Maa-sa and Sugna both walk down memory lane – Balika Vadhu

It was a time of remembrance and nostalgia for the main characters of Balika Vadhu. Maa-sa (Surekha Sikri) finally shows her vulnerable side by reliving her past. The event is triggered off by Mahadeo Singh’s act of entrusting his property and his haveli (palace) under Basant’s care. A non-believing Basant smells a rat in this ploy too and refuses to accept the responsibility. Bhairon asks the Munim of Mahadeo Singh’s estate to hold under his care all the important documents till such time that Singh comes back from the hospital. At this point Maa-sa says that she will keep the keys to the haveli with herself.

As a bewildered Bhairon and a surprised Basant look on, Maa-sa literally snatches the keys. Basant asks his mother what made her accept the keys in spite of knowing the fact that it had been built from Mahadeo Singh’s ill gotten wealth. To this question Maa-sa answers defiantly that the haveli is a symbol not only of Mahadeo Singh’s wickedness but it represents all the hard work that has been put in by generations before him (Mahadeo Singh). It is then she takes a walk down memory lane and we get to see her relive all the tender moments she had spent in that house. She lives through all those moments that transformed her from a tender child bride to a confident of a mother of two.

For the first time the viewer gets to see a softer side of this hard-hearted woman. She makes a telling remark at one point, saying that it is almost as if she has not lived a breath ever since she walked out of that place. All her struggles, the many battles she has waged , won or lost, the umpteen times she has fallen and picked herself up-all of it is captured so beautifully by this single remark.

On the other hand Sugna on her way to her prenatal check up stops at the same place that used to be her clandestine meeting place with her first husband Pratap. The flood gates are opened unto her once she steps under the familiar yellow flower tree. She remembers and cries for her lost first love. Shyam (her present husband) finds her in a pensive mood and instead of begrudging her the tears she has shed for the dead soul, he comforts her. He reassures her that he will never ever hold her past against her. Such generousness is so difficult to find in men, who are forever ready to find faults with women while perpetually overlooking their own.

While Maa-sa’s memories helped us to connect with her better, Sugna’s reliving of the past prepared the viewers for better and happier times that are soon to come.