Posted:
I saw a lot of Arjun bashing going on in the forum this week.
So just thought of playing Devil's advocate to see things from another pov.
As we all know,Arjun's character has been portrayed in such a way that he buckles under pressure.He is also extremely obedient and has never gone against his dad.
Arjun's love for Shefali :
The reason Arjun fell for Shefali was that she understood the pressure he was under and supported him.She introduced him to a new world with a fresh perspective.She was the only person with whom he could be himself,share his fears,his inadequacies and weaknesses .In short,she let him be himself.Her love gave him courage to rebel,albeit in a very small way,to rebel against his set norms and rules.Going to her house from a cricket match simply to be with her,lying to his dad and spending the night with an ill Shefali and caring for her and offering his car to her were,from his pov,huge acts of rebellion from his status quo.In short he was just coming out of his shell and starting to develop courage and her love gave him that courage.
Reaction to getting caught:
When he was caught,, it was the first time he was put in a spot and he had no idea how to handle it.Before he could recover he had Shefali declaring her love for him.To have his love story come out in front of his extremely strict and conservative family at 19 and see his father attempting suicide was his worst nightmare come true. Arjun behaved in a cowardly manner maybe,but he was equally overcome by terror and confusion.
What went wrong:
I strongly believe that discretion is the better part of valour. And there is a right time and place for everything.When certain things(like love) is revealed to parents before the relationship reaches its natural level of stability,it is bound to fall apart.It is natural for parents to overreact because they are afraid that their children may lose their way.It is important that such issues be conveyed to parents only after the people concerned are older,independent and mature.Then a much more mature reaction can be expected from parents.The children too would get the strength to stand up for their love once they are mature,independent and more mentally prepared. With due respect to Shefali's courage and gutsiness,I must say that her love declaration was a case of fools rushing in where angels fear to tread.
Maybe,if Shefali had simply said that Arjun had offered her the car since they were friends,it would have worked a little better.This would have invited bad consequences but would not have courted disaster for them.To be frank,Shefali's love declaration was bolt out of the blue for me too,mainly because the situation did not warrant it. Of course,Shefali is also young and probably got carried away.
Would Arjun have reacted differently if the revelation had come a few years later?
I believe that if Arjun had been given time and space he would have confronted his dad and his family and stood up for Shefali. But this would have happened 4-5 years later.19 was too early for him.It is also very likely that his family would have acted a little differently.Before condemning Arjun's reaction outright,one also has to look at his support system and family circumstances.
Arjun has a dad who puts a mountain of pressure on him.Failure is unacceptable in his household.Plus he has relatives who are ultra conservative which has made his thought process the same way.Arjun,in short,has no friends.No one can he can share his feelings/fears with(except Shefali,of course).
Comparing him with Naina,who has a similar family background and pressures.But she has Preeti,her friend,sister,confidant,supporter and shield.Anytime Naina is in a spot,Preeti covers for her.Then she has Munna,Pandit,Swati,Kamya and Hema who form her second level to support.They give Naina the strength to fight for her love.Arjun has no support system.
Let us now compare him with Sameer. Sameer has been a rebel since childhood,hence speaking his mind and going against rules comes naturally to him,unlike Arjun.No doubt,Sameer is more courageous than Arjun by nature.But the same Sameer could not even face Naina and apologize to her after the bet. He might have become a second Arjun,but his Nanu's strength and guidance prevented this.Without judging Sameer for his actions and with unspoken words his Nanu understood his predicament and showed him the right path.If not for Nanu's sound and sage advice, Sameer would also be in the same place as Arjun.
In a nutshell,I would say,Arjun was wrong for not standing up for Shefali.But I do believe his love was true and given time he would have certainly stood up for her.His reaction was a function of his upbringing,inherent nature and circumstances. Shefali's untimely revelation of their love was also quite uncalled for and she certainly had a small role to play in this whole fiasco.Let us not judge Arjun too harshly,He is after all,just a teenager in love whose dreams suddenly turned into a nightmare.
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