Jyoti - Here’s to a fresh start! (NDTV Imagine)

A visually challenged individual Pankaj, marries a ‘normal’ girl from a middle-middle class family Jyoti and sets off on a new journey of discovering love, romance, faith and togetherness. Much had been expected from this unusual pair. As individuals they inhabited two different worlds-while Pankaj belonged to a very rich family, Jyoti came from the other end of the spectrum. Their upbringing, their environment, their sense of priority, all these were vastly different. But in terms of core values, it would be difficult to find two people who resembled each other so closely. Both Pankaj and Jyoti are fiercely independent, principled, caring, honest, down-to-earth and dutiful individuals.

Pankaj came into Jyoti’s life when she needed a friend more than a lover. He became a confidante and slowly their love blossomed. Their feelings for each other were not born out of heady first sight attractions. Instead they were nurtured carefully by Pankaj’s tremendous patience and love and Jyoti’s immense respect and sense of fairness. At the time of marrying Pankaj she had a deep-rooted respect for him, but within a very short span of time, she fell in love with him and surrendered herself completely to him.

Things were going smoothly for the pair till such time that Jyoti’s revenge-seeking and diabolical ex-boyfriend Brij, decided to play havoc in their lives. Soon he had rocked the foundations of this lovely relationship. Brij planted seeds of jealousy and doubt in Panakj’s mind regarding Jyoti. He forced Pankaj into believing that Jyoti had married this visually challenged individual only for his money and had carried on a clandestine affair with her ex lover behind his back. Pankaj’s ego could not swallow the notion that his wife had a past and that he might have been her second choice. He throws her out of the house and refuses to accept Jyoti’s unborn child as his own.

Unlike most soap heroines, Jyoti does not go pleading and begging for forgiveness and understanding. She tries to make her husband see sense, tries to talk to him but when everything fails; she does not hesitate to sign the divorce papers. To begin life afresh takes a lot of courage and Jyoti is indeed very courageous. She does not wish to compromise on her self respect and is willing to let go of a relationship in which she has lost her husband’s trust. Many women would have gone back for the sake of the unborn child, or asked for a huge alimony; Jyoti refuses both the options. Pankja will soon marry again and Jyoti will try to carve out a niche for her dance school. But if their paths were to cross again, will Jyoti accept Pankaj into her life and will Pankaj have the guts to admit that he had judged poorly?