Posting in instalments today as things occur to me..
Writing about Vishaka the character is fraught with challenges.. we know so little.. we can assume so much and it is a character (mother) that is so vulnerable to interpretations and explanations. What I write below is a freewheeling thought open to discussion..
Since I see Vishaka as a character who is a woman first and then a mother, I would like to be guided by only what the story has shown to us so far.
Today's flashback about her dad and her stealthily coming into the room was there for a reason.
Vishaka either accepts that she has been a poor mother or she is not sure how to be a the mother that her father wanted her to be to Sameer...in either situation, the character portrayed her helplessness..
I often feel when we speak of the expectation of a good mother we are assuming that every mother has the instinct to be one..but is it inconceivable that sometimes a mother may not know how to be a mother, for instance when distance or misgivings rule a relationship, it may not necessarily occur to the person how to smooth the creases without forming new ones. Somehow I see Vishaka's character exhibiting that. I won't hazard a guess that a backstory will reveal it fully or the narrative will use the past and present to put forth the case..but for me she is an enigmatic character and while some of her actions belie a common sense approach to solving issues...I feel the writers have a plan.. I just wish they wrote Dadi better.. Kitu has been a disappointment but the writing is all coming across a bit strangely. If she is able to state in very clear terms that Sameer was unwelcome in the house earlier on...why is she trying so hard to be Janus faced now...Her own son does not want Sam in the home and Vishaka is already doing her bidding so where is the need for her to try so many underhand tricks to drive Sam out..UNLESS her motive is to make Vishaka send Sam away again? 😕
Arjun
