episode 232 it's a plant!

why do i give a damn?

 

  

why do you care?

 

 

a tiny little plant in a dark corner of the boot, its green alive leaves battling the shadows and visible but only just, that's what really caught my attention in this episode and seemed to leave an impression even deeper than a certain man looking rather dishy in the sunlight with his cold or whatever it was that ailed him.

the little plant touched my heart, i am extremely fond of gardens and plants myself, and the fact that the otherwise dry and deliberately brown grey black white man has such a connection with green, the colour of life of spring of resurgence, is not at all by chance i am sure. at an obvious and stated level plants and spending time with them connects him to his mother, but a gardener finally never fails to connect with the garden and its message.

it is an intensely personal relationship, between two sides, both alive, both breathing, both growing and communicating in ways that are really not easy to explain. if you feel it, you feel it.

arnav singh raizada has a tie with his plants which is as valid and visceral as his bond perhaps with his memories, even his pain and anger. this is his unconscious shout out to life, to beauty and joy... everything he at a conscious level has banished from his life. mistrusting them, angry with them. this says he yearns for all of that and gives hope when it all comes to him, he will open up to it, not shun it. and we did see, how ready he was getting to bloom when he finally understood why he gives a faraq for khushi. and khushi perhaps is the gardener who is going to care for him right and awaken a dormant seed of love lying deep in him... oh that one single plant can make one think of so many things and all beautiful really.

wondering at the number of bags she has packed for their short stay and not at all happy with it, he is taking out all the bags. very traditional is mr asr in this respect: he is the man, so he will carry heavy stuff... i can't say i am complaining.

he has just taken out the last of the bags and said "shaaat up" to khushi with a certain amount of relish, when she says,

"aur woh?" and that?

he peers inside and there sits the little plant in a ridiculous plastic pot.

for once he has no answers, no anger, just a "yeah?" this is not easy to understand, she has been mad at him for a while and that seems fine, the kind of reaction that can be rationally fathomed... he knows she is manipulating the situation, dragging him to her home, not to make him happy but to make him suffer a bit... she has shown every indication of that and he is quite comfortable with it.

because i believe this is a territory he understands.

friction, anger, revenge, he knows how they work... he also expects her to be in that space given the situation.

but this?

"woh... humne socha ki aapko yahan pe agar paudho ki yaad aayi toh... " er, i thought if you should remember your plants while staying here... and, lo and behold, she has brought one along just so that he is comfortable. she has her stars without which she is not happy... and a part of her - unguarded, fluid, undeniable - makes a connection which she can't look away from. she knows he will be uncomfortable here. ostensibly that is exactly what she wants.

but yet she carries with her a thing of comfort for him.

sometimes we can't even understand ourselves. i loved this insightful nature of ipk, this sussing of the human mind. of understanding emotions more intuitively. the writers, directors, actors, music and sound guys, everyone seemed to get it.

arnav singh raizada looks at his wife silently... a feeling deepening. she looks back and the emotions find her, feel her her, she feels them. some moments are indeed beautiful. they come right out and grab us.

the plant, a metaphor surely? for a relationship? needs love, care, soil water, sun, to grow to thrive. his plants, she has taken them and perhaps started owning his world, what he loves too, just as she has taken on his love for his sister and feels a complete responsibility toward it.

also, as she is planning his destruction... a simple little plant keeps their relationship nurtured, watered, still growing...

a beautiful moment segued to a small but striking gesture, she sort of held out her hands and he willingly handed her the plant. how much trust did that speak of and maybe even a dependence that has grown.

if ma's garden existed in the script at that time, we are headed toward it... i have often missed seeing him with his plants... it's his place and space of reverie, of being completely himself... when he destroys plants it hurts me but i know it's his way of loving, of owning, of expressing... he can't talk to everyone, he can't show his feelings to all... it's only with his plants he feels without fear and also senses his mother... primal love.

today he is willing to let a girl who gets on his nerves, a home breaker, one who has shattered his heart, take that plant... what does it say. lovely, isn't it?

a suggestion here again of khushi beginning to fill a space left bereft and in boundless emptiness after maa's going.

way back, he had known that it was she who had filled his office with plants in an attempt to reach him, to get him to take la back. she had cared like mad even then, she had known him instinctively even then, and he had responded, feeling that understanding, that empathy perhaps even then...

as he had held another, the only tell tale sign of her feelings, a tear drop rolling down a cheek...

and from him too a clear sign, that perplexed look... that deep and moving question flitting through him... why that tear, what hurts her? and why does it hurt him so much, that one lone tear?

today it's a lone plant, and it says things both so want to believe, so need to cherish. in 230 we spoke of "pehchan" and i had felt a time of knowing each other beyond what the rational plane dictates and crowds the mind with is coming up... there will be little slips and signs of love and feelings which neither can quite understand, nor can deny or refuse. the plant is definitely one of my favourites among these.

going back to the beginning of episode... doh aat din...!!! two eight days!!! man is exploding.

girl is smiling.

a game is on.

as a direct result of all the "love" talk on ittr and class, and thanks to a serendipitous phone call by amma, khushi has devised a plan to take him to her place and give him a taste of middle class life first hand.

by the time he comes home, it is fait accompli, well almost...

in the midst of all the oozing with sweetness fam talk and how this will be so good for him, he is fuming and says something so asr and matter of fact, you got to say, the guy has a point. he says, we live in the same city so what's the "matlab" of going and staying there?

di gives maika missing talk... and how he too has tied a rishtaa with her fam and must not ignore that. 

i am loving the back shots of asr being barun and not his not-at-all-like-asr double. such a pleasure to see the right ear, the perfect shape of head... the haircut. even behind star logo.

nice signature slouch.

"c'mon itna delay toh kar hi sakta hoon..." c'mon i can delay things by this much, can't i? he does "push back" in that very corporate way making me giggle and gets his way by insisting they will go only the next day. not today.

purposeful rolling of sleeves as di and nani leave... getting ready for a fight? always enjoy his interaction with his clothes... everything has a certain rhythm to it, a logic if you will. comes home, starts loosening tie, takes off jacket, rolls sleeves or takes off waistcoat... little touches of direction that say so many things... finicky, particular, likes to dress the part and oh when he gets back... tired... ready to come out of that day's shebang and refresh... despite its paucity and extreme meagreness, i liked his wardrobe... it said too, man was not wasteful and obsessed with things...

and how barun managed to look so hot with so few clothes, even pretty weird suits with piping, that i'll never know.

"swami!" says a pleased wife.

a man lunges forward, a finger lands on lips.

"kal tumhare saath chal raha hoon," i am going with you tomorrow, he starts...

music in, her eyes look up, dazed.

without thinking he has set his index finger against her soft tender highly erogenous zone... lips.

she is instantly aware, but his gussa needs to get out before the whole thing strikes him...

"ab mujhe iss naam se mat bulana... okay..." now don't call me by that name, okay... he snaps. anger is on, irritation in the way he nearly grinds his teeth...

then a second, as he looks at her a bit puzzled at her reaction... still angry, a move of the head and a velvet sort of "understood?"

(okay i am clutching keyboard, but valiantly typing... hai re my determination to "analyse" teehee.)

supremely aware of him, she nods an ok.

then at last, master's eyes lower to to take in the situation that gives cause for big big helpless helpless eyes.

lashes flicker, a realisation, music says madness of romance not of sanka.

at last, it all registers... he stands staring, then haltingly moves his finger away... embarrassed? moved?

her eyes always said more than her lips were ever allowed to, she follows the path of that finger mesmerised.

he sort of breaks the tie of that moment, but he looks at her bent head, his eyes filling with unnamed emotions, his scar on eyelid somehow more visible from this angle.

she looks shaken, not part of game this finger.

he turns away and leaves the room. things are too heated to just switch to yell scream... play.

at gh, all are going crazy preparing for damad ji's arrival. "ee sasure ko kahan phit kare bhai..." where to fix this thing, asks buaji. a gigantic contraption does bua ji pore over. the cooler. accident, or is it a sense of pursed lip humour which brings cooler straight after that hot scene?

a five year old cooler, that rarely works. "ka pharak padat hai garima... chhai phoot ka aadmi hai.. are chhat unchi karo toh kauno baat hai." bua ji speaks of his six foot height and avers, if one can raise the ceiling only then it might make a difference to their humble home.

what's this with asr being given extra height? why is tall so hot? napoleon was short... and i don't mind asr whatever his height, he stands tall because of his stature anyway, not his physical frame.

hai cooler dev... bua knows damad ji's dimaag is bahut garam, very hot, and must be kept shant, peaceful...

lovely scene. okay this is a melodrama mama fam, this is natural to them... and that utter chaos at the first visit of damad, happens in the most staid of fams too.

"toofan ki aayke chetavani ho..." we are clearly warned by the writers that a storm is on its way... we know to expect some "bomb shomb."

 
"nani ji... hum chalte hain," nani ji, i am going, says khushi

"chalte nahin kahat hai, kahiye, hum aate hain!" not going, say, i am coming, says nani to her tender sweet grand daughter in law. (i make my daughter say exactly that every morning, my mother did the same with me... we say, "aashi" when we leave home meaning, i'll be back.)

khushi is in tears. her home it is she leaves. and she has this sensitive soul, once she accepts you into her circle, you mean so so much. she is an orphan who responds beautifully to love, she needs the love, she needs to love.

a bit like a sunflower is she, hardy perhaps, but give a little loving and see how she blooms.

this is her home now, the circumstances of her marriage do not tarnish her sense of belonging. perhaps yet another tell tale sign of that love? to her her marriage is real, and she has a right here, the same as she would have if all had been well between her and asr and he had married her in happier circumstances.

he is watching her emotional hugs and bye byes.

an eyebrow must ascend, a face must move muscles. i think of harrison ford, the only other guy who could bring on that indescribable look at times. barun is as good, no just a beeet better. sorry harrison ji. hume maaf kar dijiye.

"haan toh theek hai, nahin jaate hain..." oh okay then, let's not go...  he can't take her kkgsr ishtyle leave taking. so cute.

"na boora lagega na yaad aaygi (neither will you feel bad, nor will you remember and feel bad)... we'll be fine." uff, how many times must i die this epi.

then comes asr style farewell... "see you guys," eyebrows up down, "well soon."

then comes mami encounter... and completely lunatic "knaaaldge" sharing. ghee oil phishing mad mami and hot bhanja with the cutest expressions... gimme more senseless talk though i know it's all loaded with some meaning which i'll never get.

"ebhry night dinner ke baad one goli..." she gives him tablets to be taken every night after dinner to fend off the attack of acidity from all the extra oil and ghee in the cooking at his in laws, a sign apparently of the special love for son in law.

well he does get some doses every night, only of a different med.

"okay." a resigned asr.

mami and kkgsr are the only two people i think who can leave him totally speechless.

in the car while going to gh, another little natak by his wife, she in triumphant mood.

she asks, will you have roti or paratha, traffic lights go from all green to only red. foot on break. all go to complete stop. it was funny but too pointed not too mean a thing. jerky, irritating... is it a frame of mind being indicated?

barun has started looking pale and a bit down, like he has a cold or something...

khushi talks nonstop to herself, he drives quietly next to her looking at her from time to time. intimate, private, asr khushi moments. so much has happened here. she refers to a few of those incidents. but there was also the silent raging desire after diwali... the concentrated feelings which pulsated, called for attention, but refused to name themselves.

car screeches to stop... as she had said... "out," says curt man as she had predicted.

"phir se?" again? she does drama, goes to leave.

"chup chaap gadi main baitho," sit quietly in the car, commands the irritated damad ji.

"seat belt!"

her bakbak and natak are getting to him.

"aaj mausam hai suhana maike jaane ka hai bahana

what the what the..." starts again.

babli and mami ji have an interesting chat about making "raaaberts" as in robots. will someone start behaving like a robot soon? is it anjali?

and out by the poolside an obscene water play is about to begin.
 

the soap games by snake and anjali.

when anjali provokes her yeh bhi na with a jet of water, he snaps, unmindful of his act in the desperation to find the soap with the key impression... and a tell tale slip of "unlove" from him,

"bas kijiye, anjali!"

no raani sahiba. oops.

she is mad at him and they play this unnecessarily suggestive hose pipe game, both throw water and make each other wet. there was a lot of sexuality in these scenes, much more than what we have seen between these two, i wondered why.

babli needs soap. and she finds it. nice key impression on a magically dry bar of soap... hai re continuity dev. and how come no one noticed babli and hp there... so big is the pool area, is it? or does it also change size depending on need, we know it flies everywhere. read about it here.

never mind, at gh, the whole mohalla is out to welcome khushi with her husband.

"hoi!" says the articulate businessman upon seeing the amount of luggage.

this was the day for barun's expressions...

"are you?... yahan ghar basana hai kya..." husky smoky voice. are you planning to settle down here?

"woh... humne..." she is lost, and strangely affected by him.

"shaat up!"

barun was perhaps not well, but he looked devastatingly and particularly handsome today. the sun caught his hair in a strange fascinating way, his eyes seemed browner, his cheeks a bit gaunt but oh what lines, and the light in his eyes... shaat up, indi.

......................

episodes of swami and 
taekwondo queen
episode rambles
fanfiction