi kar sakte!!"

Time for this myth to break too..Becoz he has wronged her on multiple ocaasions.

This realization is my only hope from this track🤗

@ Toto Thank you for your kind words. You have summed up the situation very well indeed. I too hope that Bon remembers that she has to chart her own destiny with the help of her Durga Ma. No thanks to RC family or her husband.

Awesome buddy👏👏 u made all on point wat all running in discussion site as one post.... lovely yaar🤗

Originally posted by: tharsh1011

I would have hoped Bondita doesn’t choose either of ARC’s demands. Bondita should pick the third choice by refusing to accept ARC’s second marriage and not consenting to be sent to the hostel. She should stand her ground against ARC to show him the unfairness of his decision. Pave her own story when the one she called her universe, who promised to protect her even in the darkness has failed to save her from himself and the society. But alas, this is ITV, Bondita will make a choice that will justify Anirudh’s reasons. 

Point taken, even I would have advocated if Bon chooses to study while still staying back home. But the fact remains that Ani's intentions are noble. He is a young man himself with no Phd in psychology. His frustration is evident with the society who has actually ganged up against him and foiling whatever he had been doing to convince Bon, so he took extreme steps with little time left before her exams. Note how he had no option but to marry her to save her from the crowd about to burn her to ashes, even though he was committed to Mini and also detested child marriage.

We can justify freedom of choice all we want, but we are talking about an era when women had no choice at the first place. She could have as well been with her old scum of a first husband, probably getting tortured, maritally raped even before puberty and already pregnant at thirteen. Bon was rescued but thousands of other girls were still suffering that kind of fate, I am not exaggerating!

And, she is still not an adult and people have been making choices for her all her life, why not a good one? Didn't our parents choose for us when we didn't know any better? Remember how Geeta/Babita in Dangal complained about how strict their father was, while taking for granted that fathers in their society didn't care about girls at the first place?

Bon's education is not just about her, its also about showing colonial India that women can have a high profile education and excel in it. Ani wasn't looking for a project because he had free time, he saw potential in her and decided to encourage it. She now belongs to an influential family so what she does will be idolized, she has had an opportunity to get educated and pave way for the other poorer women to try to do the same, much like using the bathroom. Even today, when one rural girl scores in the boards, it inspires about a hundred others to allow their girls to study. She cannot and should not be saying that I will not study because I don't like it. 

Hi,

Brilliant post !

Ani talks so much about equality but he seems to forget that equality also involves a woman's freedom of choice. Yes Bondita is a child. She cannot be expected or allowed to make her own decisions but she is still a person and forcing everyone's decisions on her is also wrong. As u said it is Bondita who is bearing the brunt of everything. She is expected to be a wife and bahu unlike Ani who just has to assert once in a while that he is her husband. She is the one who is being hurt and shamed for things she can't even understand. Ani wants the best for her no doubt but he never seems to see her perspective. The crush she has on him is not her mistake but that of people around her. Ani too would have had a crush on Mini or someone else at the same age. Only that he wasn't married to his crush and being told by everyone he meets that he has to keep her happy. If Ani actually cared about Bon's education only he could have just put her up in a hostel without all this drama. She would be away from this toxic environment and would focus only on herself. What on earth Ani was thinking by marrying Mano I have no idea. If Ani had actually fallen in love with her and had waited for Bon to grow older and understand it and then marry her I would have liked the plot. But this just makes no sense. 

Hey, the long post is my belated rant after catching up 2-3 weeks of episodes.

Truth to be told, I'm as frustrated with ARC as I am with Bondita for all her irrational efforts to get ARC admit their relationship.

Bondita is still a child who is being treated as an adult by everyone except for ARC. I don’t expect her to be able to make her own choices. Hence, ARC is there as her trusted guardian.

Though his pain is evident, the extremeness of ARC decision to push Bondita to helplessness and loneliness for her betterment is just hitting to close to being inhumane. His approach to do something wrong to right another wrong is setting up wrong examples for future problems. It does not solve the core of Bondita’s issue.

Bondita’s conflicted by the taunts, the questions or the advice on marital relationships, she was compelled to endure. When she knew the harsh reality of their marriage followed by hurtful taunts about their relationship, she wanted validation from ARC. Her self-harm, lies, and stubbornness for ARC to accept their relationship was consequence of these insecurities.

He failed to understand Bondita’s plight as a child bride though he is very well aware the impacts of child marriage. The whole issue stemmed from her insecurities.

I hope ARC actions are not glorified in the end of the track. It sets a bad precedent

What a post! 🤗😎 You addressed everything in single post.. please send this to makers.. they ca borrow some sanity...