15/4 ... Epi 13 - Cease Fire

Monday 15th April

Manav sets the scene for his prank ... the dog story ... Chhanchhan not interested ...

Uma Ben pays her DIL back for her kaamchor ways ... in a similar way as Manav, except she uses Babuji as the scary bhoot in her story

Uma Ben has a very interesting way of keeping control of her bahus ... a mixture of Divide and Rule and Dangling a Carrot ...

Manav's prank misfires .. he rescues Chhanchhan and Anarkali ... a very strange resuscitation technique there ... and apparently the way to Chhanchhan's heart is through her dogs ... So the fights are over for now ...

*Edited* 

Manav's story ... and Chhanchhan's and Anarkali identical expressions of boredom, including Anarkali's yawn


Uma Ben's character is puzzling me as of now ... I can understand ... somewhat ... the way she deals with her bahus ... She is a shrewd judge of character, as we have seen from the very first episode itself. She correctly judged that Chhanchhan was the strength behind Purvi's decision to call off the the wedding ... she caught the subtle taunts behind the sweet words of the ex-groom's mother ... she knows each of her DILs very well, and their weaknesses ... and she follows a policy of Divide and Rule to run her home. Also she very much likes to be in charge, she is proud of her position, her wealth and her status in society.
She mentioned once ... I am the daughter of a baniya, and married to a Brahmin. So does she feel that she is more intelligent than her husband, yet because of society's norms, she has to use his name to rule, because a woman alone is never given the same respect and power? She likes to assert her domination over her bahus, but never in her own name or by browbeating or name-calling ... it is by firing over the shoulder of Babuji's name, and his dreaded anger. Which, as we see, is a myth.

But why is she lying to her own husband? Is it because she likes to keep the control in her own hands, and she knows he will not approve of her methods? So she keeps him out of the decision-making ... and especially the 'hisaasb-kitaab' ... and doesn't let him know the competition she staged among the bahus ...
And why does he let her? Is it because he is a peace-loving man ... and like many men with dominating wives, he knows that as long as Uma Ben is happy, life is peaceful ... but she is unpleasant when she is crossed ... so his policy is "peace at all costs" ... he stays quiet and doesn't interfere, even when he knows she is doing something not completely right, because she is too unpleasant when she is crossed ...

But what if he knows Uma Ben doing something wrong? Will he then put his foot down and put a stop to it? And is that why she doesn't tell him the entire truth ever?

Divide and Rule ... by dangling rewards as carrots ... setting one against the other ... or rather, the younger two against the older one, that too, through the maid ... she didn't announce the competition herslef, the maid did ... and then she told the bahus that Babuji was angry that the Ras -poori was made in triple quantities. Leaving the bahus to give excuses as to why they had all made it ... without disclosing it was for the reward.
The eldest bahu is the ideal bahu as far as Uma Ben is concerned ... but is she the ideal wife for the son? Remember Uma Ben's remark to Babuji that she was the one who brought back their eldest son when he left the house ...
Still haven't seen the equations between the respective sons and their wives to figure out what the individual problems are ...
And as Kaumudi is the current favorite, she gets the reward ... and Ranjana gets the punishment, couched in honey sweet words ... what a good saas am I ... 

I was wondering if Chhanchhan would come running back to save Purvi and her doomed computer classes ... so Purvi didn't tell her ... another loop closed ... good. 

Manav-Chhanchhan ... so far following a predictable route ... am glad their fights will stop soon, as they were pretty silly, except for the campfire scene - that one was cute! The saving from the water scene was predictable and cliched ... it wasn't done particularly well ... good thing they finished it in one episode!
But the last bit at the water's bank, with Chhanchhan, Manav and Anarkali was sweet ... including Manav's apology, and the simultaneous sneezes ...
I love the song ... though I didn't find the words very apt ...
The part I liked - Manav running to save Anarkali as well - that was my first thought when he saved Chhanchhan ... what about the dog?! And I liked his reply to Chhanchhan - I saved the dog to save my life, because if anything had happened to her, you would have killed me! So true!
So Chhanchhan melts ... and Manav is penitent ... and a new stage starts ... friendship? Good ... looking forward to this! One thing I missed in the Arhi story - that they never talked to each other! Hope Manav and Chhanchhan do! It will be nice to see a good friendship on screen ... I loved that in SaJan ...

*Added*
New promo ... we are getting one every week for each stage of the track :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAQITd_Krcc