Hi Friends....here is a beautiful analysis of Gaurav, done by one of my non IF friends....Its a bit long, but brilliant nevertheles...Go through it please!!!
Analyzing Gaurav Sharma
There is something very intriguing about the character of Gaurav Sharma. Curiosity got the better of me and is the reason for me to write (creatively write after three long years!), the character analysis on him ' him, whom we had loved to hate not so very long ago.
I started writing this analysis with the view of Gaurav being a different person altogether (Humshakal) so to say. I soon had to change my thinking. I now start this analysis from where the story ended for most of us ' with the so called death of Prem Juneja, in the Delhi Bomb Blast portrayed on Prime Time Indian Television.
The experience of seeing death in front of your eyes can be a traumatic experience for any one. Looking back at the death scene video, it was perhaps this traumatic experience that gave the birth to Gaurav Sharma.
"Prem after collapsing on the ground, thanks to the impact of the explosion, gained consciousness only to find a blown up part of a cycle on his body, thousands of bodies around him, wailing people trying to run for cover in an attempt to save their own lives. It was seeing people walk over him (and his dislocated shoulder) as he attempted to get up on his own, with no one really caring about the human beings lying around. People falling on him, only to get up and move on, without really asking or making an attempt to help him get up. He does get up, holding the packet close to his hearts. As he makes an attempt to sit up on the ground, all he sees are bodies and burnt cars all around him, all he sees are people trying to run for cover to save their lives. Then he sees a mother, crying for help, crying for some one to stop by and save her son, who was caught in the fire. In that mother, he sees his mother and he is able to understand her pain. He goes to save her son at the risk of loosing his own life. What happens next, all of us know"
The scene showcased on television bought back a lot of painful memories for many of us back then and one could only imagine what it must have been for people could go through to that experience. Well Prem, certainly did go through at that experience. The tensed up muscles as the hands clasped together (not in fear), the facial expressions thereafter reflected the stressful event in his life that overwhelmed his emotions (hence him saying I'm sorry Bauji, I am sorry Ma, I am sorry Heer) overwhelmed his coping ability and he remained feeling helpless."
With Prem, may be it is a psychological trauma that he is going through currently (A psychological trauma which occurs when we experience a stressful event that overwhelms our emotions, overwhelms our coping abilities, and we remain feeling helpless) which may be shattered his world, destroyed what was once familiar and upset his normal sense of safety and stability. It could have led to him feeling shaken, unsure, splintered and denuded.
The experience of overwhelm is different for each person. So whereas the traumatic event may be out of the realm of "normal" experiences such as an accident, assault, disaster, chronic illness or surgery, each person will experience it differently. With Prem, probably it led to change of identity and a new perspective on life. It may have harden him up and may be this experience of his, probably made him immune to any form of emotion thereafter.
A traumatic event is perceived and experienced as threat to one's safety or stability. It may involve experiences, changes or emotions and hence it could be the reason for Gaurav/Prem considering him self to be alone in (today's telecast) and considering everyone else to be "enemies". His experiencing headaches on seeing Heer can be attributed as one of the common reactions to this trauma.
Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you but are supposed to be help you discover whom you truly are'I guess it's the challenges of life (or rather the experiences or the traumatic event which he had gone through), that have changed Prem into Gaurav or then it's these challenges or experiences that he has faced/is facing/going to face that will help him discover who he truly is, and for us to really like/appreciate the character as the story unfolds/ or for the character of Gaurav Sharma to grow on us.
Many of us took an instant dislike to the character because of his contrasting personality from Prem. If Prem was perfect, then Gaurav has some shortcomings. However, where the two would be similar would be essentially in their hearts ' both of them have a very good heart, both are principled in their own ways, both think logically before jumping to any conclusions, both are driven by values and ideologies and both have a lot of depth. But this is where the similarity ends.
We tend to forget the entire notion on individual differences - two individuals can never be same and it's all about perception ' what one perceives to be true and hence the way of dealing with problems/situations/circumstances varies from person to person. What's important, however, is for people to respect the person for what s/he is and what s/he stands for' I guess that's where the clash comes between Heer & Gaurav or then the Audience and Gaurav as the Audience or then Heer expect Gaurav to behave/act like Prem whereas Gaurav has an identity of his own ' an identity, he perhaps now wants to be known by.
Right now, it's the journey of rediscovering himself for him, which he wants to do on his own. He is going through a predicament of sorts, of not knowing who he really is and where he is from, who his family is and he wants to sort this predicament on his own. His behavior in this case can be attributed of having survived a bomb blast, the experience of getting a new lease of life. He knows he has an identity, but does not know which identity it is. , Right now, for him, he is living some one else's life and not his own. May be this is creating unrest of sorts in him'
Gaurav's character is confusing in the sense as he tends to maintain a line between himself and the world'and there is nothing wrong in it'it's just that he is made that way or then may his mind is on a constant alert (due to the traumatic experience) and it's these experiences which have to a large way shaped the kind of person that he is today. His ideologies and principles, it seems are shaped by these experiences.
As an audience, I do not know, if I have hit the nail on the head when I talk of these traumatic experiences. So it will be unfair to jump to conclusions of any sorts. Whatever these experiences were, these were experiences that have harden Gaurav up, may be changed his thinking and outlook to life. Experiences tend to do that a person and it is these experiences that either matures a person or then toughens them up.
With Gaurav, I guess, it's more to do with toughening or hardening up and this toughening or hardening up has made him extremely lonely and hurt as if there is a glass wall separating him from the outside world. In his space, it's him and him only and he does not want any one to cross that space or then the boundary. (The clash with Heer comes with (Heer's) interference in his life or rather unknowingly getting into his boundary or private space. For him, he has every right to lead his life, the way he wants to.
Gaurav comes across as a guy, who is very practical but more than being practical, is a survivor ' no, is street smart. I wouldn't say he is a smooth operator but he is focused, knows what he wants, and knows where he wants to be in life. Most importantly, knows what he has to do with his life. A man who leads life on his own terms ' his own principles and ideologies but still has his dignity and self respect intact! He is a man, who can still look at himself in the mirror because he hasn't sold or lost his soul as yet.
I would still say that he has character, as he respects a woman and values family relationship. He treats his sisters and mothers with the same respect and attitude like any other son/brother in his place would. He is married to Heer but does not touch her (in a way a husband would) because he knows he does not have that right as yet. (I also guess, it's because he does not want to intrude in her private space).
I do not know how to term Gaurav behavior towards Heer. Whether it's sheer attitude (which by the way rocks) , plain ego, a game of one upmanship (like Pratham-Gauri in Kutumb Part 1) or then it's irritating a person (to keep her quiet/shut her up) just because he is being told/nagged constantly on what to do! (It's not as if on purpose, a person does so, it's just that they are made that way. Remember how we were in our adolescent years ' doing exactly the opposite of what we were told to do, just because we were told to do something and the choice of making a decision or acting in a way we deemed correct or fit didn't lie with us.) It could also do with the fact that none of us - men or then women today, never like being told what to do and we don't like being put down. But then, again it could be something to do with not crossing that line (The boundary line so to say). Judging his behaviour with Heer, he does not open up easily and prefer being left alone i.e when he just wants to be in his own shell. He is rather reserved that way.
Different people have different ways of dealing with stress, pain, anger and the other gamut of emotions. His Hip Hopiness can be attributed to him, not wanting to show his wounds or pain to the entire world. For him, it's his pain, it's his wounds and he has to deal with it. He does not want to share it with the entire world, because for him, it's a very personal feeling. In that sense, Gaurav is an extremely private and strong person. For him, he does not need an anchor to hold him or support him. He is very capable of doing it in his own and he can't fathom out the reason for an emotional support/anchor that the family still sees in Prem. He is not able to figure out this emotional dependence as yet'
Assuming, he survived, then it's the experience of living through the ordeal and seeing how imperfect the world could be. It could be not getting help when needed; it could be the fallacies in the systems noticed. It could very well be with the fact of knowing he has a family and not seeing that family come to see how he was or bring him home. It could very well be the loneliness and emptiness of not feeling loved and wanted. (To get rid of this feeling, he took to drinking and soon it became a habit) . He was in a way, left to survive and fend for him. It's an inner turmoil that he is going through right now. It's the frustration of not knowing who you are and where you belong, it's the feeling of doing something for people, people he knows exist and people to whom he knows he means a lot. It's the whole traumatic experience of having seen death and yet being alive. It's the feeling of getting a new lease of life and he wants to do everything that he can in this life ' includes living a life in a true sense and hence the need to earn money. He wants to earn money to lead a life, he desires. It's his new lease of life and he wants to lead it his way. Deep down, it's also the fear of not remembering anything. He drinks because he considers drinks to be his companion in life. He is lonely (and his loneliness kills him at times), because he can't relate to any one any more, does not trust any one any more and hence he has built a wall in front of him.
He is helping Heer because he is able to relate to their pain at some level. He has genuinely started caring for the family and hence wants to now really help them. He knows they are grieving for the loss of a loved one and probably having known that grief, or having experienced that grief, he knows what it is like. So, may be he knows, what it is like having a family, being loved and then not having a family or a home to go to. May be, he is helping them out not only because he cares but because he genuinely understands or then may be, having seen life in the true sense, he is able to relate to the pain and the sorrow that the Juneja's are going through. Deep down, he acknowledges within himself that the pain and the hurt, the Juneja's would have to go through, once they get to know the " Truth" and perhaps, he is just making everyone strong enough to handle the truth ' the truth of life' life that he has seen' life that only one can imagine'Or'may be he knows the feeling of how it is, when dreams die' he is helping the Juneja as he is only trying to lessen his own pain and in the process trying to lessen their pain and grief.
Pain sometimes brings two people together. Perhaps, it will be the pain, that their respective life has experienced that will bring Gaurav and Heer together and this will be during this period of transitioning, that it will be realized that Gaurav is indeed Prem.
Looking back, one really didn't get to see and know Prem's views and Perception on life. They were never really depicted. Guess, somewhere down the line, priorities changed for him. Maybe, just maybe, Gaurav is a messiah sent by "Prem" himself, giving us his views and perceptions on life (which we never really got to know). He is "Prem", who is probably saddened by all that has happened in the months gone by. He is "Prem" who is hurt by his mother's condition. He is "Prem" for whom priorities in life changed after his fathers business went down in Canada.
He is a "Prem", telling us to complete a picture in a rather incomplete/imperfect world through whatever we have, enjoy the little moments in life, thinking for ourselves first and than the world, rather than the other way around. He is enabling change in our lives to prepare us to handle any obstacle that life may bring. In that sense, he is toughening us up' not just us, but also the Juneja's and most important Heer. He is teaching Heer to live for herself, just like he had wanted her to and he is doing this because he has probably realized that Heer has forgotten to live 'Most importantly, she has forgotten how to smile. He is "Prem" telling her to move on in life, because he wants her to be happy. He knows life has come to a complete standstill for her and he can't quite fathom out why she is not able to do so.
Why I think, he is "Prem" ' Most importantly, parents' heart can never lie and neither can relationships based from the heart, because it's the heart that feels, it's the hearts that think.
The show so far has depicted all that has been mentioned in the dialogues'. lekin tumhari yaad zaroor banooga, aisee yaadein to dhondlee to pad saktee hai lekin mit nahin saktee (The memories of Prem & Heer are so strong, that they have not faded away from Heer).. woh dua bana chahta hoon to tum aasman main dekh kar mango (Heer has always looked at Prems picture for assurance asking if he is doing the correct thing) , who wafa banna chahta hoon jot tum bhagwano se kisse apno ke liye mango (Heer has always looked up to the sky or then remembered god whenever she thought of Prem) .. who hak banna chahta hoon jo tumhe zindagi ke mausbat se bachaye, woh haath banna chahta hoon, jo tumhare har dukh, har gam ko door karein (this dialogue says it all does not it.
And just by chance, if it is not "Prem", and is "Gaurav" indeed (Humshakal) , then rest assured, it will be Heer telling Gaurav about Prem like the Afsana he always wanted to be. Just in case if that happens, then I guess, we should not lose hearts for Gaurav is his own person right? He too has his own identity! When we want people to love us for what we are, what we stand us as individuals, then how can we not love Gaurav.
