Brahma tells Devyani that he's going to divorce her and marry Uttara

So, today was the climax of the Karva Chauth track and we finally find out what the story has been building up to. Brahma wanted Devyani to keep the fast for him so that he could humiliate her and tell her that he is going to give her a divorce and this is the last time she will perform these rituals as his wife.

While breaking her fast, Brahma tells Devyani that this is the last year she will perform the Karva Chauth rituals for him as he is going to give her a divorce. Devyani is shocked and begins to choke on the water she is drinking. Everyone rushes to her side and Brahma says he will take her home.

They arrive back at Vidya's house. Uttara opens the door eager for Brahma to break her fast. She is taken aback when she sees him with Devyani. Brahma tells her that he has come to break her fast. Uttara performs the rituals while Devyani sadly looks on. Then Brahma asks Uttara to marry him and says that this is another reason why he wants a divorce from Devyani. He will give her one month to figure out how to tell the family and where she will go afterwards, but at the end of the month she will no longer be Mrs. Jhakkar and he and Uttara will be married. Devyani runs out crying.

Uttara comes to console Devyani. She tells her that she never thought that this would happen and she didn't want this to happen. She hopes that Devyani will eventually forgive her. Devyani slaps her.

This action was completely expected from someone like Brahma. The most humiliating thing he could do to Devyani was to break her sister's fast right in front of her and then ask her to marry him. Even Uttara was shocked and felt bad for her sister, though in her case it is too little, too late. What did she think was going to happen when she started having an affair with her sister's husband? That the two sisters would share a husband? That he would continue carrying on with her while giving Devyani the status of his official wife. Clearly, one of them was going to have to go.

It will be interesting to see how this track develops. How will Brahma explain the divorce to the family, particularly to Adi(who thinks that his parents have the perfect marriage)? Will Uttara realize what she has done and refuse to marry him?

Devyani calls Uttara Brahma's "mistress"

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Today, the Karva Chauth proceedings officially began. Uttara got up early in the morning to secretly eat the pre-fast meal so that she could fast for Brahma. Just as she is about to do so, Devyani catches her. She asks her what she thinks she's doing and Uttara replies "Keeping the fast for my husband". Devyani tells her that she won't let her do that. They argue and finally Devyani tells Uttara that her thinking she's Brahma's wife and carrying out the rituals doesn't make it true. She tells her "You know what society calls a woman who is carrying out an affair with a married man. His mistress. That's what you are". Uttara is shocked and says "No, I'm not his mistress, I'm his wife." Devyani replies, "Really? So can you openly break your fast like a wife?" Uttara has no response to that. At this point Vidya's mom comes in and tells Uttara that she can't eat that particular dish as it is meant for the married women to carry out their rituals. Uttara gets upset and leaves.

Uttara's character is getting more and more insufferable every day. She actually has the gall to carry out the Karva Chauth rituals not only in front of her sister but in the home of her nephew's in-laws. If anyone asides from Devyani and Priya found out what she's up to it would cause major embarrassment for the whole family. Hopefully the creatives are setting Uttara up for a huge fall because she has gone completely crazy.

Vidya asks Gaurav to spend just one night with her

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Vidya comes upon Adi and Priya being intimate and is distraught about what she is missing in her own marriage. She runs to Gaurav and begs him to spend just one night with her, telling him "You know how much I love you. I know that you don't love me but please give me just one night". Gaurav is shocked and tells her that he can't do this and he doesn't deserve her love. Vidya runs away in tears.

Later, Gaurav is talking to Cheenu and asks him he has thought any more about his decision. Cheenu says that Vidya doesn't even look at him and that she only loves Gaurav. Gaurav replies that Vidya only thinks she loves him and he can never make her happy. Cheenu tells him that maybe he's right, but if he wants Vidya to move on than he has to cede his place in her life to someone else and go back to Karan. Gaurav says he can't do that. Cheenu asks him to think about it.

I again felt so bad for Vidya. Her pain at witnessing Adi and Priya's romantic moment and realizing that she can never have that in her own marriage and her utter desperation in begging Gaurav for one night was so touching. I feel bad for Gaurav as well because as much as he wants Vidya to be happy, the physical aspect of marriage is something that he just can't give her. It looks the writers have decided against turning Gaurav bisexual and that the Vidya-Gaurav marriage will have to end sometime.

Brahma tells Uttara that Devyani is his only and real wife

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So, today was a completely action-packed episode. Pushing the Gaurav-Vidya-Karan-Cheenu stuff the background, today's episode focused on the Brahma-Devyani-Uttara track.

Yesterday Devyani had told Brahma that since he had given someone else (Uttara) the status of wife, she was not going to keep a fast for his long-life on Karva Chauth . Brahma went into Uttara's room and took the box of sindoor (vermillion powder that women put in the part of their hair to signify that they are married). The next morning, Uttara is looking for the sindoor and can't find it, so she goes to Devyani's room where she sees Brahma telling Devyani that he's sorry for his mistakes and only she is his legitimate wife. He goes to put the sindoor in Devyani's hair but Uttara stops him. He pushes her away and says that Devyani is his only wife and she has rights over not just the box of sindoor but over him as well. Uttara runs out of the room in tears.

Devyani tells Brahma that she doesn't trust him and he's doing all this because of some plan of his own. He tries to convince her that he really has changed.

Brahma goes to see Uttara and finds her packing. She says that she is leaving the house forever. He tells her that it's her decision but if she leaves, he'll never see her again, and that if she really loves him, she will trust him and that he's doing all this for a good reason.

I'm beginning to feel bad for Uttara Maasi. Although she has brought a lot of this on herself, and nothing justifies sleeping with her sister's husband, what Brahma did today was really humiliating. It's just incredible that after everything Brahma does, Uttara keeps taking him back. What is it about this man that he has Uttara completely under his thumb and that even Devyani though she talks tough, still loves him (as she told Priya, despite telling Brahma that she wasn't going to fast for him, she still plans to keep the fast in secret. As she said "I've fasted for him for thirty years, how can I stop doing it now?" This track is certainly getting interesting.

Vidya-Gaurav SMP

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After their conversation in which Gaurav asks Vidya if she doesn't miss having love and physical affection in her life, she has a dream in which she is intimate with Gaurav. Of course she then wakes up to find herself alone in the bed while Gaurav is sleeping on the couch. She realizes that it was all a dream.

I felt really bad for Vidya in this scene. Despite claiming that she has accepted her husband's homosexuality and is happy just to play the role of wife, it is clear that she is still holding out hope that Gaurav will one day come to love her romantically. What do the writers intend by showing this scene? Obviously Vidya craves affection and has sexual needs but she is in love with Gaurav and I don't see her getting into a relationship with Cheenu just because he can satisfy her needs. Are the writers planning to turn Gaurav bisexual at some point in the future?

Gaurav asks Cheenu if he loves Vidya

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Gaurav asks Cheenu (Priya's younger brother) if he is in love with Vidya. Cheenu tells him that's it's none of his business and he only wants him to say yes so he has another excuse to get rid of Vidya. He tells him that if he cared so much about Vidya, he would never have married her in the first place. Gaurav replies that that is true and he only got married because he was afraid of the truth of his homosexuality being exposed. Because of this one mistake, three lives (His, Karan's and Vidya's) have been ruined, and Vidya's most of all, even though she was completely innocent in the whole thing. He asks Cheenu to think about it and only say yes if he can stand by Vidya forever as he can't bear to see her heart broken again.

Later, Gaurav talks to Vidya and tells her that she shouldn't fast on Karva Chauth (a Hindu ritual in which women fast throughout the day for their husband's long life). She tells him that she thought they weren't going to interfere in each other's affairs. He apologizes for yelling at her and tells her that he understands why she did it. He then asks her if she has never longed for love, for someone to take her in his arms and love her? She tells him that she is happy and doesn't want anything more. He replies "You can lie to me, but why are you lying to yourself".

This storyline raises some important issues. Clearly, Gaurav feels guilty that he cannot give Vidya a husband's love and he wants her to find her happiness with someone else. Cheenu loves Vidya and would be a great husband for her. However, Vidya is completely in love with Gaurav and doesn't view Cheenu in a romantic way at all. As such it would be unfair to ask her to marry Cheenu. It would solve Gaurav's problem and Cheenu would be happy, but it wouldn't make Vidya happy. And though she says she is content to play "wife" with Gaurav, we know that she hopes that it will one day become a real marriage.

Pre-cap: Gaurav and Vidya's suhag raat (wedding night). Obviously this is Vidya's fantasy, as there's no logical way that he would suddenly turn straight.

Vidya tries to get Gaurav and Karan back together

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Vidya cannot bear Gaurav's pain at being apart from Karan so when she overhears him telling a client to meet him at the Garden Cafe at 1:00 she decides to send a message to Karan from Gaurav's phone asking him to meet him there.

When Gaurav arrives at the cafe is surprised to find Karan waiting for him. He asks him who he is there to meet and Karan replies that he's there to meet him. Gaurav says that he didn't send the message to him. Then Vidya appears and says that she sent the message because she wanted Gaurav and Karan to get back together. Karan thinks that they are making fun of him and turns to go but Vidya begs Gaurav not to let Karan go out of his life. Gaurav however tells Karan that he's sorry that his wounds got opened again, but he should go and hopefully he will eventually forgive him. Karan replies that he will never forgive Gaurav.

Gaurav gets angry at Vidya and asks her why she keeps interfering in his life. She says she can't bear to see the pain he is in when he is separated from his love and he replies "What about my pain? The pain I feel when I see your loneliness. Before worrying about my happiness can't you find love for yourself?"



I don't know where the creatives are going with this plot. Vidya seems so confused. First she refuses to leave Gaurav and promises to stay on as the daughter-in-law of the house and his "wife". This makes Gaurav feel guilty that she is sacrificing so much for him and he decides to break up with Karan. Now that they've broken up, she wants them to get back together. The plot seems to keep going around in circles. If Gaurav and Karan are supposed to end up together, than it would have made sense for the writers to have Vidya go home with her parents and divorce Gaurav. If Gaurav and Vidya are supposed to end up together, than Gaurav and Karan's breakup has to be final. We can't keep going round and round the same issues.

Aditya suggests that Uttara get remarried

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After Uttara refused to believe Devyani and continued to carry on her affair with Brahma, Priya decided that something needs to be done. She convinces Aditya that he should talk to the family about arranging a second marriage for Uttara. This is controversial, because in Orthodox Hinduism, widow remarriage is not permitted. Priya convinces Adi that Maasi is still young and needs a life-partner and no matter how much she tries to become part of her sister's family, she needs her own family as well.

At dinner, Adi tells his dad that he thinks that they should get Maasi remarried. Needless to say, everyone is shocked, and Uttara and Brahma are both very against it.


Precap: Brahma tells Deyvani that he knows what she's up to and he won't let this plan succeed. Deyani tells him that she should explain it to Adi then and tell him just exactly why he is so against this marriage or Adi won't understand why "his super-cool dad is being so narrow-minded".

Vidya finds out that Gaurav has broken up with Karan

Today on "Maryada":

Vidya finds out that Gaurav has broken up with Karan. She hears Devyani and Gaurav talking and picks up something regarding Karan. She asks Gaurav if everything is OK, but he fobs her off with something regarding business troubles. When Gaurav goes out of the room, she uses his phone to call Karan. Karan, thinking it's Gaurav, picks up, and when he finds out that it's Vidya on the line, he asks her what she wants now that he and Gaurav have broken up. He thanks her for saving Gaurav's life and asks her to take care of him. He also asks to be left alone. When Gaurav comes back inside, Vidya confronts him about it and tells him he should go back to Karan and that she won't accept such a big sacrifice from him. Gaurav tells her that he doesn't want to argue with her about it and that he did what felt right to him, just as she did what felt right to her when she decided to stay married to him.

It seems a little for Vidya to be stage-managing her husband's love life. First she was very upset that he was with Karan, and now that they've broken up she's upset that they're not together. I get that she just wants Gaurav to be happy and she knows that he won't be happy without Karan, but she doesn't understand that he feels incredibly guilty about how much she has sacrificed for him. He can't stay married to Vidya and continue seeing Karan on the side, and he's now committed to trying to make this marriage work-- He will lose in either situation. Gaurav is also right when he says to Vidya "don't come between me and Karan" and she is also right in her way when she says that "I have come between you. Don't break up with him for me".

Meanwhile, Mantri Ji vows to get revenge on the Jhakkars for making her lose Karan: On Bhrama for shooting Vidya, on Devyani for not telling Gaurav to go back to Karan, and on Gaurav for breaking up with Karan. She says that just as she has lost her son, she's going to make the Jhakkar's lose a son so that they will understand her pain. I wonder if she's going to go after Gaurav or try to do something to Adi?