The benevolence of old age
Thank you G for making this collage especially for this post, made this post all the more special. 😊
We tend to see aging as an art of dying, getting old unceremoniously, removing the old to make way for the new but in all this dismay of aging, we forget the benevolence that old age brings. Old age brings maturity, understanding, surety, and the ability to know oneself. Old age may be a deterrent to others but for Raman and Ishita's old age is the catalyst bringing them together. They recognize their strengths and weakness; they recognize the void in their lives and know that they will need each other to age gracefully into oblivion of mundane love.
Youth is fast paced, often rash and only manages to scrap the surface of love, whereas old age is slow, beautiful and manages to unravel the deeper feelings of being in love, slowly layer by layer. This reminds of the Ghazal Ahista Ahista by Jagjit Singh.
Sarakti
jaaye hain rukh se naqaab aahista aahista
Nikalta aa raha hai aaftaab aahista aahista
It's saying that the veil is slowly getting lifted off your face just like the sun is slowly rising bringing in eternal sunshine.
The veil on Ishra's relationship is slowly lifting exposing
their inner desires, their insecurities, their worries, their happiness and
their love for each other. Raman isn't scared of his feelings; the veil of his
torturous past is lifting slowly from the beautiful present of love. He sees
his present with his wife, his daughter and his family filling his life with an
endless supply of happiness. With the veil lifting slowly, Ishita's radiant
light is slowly enamoring his soul, where we wants to spend every minute of his
day under her glowing light. He challenges her purposely to win over his
mother, and then to win over his daughter, he is looking for ways to hold her,
be close to her, he is looking to lose to her and giving her opportunities to
win him over! He wants her so intertwined in his life that it would be
impossible to untangle her from his web of love. Puttar wants his wife to win
in all the challenges that life throws them because in his loss lies his
victory. His victory was seeing her gleaming face while putting on the necklace
and him helping her wear the earring and this victory came to him because he so
graciously lost his battle to love.
Hamare aur tumhare pyar mein bas fark hai itna
Idhar to jaldi jaldi hai, udhar aahista aashista
There is a small difference in our love, I am in a hurry while you want to take things slow.
How beautiful and how aptly fitting for Ishra. Both of them are madly in love with each other but the difference is the pace and the manner of expression. After all men are from Mars and women from Venus. Raman wants to show off his priced possession his wife to the world in the best light possible, so he goes and buys a dress for her in a hurry. He wants the world to perceive her as beautiful as she is from the inside. He is eager and excited to profess his love to the world, while Ishita wants to take things slow. She wants to enjoy his attention all to herself, she wants him all to herself, she wants to love him away from the prying eyes of the world. While Raman wants to shout from the roof top, Ishita wants to savor his inner voice. She holds his hand when she sees Ashok proposing to Shagun, while all the eyes where on Ashok and Shagun, Ishita found her moment of love by holding his hand away from the prying eyes of the world. She expresses her love in the safety of their house by wearing because her love is meant only for his eyes. For Raman love is like a teenage child that needs to be tamed by wild passion, whereas for Ishita love is like an infant that needs to be cradled and coddled with intimacy.
Shab-e-furqat
ka jaaga hoon faristhon ab to sone do
Kabhi fursat mein kar lena hisaab aahista aahista
[furqat=separation]
Here the poet is saying, that I have been awake all night post because of seperation, oh angels let me sleep now, you can figure out the math of life slowly slowly
Raman has been awake for the past 6 years of his life, he finally has found sleep in the arms of Ishita. He just wants to sleep in the land of dreams not worrying about the rights and wrongs of life. The angels can do the math of life slowly because sleep beckons Ravan in the arms on his beloved. He will pay for his crimes later but this moment belongs to him and his serenity. Ishita too has been awake for the past 10 years of her life and has finally found sleep in the arms of Raman. She too has erred but the math of life can take its time because this moment belongs to her dreams. So she gave away the dress he bought her and he broke the bracelet she bought him, this time however is for their deep slumber the math of right and wrong can be done all life long. Post their buddha dance, the moment they were in each other's arms staring deep into each other's soul, serenity and calm enveloped them and the world ceased to exist. That one moment gave their tired sleepy souls the dreams it needed. Reminds of the the following lines from the song Raabta, Agent Vinod
In old age, Ishita and Raman have realized that what they have been chasing has always been present in front of their eyes, the benevolence of old age has given them another shot at their unrequited love.
"All I know is that I've wasted all these years looking for something, a sort of trophy I'd get only if I really, really did enough to deserve it. But I don't want it anymore, I want something else now, something warm and sheltering, something I can turn to, regardless of what I do, regardless of who I become. Something that will just be there, always, like tomorrow's sky. That's what I want now" Kazuo Ishiguro
Edit: Buddha mil gaya dance for me was a little out of character for me but then again this show hasn't explored Ishita's character to the fullest, maybe she was jovial before Subbu broke her heart, maybe she had a romantic bone in her and was afraid to show it till now. Either way there was a disconnect between me and that scene, and the problem is under exploration of Ishita's character. I really do hope we get to see Ishita open up about her past and we get to see another layer of Ishita.
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