A Tale of Loneliness

The tohfa given by Sameer leaves Naina tensed. Kudos to makers for making Preeti pronounce chewing gum and ‘chingam’; it was apt for a student studying in vernacular medium. Such details added to the overall charm of YUDKBH.

Another unique point about our show was the introduction of characters. If in the first episode the Agarwal family was introduced by their characteristic traits, here the chota packet bada dhamaka Pralay was introduced to us as a catalyst of problems.

Foreshadows and forewarning were another thing, YUDKBH went one step further with relating the fictional world and songs with their characters. The story playing on radio while Naina worries about her hair depicts her situation. Though I am sure the pyaar ki nishaani from Bhaskar to Mridula was not a chewing gum, but still…

Uss anjaan ladke ke wajah se meri jaan phasi padi hai

If only Naina knew that truly her life will be trapped in that boy she was terming as unknown. This made me think that even before they met Sameer was dictating his rights on her thoughts and attention in some way or the other.

This episode made my heart flutter as I rewatched because it brought us Nanu, Maheshwari Bungalow and Sameer’s room… Sigh… I still wish Naina had been there after wedding. That very bungalow where Sameer found a home for the first time… I would have loved to see how Naina would have rearranged their room… How the masculine surroundings would have changed after wedding. The boxing bag might have given way to a swing, Julia Roberts poster might have been replaced with Samaina pictures… All a dream now, but still sometimes I wish it had happened.

The first restless night for both… As Naina worried about her haircut, Sameer was in much deeper thoughts. The light flickering on and off depicted the uncertainty about his immediate future. He had run away from Nainital, but no one knew that… Would he be pushed back to the blackness he didn’t want to return to? Or would his life take a turn for the better?

The bond between Sameer and Nanu is immediately visible, and for the first time we see another layer of his character… A kid who whines in front of his Nanu, but also respects him immensely.

And finally as morning dawns we see an upgraded version of Naina’s looks… Definitely much more beautiful and cuter… Her shyness is visible as she refused to open her hair, and when she does she tries to ignore the sudden attention. Munna and Pandit are shocked to see her – something we know will happen in future too. And then comes the smitten Sanjay Tibrewal…

Something that caught my attention was that they played the song Hawa Hawai for this sequence. Is it a coincidence that they choose this song when the meaning of Sameer is hawa ka jhoka? Knowing our CVs I would say no…

Mere baalo ne toh school me sabki ghanti baja di thi… Lekin wahan Sameer ki subah ab tak udaas thi…

It is evident that Sameer doesn’t want to lie to his Nanu. Hence in order to avoid confrontation he stays in his room, resorting to music. The tune displays his angst, his loneliness. When he is informed by Ramdhari about his mother’s arrival, his expressions change subtly to suppressed anger… One would expect a teenager to be happy on hearing that his mother has come to meet him, especially given he was living in a hostel and probably hadn’t met his family since some time. But this news does give any joy to Sameer… His frustration increases to a point where he strums the guitar harder than he should, and the string breaks…

This kind of symbolizes the mother-son relationship that we would witness soon. An instrument that should be delicately handled is instead subjected to angst, thus breaking the chords that were essential to produce any music. Same way Vishakha, instead of handling the situation with love and care, subjects her son to rebuke, taunts and harshness, thus in turn causing him to shut her off from his life.

I had expected her to ask Sameer why he did what he did… why the mischief… why the risky stunt… why did he run away… Shockingly enough despite being a mother it didn’t even bother her that her son was involved in a stunt that could have put his life at risk. For God’s sake he almost bumped into a car… he could have landed in hospital. But there is no discussion about it. All she is focused on is how humiliating the entire incident has been for her husband. This is what she says:

Tumhare papa board meeting me the jab unke speaker pe principal sir ka phone aaya.  Mr. Somani aapka beta Sameer… He is a complete ruffian. He is indisciplined, obstinate and completely reckless.

Nanu could see the hurt on Sameer’s face and so he tried to lighten the situation by cracking a joke. But Vishakha overrode it, continuing to tell Sameer how he should have been grateful to his father for getting him admitted in top boarding school of India despite the fact that he is definitely not capable academically to secure that admission.

Honestly, the amount of neglect is appalling and, no wonder Sameer flipped saying that Mr. Somani is not his father. We viewers get to know that there is a step-father in picture and that relationship is definitely sour… As he leaves the table without any food our heart goes out to the so called ruffian who was only a teenager, yet mature enough to leave instead of aggravate the situation with his anger.

And on the other hand in Agarwal house Pralay has acted as the catalyst of the first problem… Naina and Preeti’s lies are out in open… Everyone gets to know that Preeti changed her marks and Naina had got a haircut… Along with this we witness the first drawback of 90s. On one hand there’s the revelation that Preeti has failed in the test and then changed her marks on her own… But, that is somehow of much less importance than the fact that either of the two girls has got a haircut. Everyone expects that it is Preeti, but the shock visible on their faces as they see Naina’s hair tells us how ideal and appropriate image Naina has in her home.

A pure heart is often unnoticed but the glow it can bring to your personality can rarely be overlooked… This is Naina… A girl who was always ignored but a slight change in her appearance made her the center of attention even if it was for a short while.

Just being alone doesn’t equate to loneliness… What Sameer was facing was the true picture of loneliness, a feeling that no one cares, the feeling of being unwanted… And there is no medical cure for this… The only cure can lie in the hands of a person with a pure heart.