The good wife

Archana

Christmas is here and it is kindness time again. I have been struggling with this idea of kindness for a few days now judging from the topics of my last posts!

I was telling you, the other day, that I have started watching Indian series and in one of the episode I saw yesterday, from a series called Sacred Ties (Pavitra Rishta is the indian title), there is this horrible lady whose dreams of grandeur are frustrated when her son’s wedding to a rich girl is called off due to the lack of integrity of her son which is exposed in the middle of the ceremony.

The wicked lady vows that she will not rest until she succeeds in crashing all the wedding dreams of the young, beautiful and kind heroine, who was involuntarily involved in the discovery of the bad behaviour of her son and his public shame.

She goes as far as calling the interested families to warn them about the young girl by telling horrible lies on her morals.

I don’t understand how someone will go as far as spreading lies on another fellow human being for no gain whatsoever, if it was for some advantages, it can be understandable even if unforgivable, but to show such wickedness, just for the sake of it, is something I can’t understand.

I think I just don’t understand revenge.

5daughters

On the other hand, in an episode of another Indian series, called Destiny (Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann is the Indian title), five daughters of a rich family are deprived of their rights by a wicked lady who has put their brother under her spell. Their brother is a very weak man who finds himself trapped in this bad woman’s cobweb.

What I don’t understand is the sort of kindness that is displayed by the brother’s good wife who has lost the baby she was expecting due to the wicked lady’s various machinations, but still, when it is discovered that the wicked lady is pregnant from her husband, everybody in the family is outraged and want the wicked lady out of the house, but she pleads with them to let her stay for the sake of her husband’s child.

Jasveer Kaur as Kajri in Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann (Destiny) - The wicked lady
Jasveer Kaur as Kajri in Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann (Destiny) – The wicked lady

Of course, it is a disaster, as the wicked lady goes on with her maneuvering until the brother’s good wife, who pleaded for her, has to leave the house in the presence of her husband who doesn’t utter a word to defend her. Finally, the bad deeds of the wicked lady are exposed and she is thrown out of the house while the brother’s good wife regain her rightful position in the house.

But, what makes me cringe is the level of kindness of that good wife. Can you believe that after all what she went through, she will be the one to allow again in the house the wicked woman who has now given birth, as she wants father and son to be together, of course with disastrous consequences!

Niyati Joshi as Niyati in Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann (Destiny) -The good wife
Niyati Joshi as Niyati in Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann (Destiny) -The good wife

What baffles me is that this type of kindness doesn’t merely stem from the poor imagination of writers. I know some people who are really like this in real life!

But how far can kindness go? I know some of you would say:all the way! But how long can one offer the other cheek? And how detrimental to your own sanity can the christian precept be?

I have a cousin who has been betrayed countless time by this young other cousin of ours and I don’t understand why she keeps considering this unreliable lady as her friend. I, on the contrary, will not give you a second chance to get back at me.

I remember a long time ago, I had to travel for work, and I came back unexpectedly, only to find a good lady friend of mine, a married woman for that matter, in our apartment with my husband! She gave me the excuse that she needed some advice on her CV! Really girl? And you waited for me to leave my house to come for advice? Come on!

Needless to say, that there and then, it was the end of that friendship. My husband will sometimes ask: what happen to so and so, wouldn’t it be nice to get together after such a long time? Yes, I suppose it would! But it is not going to happen!


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