VANSH AND VEER .. AND A DREAM

1.
No one very clearly knows where and how a dream shapes up in one’s mind.
This morning I woke up out of a dream, a part of which I can share with you.
Dream:
I am with my elder brother in a town. I think we leave there. Someone throws a stone at my brother and he gets angry and I try to control him.
Ichchha is telling Jogi about why she wants to get married to Jogi. While she is talking to Jogi she comes on a terrace of an old house.
She is wearing a blue dress…
And we see a woman in blue saree walking towards two quarrelling kids engaged in a fight.
One is Vansh and the other one is I think Veer….
Or Vansh being bullied by Tej?
I don’t know.
It was dream
The woman in saree is Ichchha or gunwanti? Or both?
Cut to
2.
I accept Vansh has been the most difficult character for me to write.
When I write him remembering bajre ki roti and gud ka chawal, I don’t see him remembering these things.
I hardly see parents in his childhood. There is complete absence of a mother in his life.
3.
So yesterday I asked a simple “ankganeet ka sawal”….
“Jab Vansh ka janm hua Tej ki umra kya thi?”
And two non-mathematical questions:
“Jab vansh ko maai ki zaroorat thi ....Vo kin zimmedariyon mein vyast thi?”
“Jab Vansh ko jivan mein hero ki zarurat thi , kya Tej singh mein use vo hero nazar aaya hoga?”
Agar yeh ganeet sulajh jaaye toh baat ban jaaye
4.
When Vansh was borne, there was an adolescent rebellious child who had lost his mother.
Son of a maid.
Son of Thakur Baldev Singh Bundela.
“ Thakur Tej Singh.”
When Gunwanti got married to Umed, she took the responsibility of chhota devar as her child.
But Tej was unruly.
And in these circumstances Vansh was borne.
So Gunwanti had two responsibilities on her shoulders. And she dealt with them in the best possible way.
She took care of Tej, Baldev, family, village and Vansh in that order.
5.
When Vansh was 5 or so. He had one hero in life Tej singh.
When Veer was borne, Gunwanti was in a much better position to take care of him. She was settled in Bundela family.
Vansh had Tej to look up to.
Veer had Baldev and Umed!!
Veer got his share of parental care.
Vansh also was protective about him.
So in a sense Veer has everything in the right proportion.
He never came close to Tej because I think by that time Tej would had become a young monster who would rarely be at home.
So Vansh and Veer had different experience to shape up their lives. It’s natural.
No matter how good the intentions of parents are, children perceive them in a different way.
END OF FLASH BACK
CUT TO
6.
Today Vansh is going to get married to Ichchha.
His mother and grandfather stood by him in the hour of crisis and even lied to Veer so that Vansh gets his share of love in life.
Gunwanti is happy for Vansh.
She is also happy that Veer and Tapasya’s marriage is saved for some time.
Who knows, it might just help Veer to accept Tapasya as a wife?!!
Mothers always take right decisions on behalf of children.
7.
What his parents have conveniently forgotten is:
Vansh is undergoing treatment. He is not cured yet.
He feels he is in love with a person who was just trying to help me.
And the person unfortunately is Ichchha.
His mother thinks Ichchha is the right medicine for him and decides to marry him.
This is what is normally done in our society. To control an unruly son, parents decide to marry him. At times it works. Most of the time life of a girl is ruined.
So parents of Vansh, Gunwanti and Baldev, think,
“Ladke ki shadi kar do. Theek ho jaayega.”
Gunwanti decides to transfer her burden of responsibility on an innocent young girl, Ichchha. And the girl also accepts it.
Let’s look at the “faisla leve ki taakat” of Bundela family little more closely.
Once upon a time, they separated Vansh and Veer because they wanted to protect Veer from the influence of Tej and Vansh.
None of them dealt with Tej when there was time to face the reality.
They preferred to hide the inconvenient truth of their life.
When Vansh became an addict, they kept him locked in a room. I am sure they must have discovered it too late.
And now when he was under treatment and Veer had taken a bold step to address the problem … what did they do?
Gunwanti took him under her wings at the wrong time and offered him a wrong medicine “Ichchha”.
And I am sure Vansh will have withdrawal symptoms soon. I have read recently that at a later stage of dependency on Alchol, an alcoholic starts doubting his wife. That is what is fate of Vansh is. Hallucinations… Doubt… suspicion.
8.
Sometimes one scene is good enough to get a correct picture of a family. Actors at times do instinctively what the character would have done. When Jogi asks the Bundela family, “Kya Veer ko is rishte ki baat aap bata chuke hain?”
The way they react is clear. They are not able to deal with the reality responsibly. No one is evil. They are just weak. Apparently the strongest one is Baldev Singh (Daddaji). Initially he used to reiterate quite often, “mard ki pechnan hot hai waaki faisla leve ki taakat.” We can see now the mask of the strength is falling apart.
9.
What kind of picture of a happy family Vansh and Veer have in their minds?
Since we have seen Ichchha and Tapasya growing up so we can use them as a reference.
Ichchha recently said in one episode,
“Papa… aap aur thakurain mere liye ek adarsh hain. Pati patni ka aadarsh…Ammo, mere papa ko maine tab kho diya jab main shayad papa bolna bhi nahin jaanti thi….Maine toh humesha papa aur thakurain ko hi dekha hai..Kaise ek pati aur patni ek dusare ke saath har mushkil samay se guzarte hain…”
So she has an image of a happy married life and family.
What about Vansh and Veer?
Even if Vansh remembers gud ka chawal, none of the boys in bundela family seem to have got true parental care and love.
If we compare the actions of Bundelas with those of Jogi Thakur, I think picture will have more clarity.
When Jogi realized Tapsya did something horribly wrong, what did he do? He confronted her. He did not hesitate punishing her.
Today also he is willing to talk to Veer but Bundelas are not.
To sum it up:
When Veer, Vansh, Ichchha and Tapasya use the following words like love, family and responsibility, the meanings are different because their parental scripting is different.
10.
Ichchha has a picture of husband wife relationship in her mind.
Vansh?
What is the picture in his mind?
I don’t see him thinking of sindur.
He has no patience for rituals.
Veer also has an imperfect picture in mind, but he is ready to change and learn in life. He can find a father in Jogi and mother in Damini. He has patience to deal with a relationship. Vansh doesn’t have it.
Lets just see one example:
Veer has been chasing Ichchha and she has been refusing to accept him after his marriage, he still waited patiently.
Vansh faced refusal only once and how did he react?
He went to the terrace.
Suicide is the weapon of attention seekers.
Their lies the difference between Vansh and Veer.
Veer tried to persuade his family for his marriage with Ichchha.
Vansh used the attention seeking devices to do the same.
They are different people.
If one takes a long journey before he calls Damini “ammo”, the other can do it out of impulse only and forget it next moment that he called her ammo.
I am not saying one is better than the other.
They are different.
As far as impulsive nature is concerned he is close to Tapasya.
And I am sure Tapasya will be awed by his impulsive love.
She would love to have a Vansh in life… and if not may be a Tej?
Scary …..!!
11.
Both the brothers fell in love with the same girl.
Are they searching for the absent mother in their relationships?
12.
The dream that I had.
I am with my elder brother in a town. I think we leave there. Someone throws stone at my brother and he gets angry and I try to control him.
Cut to
In the holi scene Vansh gets angry and violent and Veer tries to protect him.
Veer has always been doing this.
Back to the dream
Ichchha is telling Jogi about why she wants to get married to Jogi (162/6) but not exactly the way its shot. Dreams are dreams.
So while talking to Jjogi she comes on a terrace of an old house… she is wearing a blue dress…
And we see a woman in blue saree walking towards two kids fighting…
One is Vansh and the other is I think Veer….
The woman in saree is Ichchha or gunwanti? Or both?
Cut to
Ichchha is taking up the responsibilities of Gunwanti on her shoulders wearing the same colour saree and going towards vansh.
Cut to
Real and reel have merged in my dream.
12.
I see Gunwanti as a failed mother.
And since she cannot accept it, lives of her children will be ruined again.
As veer says to her , “you did it because you wanted to save the marriage with Tapasya.”
Her subconscious is making her to do so because somewhere she feels Tapasya is the right choice.
She is not nani. She cannot be. To be evil is not easy.
She is neither a Jogi nor a Damini.
She is not even Divya.
She is like many other parents who think they loved and did everything for their children but children don’t seem to buy their story. Humare bachche humse behtar hon yeh maan-baap ka sapna hota hai…
Children also secretly dream of better parents.
She is a simple woman who still lives in a time which has passed long ago.
She won’t accept, Bundelas have lost the glory.
They are respected out of habit.
They are the relics of a feudal system which is a part of history now.
But let me add, imperfect characters make the story interesting.
13.
As a writer I have my hopes in Umed and Veer. They seem to see their faults and are willing to accept and change. But we never know. Fiction is stranger then dreams.
14.
Time has come when focus will shift from Jogi Thakur’s to haveli Baldev Singh’s haveli….
I did not write Thakur Umed Singh’s haveli!!