30/4 - 241 ... Trying to Forget

Monday 30th April

I was moaning over the weekend about Arnav having forgotten that he was supposed to have conflicting emotions for his wife, and seems the cv's heard me. So Bitwa is presented with a stark reminder that he's supposed to hate his wife, not love her ... and he goes ballistic ... but not quite. The big difference - he can't quite bring himself to be as cruel and vicious as he used to be ... he can't even talk to her ... so he tells her to stay out of his way, or else he will ... will what? What's stopping him from lashing out at her as he did earlier?

Maybe the fact that he thought she hid his file, only to realize almost immediately that she didn't, maybe the memory that he accused her of stealing his car parts, only to realize that she didn't ... maybe the slow, subconscious realization dawning that he has misjudged her on previous occasions, could this possibly be another one .. even though the evidence is so damning? For once, it seems he doesn't want to believe his eyes, wants to forget that damning piece of paper, wants to forget that terrace scene ... and while he tries desperately to forget, he doesn't want to see Khushi either, because he doesn't want to say anything he might regret.

Again saw a huge resemblance between Buaji and Khushi, the way they both try to cheerfully sweet-talk the obnoxious in-laws and pretend there is nothing wrong. Obnoxious in-laws were exactly that - obnoxious.

Liked Khushi in the kitchen, trying her best to keep her tears and upset at bay ... and wondering what exactly she had done to drive Arnav into such a rage so suddenly ...

Needed some more continuity and clearer dialogues between Arnav and Aman - need to re-watch, because it wasn't very clear till the end what Arnav was trying to do ... was he trying to confirm that the dulha was his employee before he fired him?

All in all, a fairly decent episode, the cv's remembered they have a story and our leads are in the middle of a big MU.

*edited*
(today is a holiday here, so will edit in bits as I get the time)
Arnav's remembers Khushi's friends saying she's remembering her wedding and his fb's of the reality... regret, guilt, sorrow for what could have been ...
then Buaji comes in with his file, and Arnav tries to forget the memories and Khushi and gets busy in work ... (rather abrupt changeover) ... and remembers he had another file ... starts looking for it, remembers Khushi's words and jumps to completely erroneous conclusion that Khushi has hidden it ... so fragile still is the level of trust between them ... starts turning things upside down to find where she could have hidden it, and then discovers that she hadn't after all. And a flicker of regret that he misjudged her yet again ... sees the wrapping paper poking out of a drawer, and probably in an attempt to right the mess he created in his unjustified annoyance, he starts to replace it properly. And realizes that it's a used paper, been folded and kept carefully for re-use ...
(A very realistic touch - I used to keep old wrapping papers for re-use for ages, now I keep gift bags for re-use ... my contribution to recycling and saving the environment.)

And he smiles at the pagalpan of his biwi (I often wonder did Arnav actually go through tough times after being thrown out of his home, or is his bitterness more about betrayal alone) ... and makes to replace it ... till he sees the card ... 'Dear Khushiji, with love from Shyam' ... and suddenly remembers what he's been in danger of forgetting the last few days while he was falling in love with his wife all over again ... She's a cheat, she betrayed him, she's in love with Shyam, not with him ...

Prretika's baraat arrives, complete with obnoxious in-laws, who lose no time in making comments about the small hall, the crowd, the juice in steel glasses ...
Buaji and Garima try to smooth things over, inlaws are not appeased, Khushi tries to do the same in her usual friendly chirpy manner, again to no avail ... and is told to keep quiet by BG, because her attempts are not working. More obnoxious inlaw comments ... more smoothing over by Buaji ...

Arnav back in his own private hell ... trying to forget that he loves a girl who loves another man ... Khushi comes to call him ... and reminds him again of the worst moment of his life ... when he saw Shyam hugging her on the terrace ...
She's worried at his silence, maybe sensing something wrong already, even without seeing his face ... 'Kya hua? Aap thik toh hain?'
And when he turns around to face her, the rage in his eyes is back, and she sees it immediately and her voice falters ... a much softer, uncertain, almost scared 'Kya hua? Batayie na?'
(Again, one of things I love best about Sanaya - her voice modulation ... the sudden change in tone)

Maybe he would have burst out at her again ... but sounds indicate the arrival of the baraat ... and he reins back his anger ...
'Why are you so angry?' ... and then remembering the last time she saw him, the scene with her friends questioning her about their marriage, the half-truths she told ... is he angry because of what she said? 'It's because of what my friends ...'
He doesn't want to get angry, to lose his temper, not now, with the baraat at the door outside ... maybe he also needs some time to think ... he misjudged her twice over recently ... did he misjudge her again ... but his temper is too hot to allow him to think clearly, the memories brought on by that piece of card are too sharp ... and for the first time, Arnav shows signs of actually controlling his anger, by pushing her out ... he will not talk to her right now, he wants to be left alone ... the memories are too piercing, he knows he will lash out again ...
She persists, confused again at the sudden change of mood, the sudden rage, what is the reason ... 'Why are you so angry with me? It was them who started the talk ...'
'Leave me alone ... before I do something ...' unspoken - something that I might regret later ... almost pushing her out savagely ...
'Tell me why ... first ...'
'Because I ...'
Would he have told her if Garima hadn't come in just then? Truly, Arnav needs to be pushed to the edge before he will spill the truth ... Khushi has been right in that all along ...
Garima's entry means they have to stop ... to silence what they might have said, to push the emotions underground again ... because other things are more important and more pressing ... Khushi leaves, Arnav says he has too much work to join, again accepted uncomplainingly by Garima ...

More complaints from inlaws ... why hasn't the damaad come out to meet them, the hall is too warm, the ice cream has melted ... Khushi again tries to smooth things down, not realising her words add to their annoyance, they dont want to be reasonable and understanding, they want to be pampered and their whims pandered to - after all, they are the ladke vaalas. their nephew is a big man compared to the mohalla vaalas.
I dislike in-laws like this intensely - unfortunately they still exist - people who think that just because they're the ladkevaalas, it gives them carte blanche to say and do what they please and insult the girl's family without anyone saying anything. And I dislike that the girl's people are supposed to accept this rude behaviour uncomplainingly.

Khushi in the kitchen, worried about Arnav's sudden anger ... Buaji tried to call Arnav, he refused her too, Khushi tries to pacify Buaji that he has a lot of work (thank God, I was afraid cv's would make her irritate him again, but fortunately we got the more serious Khushi I like) ... Buaji suspicious if Khushi did anything to make him angry again ... what can Khushi tell her? When she herself doesn't know what happened to change his mood so suddenly, and he, as usual, refuses to tell her ... 
Loved the little Buaji-Khushi scene, Khushi so disturbed and upset, and as always, she has no one she can share her upset with ...

Nandini and Buaji go to get the groom's sherwani from Khushi's room ... Arnav, in his anger is getting ready to leave GH pronto ... and witnesses firsthand the rudeness and demands of the obnoxious inlaws ... loved his slowly changing expressions here, as his anger with Khushi fades to an awareness of what's happening in the rest of the world ... and is replaced by an anger of another sort entirely ... Buaji's attempts to smooth over the food remarks were uncannily similar to Khushi's attempts ...
And Arnav decides to investigate - steps out and sees the groom's face ... and steps back inside to make his checks (now why couldn't he do the same with Shyam?) ... obnoxious inlaws make more comments on melted icecream, and Arnav steps out just in time to shut up Khushi before her attempts make matters worse ...

I sympathized with Khushi's attempts to soothe the inlaws although they were misplaced - I have  a very hot temper and low tolerance with boys' people who try to act superior to the girl's people ...
But as Arnav says - she can't handle everything herself ... they needed to be handled Mami style, with quiet authority and show of power ... not with friendly reasoning ... 

And he appeases the inlaws temporarily by quietening Khushi while his ever-faithful Aman gets to work ...
Noticed that he introduced himself as 'Arnav' ... not with full name ...
And he catches a glimpse of the waiting worried bride just as Aman calls with confirmation ... a reminder of his sister? Or of a more recent bride?

Khushi confront shim again in the privacy of their room ... why did he shut her up ... why is he siding with the ladkevalas, allowing them to get away with their rudeness ... but he still doesn't want to talk to her, to see her face ... he's still trying to forget ... both the terrace scene and the card which brought it back so suddenly ... he'll do everything that is necessary to save the marriage, but he can't still stand to see her face and the memories it brings back ...

And then the boy receives the message ... and Arnav goes to reinforce it ... I need people with the drive and the capability to work hard, and those who have the courage and confidence to state their point.
All the things he likes in Khushi too ... especially the last ... even though she gives him the hardest time with it ...
The drive and capability to work hard ... isn't that what he's seen Khushi do over the last few days too, the reason he keeps telling her to slow down, she can't do everything, she can't handle everything ... because she always wants to help out everyone ... even if it's beyond her own capabilities ...

And the last ... learn to respect your wife and her family ... he has followed the latter half in spades in this visit ... has given the utmost respect to Khushi's family after the first day, not just respect, has learned to give them affection also, a return of the affection he has received in bucketloads ...
although he still doesn't give Khushi respect in public ... there he needs to follow his own advice ...

And precap - so another potential MU will clear very quickly and Khushi will learn that he went out of his way to save Preeto's marriage ...
Making her see Arnav more clearly? And also wonder why he seems to do everything for everyone ... except for her.