Mayank and Gunjan

Mayank and Gunjan - so similar, yet so different.
Mayank - studious, serious about life, about work, studies, wanting to achieve something in life.
Gunajn - studious, serious about her work, her studies, feels college is the time to make the foundation of her life. So it seems she wants to achieve something as well.

So similar ... but are they really so?

Mayank - quiet, but supremely confident, to the point of being arrogant. Has a single parent, but she is a great support, is a friend as well as a mom, is supportive, teases him enough to lighten up his seriousness, but fails to get rid of it completely. She is the source of his confidence - she is proud of her son and she shows it. But maybe having a single parent, in modest circumstances, has made Mayank older for his age and being a boy, he has this thing inside him - often seen in Indian men, a protectiveness towards his mother, a need to grow up quickly so that he can support her instead of the other way around. An alpha male ? I don't know what that is, so can't say. But definitely a man-boy, older than his years and who has probably forgotten to have too much fun in his life because of the responsibilites weighing him down.
Why, though, does he feel the need to hide his emotions? Is it because he feels his mother has enough to cope with and he can't burden her more? Is it the male protectiveness in him, or just the very male view that men have to be strong and silent, with the proverbial stiff upper lip.

Gunjan - studious, serious, quiet. Brought up by a dominating sister and aunt - Bui and Nupur are identical twins in that department, so she never really gets a chance to speak. Nupur is protective of her younger sister, almost overly so, so Gunjan grows up timid and shy, never speaking for herself because her fiercely protective sister is always there to do so for her. In spite of the fact that Gunjan is more intelligent than her sister. But is her underconfidence also due to the fact that her older sister, apart from being protective, is also the diva of the small town they live in? Nupur is also beautiful, vivacious, flirtatious, and has a long line of admirers, while Gunjan, quiet, bespectacled Gunjan has none. No wonder her self-esteem is so low, no wonder she hides behind her books. All the adulation, the admiration is reserved for her sister, she is is just little padhaku Gunjan who needs to be sheltered and protected because she is motherless and timid. Add to that, the fact that in a small town, for a girl to be bookish and intelligent is no big deal, is even looked at askance - girls are brought up to be married, and who will marry a chashme vali ladki who is only interested in books? A recipe for low self-esteem. But inspite of that, she has a core of steel, a strength born of her ideals and convictions, her values of what is right and wrong - maybe a little too idealistic in today's world, but that's her. And her innate kindness and gentleness probably hides the fact that she can be very ziddi in her own quiet way.

Does she hide her feelings? Yes, definitely. The only person she confides in, is her sister, who is both mother and sister to her. She sheds tears easily, usually on her sister’s shoulder, but then pulls herself together and tries to move on. But to the rest of the world, she doesn’t show her feelings, maintains a still, almost expressionless face. She’s been troubled enough, teased enough. And she knows that her sister will shield her from the worst, will go to bat for her in front of their dragon aunt, their Bui, but will then have to face the firing line for her, and Gunjan doesn’t want anyone getting into trouble for her sake. So she tries to avoid confrontation as far as possible, she hides her feelings. But her eyes speak … and the only person who can read them is Samrat.

Diffference between boy and girl? Mayank's studiousness, his intelligence makes him confident, arrogant, sure that what he's doing is always right because it is thought out and planned.
Gunjan's studiousness and intelligence is overshadowed by her timidity and low self-confidence because of her dominating and over-protective sister, added to that, the contrast between her sister's many admirers, and her none - which is really what counts in a small town, not the number of trophies she gets. Her strength comes from the love she has got from her sister and father, but her timidity comes from the fact that she is the baby of the house and has never been allowed to grow up and face any difficult situation on her own. Till a whirlwind called Samrat blows into her life and forces her into them.

So Mayank and Gunjan are inherently similar, but their personalities have been moulded into very different shapes by their circumstances. So could they ever have been a couple?

I think not. I can see a relationship between Mayank and Gunjan as one of brother and sister, a brother as protective as Nupur is a sister, one who recognises the essence of Gunjan's character, and also the source of her insecurities, and will always be protective about her, but in a brotherly way. Mayank needs the fire of Nupur to set him off, to bring the spark into his life. Life with Gunjan would be boring. He would dominate her, she would quietly listen to what he said, recognizing yet another strong immovable personality in her life. She can’t confront, she hates confrontation. Gunjan similarly needs the fun, the laughter, the teasing of Samrat to bring her out of her shell - he is as protective about her as Nupur, but the difference is he doesn’t want to keep her cocooned. He helps her go out and face the world, he recognizes her fears and by recognizing them, shows her they’re nothing to be ashamed of. On top of that, he's madly in love with her and it shows almost from the start. Definitely from the time of Gunjan finding out about the bet.