lemon.
what
if life served up a lemon, as in a real bad deal, what would you do?
that is in essence what i enjoyed in the two episodes following the
fascinating coming out of the closet of miss sanka. at a time when that
phrase has come to mean something completely different, madam gives an
all new spin to it. still laughing madly at the mere thought of the
scene,
that's
what always got me about her, complete unpredictability. don't give up.
don't fall back, keep thinking on your feet, and keep moving, then go
ahead... act. something or the other will work out, hey dm. and if not,
just scoot.
so, after meeting her favourite rakshas whom she can't leave alone and go away from "hamesha ke liye,"
and all the upheaval of him catching her, metaphorically as well as
literally, the tension of confrontation, the irritation of being
interrupted by a possessive la, plus the thick swarming of emotions
within as a result of not knowing what's getting to her really but
something certainly is, khushi decides the way out of this situation is
to concentrate on the work at hand and get into the party mood.
of
course, as she rolls out the cake and lights candles, a slither is
heard off screen and on the pretext of unwell nonexistent friend in
need, shyam disappears. so it is, that despite brother's best efforts
anjali is left feeling sad and forlorn on her big day. he notices the
situation immediately of course, tries his best to make her feel better.
no one matters to me more than you, are you ok? anjali tries to handle
the difficult situation, but her heart is down. poor girl is close to
tears despite all the love showered on her by her fam.
this
is not lost on khushi. she'd been eagerly waiting to see anjaliji's
husband, then he just vanished. but the state anjali is in touches
khushi. mind you, she's just been through troubles of her own, yet, she
can't bear to see that crestfallen air. to think of others when your own
home is not so sunny and warm, nice thing, isn't it? and not to barge
in and start giving advice... even nicer.
she
walks up to anjali a bit hesitant, apologises for intruding. anjali
warms to the tone and words. khushi is offering something her bro
possibly can't, a certain empathy... a girl's pov. a girl, moreover, who
believes in love, in marriage, unlike her brother. and then khushi says
her little thought on the issue.
quite a philosophy on relationships, really.
"zaroor unhe koi zaroori kaam hoga... hai na?"
he must have had some important work, she starts off, suggesting if it
hadn't been so why would he even dream of leaving his lovely wife.
"ye
cake katna, uphaar dena, party, ye sab toh upari cheezen hoti hai. asli
cheez toh rishton ka atoot bandhan hai... ek pati patni ka rishta...
jisse koi riti riwaaz, koi rasam, ya chahe kitni bhi paise kharch kyun na
kare... iss sab ki koi zaroorat nahin padti... usski shakti toh pati
patni ki aankhon mein hoti hai... unki chupi main hoti hai... aur
mushkil waqt mein chehre pe muskurahat laane mein hoti hai."
all
this cake cutting, gift giving, party, these are superficial things
really. the real this is the unbreakable tie of a relationship... the
relationship of a husband and wife... which doesn't need any customs and
rituals, or spending of big money, its strength lies in the eyes of the
partners, in their silences, and in bringing a smile in times of
difficulty...
as
khushi said these words, i started melting, so how would poor anjali
have a choice. daljeet was lovely changing from the despondent girl to
one gaining strength, beginning to feel like herself.
khushi at
her most resolved, beautiful, convinced, convincing, sanaya spectacular
in portraying this innocence and ingenuity. her beautiful lilting voice
spectacularly well modulated in this scene. and how lovely her wide,
fearless smile, eyes clear... untouched by the material world, spirit
shining through.
having got her point across, khushi wants to
make sure that nothing spoiled it, she goes in for the icing on the
cake, reminding me of the flambe of red flying dupatta at the end of the
closet sequence. ah these ipk finishing touches.
a little teasing but inordinately tender and light, she said, "kyunki humne toh suna hai, aapke pati aapse bahut pyaar karte hain..." because i have heard your husband really loves you a lot...
and
out comes the loving trusting wife's smile, her husband's life means
the world to her, and this young girl puts her back gently in touch with
that feeling of being loved. in that instant, the beginning of another
unbreakable tie, between khushi and anjali. they take their first steps
together on the way to becoming the two most important people in asr's
life.
i
loved khushi's deep understanding of relationship. it is indeed a bit
above and beyond the sanction of rituals and customs. which is why the
later khushi, who loved her arnavji possibly more than she loved
herself, yet couldn't accept her relationship without rituals, seemed
odd. especially since asr said they were legally wedded. i bet in the
original plot, the story was somewhat difference. the girl who had a
valid point against crackers one diwali was saying just the opposite the
next year. same with riti riwaaz and marriage. khushi loved the idea of
marriage and its customs, if asr devised it on his own to make her
happy, one thing, but what was shown was strange, if we are to believe
in these beautiful characters that make us think and feel so happy.
khushi
is managing to make anjali happy, a job asr depends on himself for. he
sees her doing this, she's taken aback, immediately worried. doesn't
take a second for him to unsettle her completely, get under her skin.
same with him, looks as though he wants to say something but, ah, the
words just don't come. "usski
shakti toh pati patni ki aankhon mein hoti hai... unki chupi main hoti
hai... aur mushkil waqt mein chehre pe muskurahat laane mein hoti hai."
the smile has been brought back, though the relationship is still
sitting quietly in a closet behind lots of brown black grey navy blue
and refusing to come out.
of
course, where there's smile, there's bound to be some tears too. and so
it is that mami decides to go for the lemon tactic. akash's dreamy eyed
looks at poor (literally) payal must be stopped. for this gupta sisters
must be removed from the equation. kareka padi. so here's a little
nasty twist, turn, and squeeze, and then before all, especially the
manager, cry "lemon!!! the sweets have failed quality control, they are
sour." mami, what an inspired trick, did you get it from the volkswagen
ad?
just
as the one word headline of this ad went on to reveal in the copy, this
car is, if anything, of the highest quality, so did mami ji's juicy ploy
prove beyond doubt the sheer quality of khushi. of course, nani ji had
watched her with anjali and had a fair idea of this premiumness of
khushi by now. in the following episode more of that. poor mami, i do
understand her panic, but the trick, hai re nand kissore.
episode 59 here onward.
two girls
were in a bit of a mess.
first, khushi.
whose sweets had just been called no
good by mami, and the manager seemed clueless and cowered enough to
accept this without even bothering to check the full order. strangely,
nor
did khushi and payal. guess the accusation came as such a shock,
delivered as it was with crass abrasiveness, and also the order was so
precious, that both girls lost their ability to think
straight. into a state of panic they flew. what was to be done now?
buaji's bangles sold, all the money spent, babuji's shop mortgaged, and
now this.
second, lavanya.
she'd come to stay at shantivan just a couple of days ago. nani had been
giving her a hard time. she sort of knew this might happen and had
promised herself she'd try and adjust. because she wanted asr badly. but
today, her character dheela number completely threw nani and she let
her have it in her own regal, disdainful manner, indicating that if
anyone's character was loose it was lavanya's. lavanya was terribly
hurt, there had even been talk of her upbringing and manners the morning
before. so yes, she was in a mess. plus she had seen khushi in the
house, that too with asr... in a bit of a clinch. maybe her sixth sense
picked on the attraction that no one was ready to face. so she was even
disturbed about that.
both girls were not expecting any of this
and it hit them hard. the difference was in the way they dealt with the
situation. attitude. makes all the difference, doesn't it.
the
small town girl, with her crazy, clearly not trendy clothes, pretty
helpless at this moment, was in tears. and then from inside her, an
essential khushi asserted itself. the way it had the night her sister's
wedding was ruined, and the day after the guest house incident, slowly
her anger came in. oh yes, just like the man she hated, there was a
clear and necessary place for anger in her life. it helped her fight off
feelings of defeat and get back into life. post which, came the "only
khushi," (to borrow from another ad campaign: "only vimal" 
) moment, a reach out for all things necessary to make jalebi. and the battle began. payal tried her best to stop her, "nahin khushi yeh hamara ghar nahin hai, khushi..."
not our house, khushi... don't even think about it. uh huh, madam was
focused, fast and furious. and of course many of us connected ha ah not
her house and kitchen? well, we'll see.
note
the change of expression on her face. i was very very impressed. this
is the kind of girl i'd like my daughter to be. yes, their are troubles
in life, but what the, go out there and fight them. key thing though,
don't lose yourself.
nani and anjali found mami's allegations impossible to believe. "arre toh ka hum jhoot bole rahen hain?"
of course, mami lied but when nani and mami saw khushi refusing to give
in and go for it, jalebi mountain ready in minutes, they couldn't help
but laud her attitude. the quality of khushi came out looking really top
notch. mami sulked.
this time, anjali helped khushi. go serve
the jalebis, she advised her, forget what's happened. as khushi offered
jalebis, he came up to her, you could see him approaching slowly, but
when she saw him, again, he kept quiet, didn't or couldn't say what was
on his mind. he had heard nani say earlier, "anjali bitiya, khoosi se batiyake aapke chehre ka rang thoda theek hui gawa hai, hai na?"
and she had seen that he'd noticed. but neither said anything, nor made
major gestures. again that "chupi" between people who are tied with
forever strings. delicate, finely detailed "knowing" of each other.
lovely.
confident, smart, fashionable big city girl lavanya on
the other hand, decided to run away from her troubles into champagne. no
harm, i'm a great one for this path. but really, was it the right thing
to do given that her boyfriend has specifically told her alcohol is
not allowed in the home, that tonight is super important to him, nothing
should spoil it? and yes nani is being nasty but di and mami are firmly
on her side, asr is defending her right to be herself. then? attitude
again. one will go right up to trouble and try and quash it with her
anger and hard work. the other will try to face things but soon enough
give in and try the escape from it all route.
i
asked myself what if khushi learnt to drink alcohol as she went along,
and one day at a time of awful stress she downed some booze, got
sloshed. how would she behave? whatever she may or may not do, i
thought, she'd never ever speak to an elder the way lavanya spoke to
nani. what was that? she walked in as nani praised khushi, and started
off about herself. how about me, am i good? not receiving the answer she
sought, the ridiculously insulting, "ye nani har waqt miss kassya miss kassya... you know what it's kashyap... kashyap..."
this nani all the time goes miss kassya miss kassya... you know it's
kashyap... and some pretty vulgar hand gestures too along with it. nani
was shocked but held her own. asr was angry. i thought this one needed a
serious conversation with la, regarding how he views his grandma, and
her place in the house. but no, asr was mad at her for ruining di's
party. and she even tried to justify her drunken collapse, blaming
nani... so essentially, she thinks she was justified. drink, yes, get
drunk, by all means, but address a grandma thus?
i understand,
di's happiness and the party are a big issue. but, no asr, the way nani
was spoken to was a bigger one here. somewhere i couldn't agree with the
stern reprimand to apologise to everyone. there should have been more. i
had said in an earlier comment, before seeing the episode that i could
sympathise with la. but now i wonder. yes she reaches nani's room with a
contrite expression, but who could blame nani if she refused to be
mollified. and really la, is that how you address elders?
i
understand, things had to be brought to a head for the entry of khushi
into shantivan, but somehow this left a bad taste. anjali, mami, are
trying to make nani somehow forget and forgive, speaking of la being
younger. etc. ridiculous. nani has a good answer, don't teach me about
chhota bada... that girl khoosie, she's younger
than lavanya even... unme akkal kahan se aai, woh bhi toh aaj ki hai... where did she get her wisdom from? she's also a modern girl...
"baat umar ki nahin hai, parvaris aur sanskaar ki hai." not a question of it's about upbringing and respect of tradition are.
with due respect, naniji, i'd like to suggest, it's really about attitude.
sanaya was superb through 58 and 59.
anjali
was mad at shyam and when he returned, couldn't help but express it.
shyam did major drama, finally uthak baithak holding his ears, ugh... she of course forgave him and asked after his friend. the more things change the more they remain the same.
mami ji redeemed herself in my eyes by delivering a killer dialogwa, "humka kya black daag kaata hai, ki joo mein rehkar hum loin ke saath eyes spice khele?" have i been bitten by a black dog that i will live in the zoo and play "ice spice" with the lion?
......................
fanfiction
