Shashank Gupta, Smriti Malhotra Gupta, and their connection to Sanjivani...For those who are curious, I just wanted to stop by and shed some light on these characters and their story, which was one of the strongest threads in the tapestry that was Sanjivani - A Medical Boon.
In Sanjivani, Shashank was initially shown as a very serious, strict mentor and professional in the hospital. He was a general surgeon, deputy dean, and eventually also a trustee of Sanjivani. The first few episodes of Sanjivani established the no-nonsense personality of The Dr. Shashank Gupta extremely well - as a general introduction, he told all of his interns that working at Sanjivani was definitely not going to be easy, so they had better be prepared...He scolded Juhi for being late on her first day, and later suspended Rahul for his unprofessional conduct. Somewhat intimidating, but also sharp and perceptive, clearly worthy of respect.
Shashank Gupta might have seemed like a no-nonsense, aloof man with an inability to express his emotions...But he was also actually quite charming and sweet, with a great sense of humor. Those aspects of his personality started to slowly be revealed after Smriti Malhotra showed up in his life again, abruptly, after 6 years of silent separation. Smriti had been in medical college when she had met Shashank, who was a few years her senior. After Shashank became a general surgeon, they married, had a son, and during their happy marriage, Smriti continued her training to become a gynecologist. Because of an accident resulting in their son Karan's death, Smriti, in a moment of grief-driven anger, told Shashank to leave, since there was nothing she had left of his, besides the mangalsutra he had given her. Shashank wasn't at fault for the accident, not in any direct way...But he left anyway, because Smriti was miserable and he thought she'd be better off without him - even if leaving her would make him just as miserable.
Later, when Juhi asked Smriti where her husband was, Smriti replied that Shashank is her husband. They had separated but hadn’t officially divorced, and soon after he had left, Anjali was born. (As a bit of extra information, towards the end of the show's run, there was a flashback twist inspired by Masoom...Basically, it was suddenly shown that sometime not long after Smriti told Shashank to leave their house, he went to his hometown and visited his friend, Neha. He was so devastated by his separation from Smriti, he spoke to Neha about it and somehow that anguish led to a one night stand, which later led to a child that he had no clue about...also named Karan...Shashank and Smriti didn't find out about that until long after they had reunited, though) During those 6 years of separation from Smriti, Shashank moved cities, threw himself into his hospital practice and only maintained friendships among his professional circle. Smriti stayed back to finish her specialized training and to raise their daughter, Anjali Malhotra -Gupta.- And besides that, neither of them moved on. Smriti kept Shashank's mangalsutra with her for all those years. Shashank kept a photo of himself, Smriti, and Karan in his cabin drawer for all those years. And they both kept their wedding rings.
When Shashank and Smriti came face to face at Sanjivani again, all those years of history, their conflicted emotions - all the pain and love between them - resurfaced. They slowly worked through their unresolved issues, absolved each other of guilt and regrets, and acknowledged that they had never been able to forget each other - they still loved each other, always had and always would. With Smriti back in his life, Shashank loosened up again, he started to express himself more, smile more, be more playful...And Smriti was the only one who could bring out the mischievous romantic in Shashank. Everyone at Sanjivani knew that the feelings on both sides ran deep, so when the two of them abruptly announced their (re)marriage, it wasn’t a surprise to anyone.
Shashank, Smriti, and the interns became colleagues, then friends, and then finally family, rather than just senior doctors with their junior mentees. Shashank and Smriti especially became more and more of a father and mother to Juhi as time went on. She became an unofficial part of the Gupta household. For Anjali, Dr. Juhi was always her “Juhi Didi,” an older sister in all but name, since Shashank and Smriti considered Juhi to be their elder daughter anyway. When Juhi and Rahul finally got married, Shashank and Smriti were the ones who arranged everything, as parents would. Shashank performed Juhi's kanyadaan and blessed her and Rahul, as a father would, with Smriti by his side. At Sanjivani, the two couples would discuss the state of the hospital, collaborate on cases, and work together in crises; the younger couple would often seek advice from their mentors about professional and personal matters. Juhi would sometimes stop by Smriti's cabin or drop by the Gupta house just to keep Smriti and Anjali company, sometimes Rahul and Juhi would join the Guptas for breakfast - the five of them were a close-knit family unit in many ways. When Sanjivani ended, that's where the major relationships stood.
A quick footnote on Juhi, Rahul, and Omi:
While all of the Sanjivani doctors and interns respected Shashank for his skills as a medical professional, Juhi initially saw Shashank as an idol. Her admiration of him was like hero worship - and her excessive rambling was what irritated Rahul (and even Omi) at first. But then as they all started working on more cases, Rahul's opinion of Shashank grew while Juhi’s hero worship lessened into a strong sense of respect since she saw the strengths and weaknesses of her mentor and came to regard him as a guru rather than an infallible godlike figure. At the same time, Juhi's friendship with Rahul slowly evolved into something deeper - they could fight and reconcile over little things or life-changing things, but ultimately, at the heart of their relationship was a genuine desire to see each other happy, even if they couldn't be together. Omi supported Rahul and Juhi through everything, acting as peacemaker and a sounding board for each of them, pointing out when they were being unreasonable, helping them through their rough patches (including Simran's shenanigans) until they found happiness. Later, when they found out Omi was HIV+, Rahul and Juhi spent day and night researching AIDS, fighting to give Omi the respect he deserved...The three of them were friends-turned-family. And Sanjivani was their home.
P.S. For anyone who is interested... Sanjivani - A Medical Boon Episodes
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