Ek Mahanayak – Dr. B.R. Ambedkar 23rd September 2020 Written Update
Ek Mahanayak – Dr. B.R. Ambedkar 23rd September 2020 Written Episode
Guru ji asks Bhima why he is sitting outside alone. Bhima says teachers weren’t available and kids were playing. I dint feel like joining anyone so I sat here. guru ji says I understand your problem. The solution to your concern lies in the future. Bhima says Madhvi Didi used to tell me how much her mother loved her. Things changed drastically because of one thing. Her mother kept quiet. It is strange. Her husband is no more whereas the one who is living is dying every day. Guru ji says being a widow is a curse in our society. Bhima speaks of re-marriage. Things will be fine for Didi then. This curse will go away. Guru ji looks around worriedly. Bhima requests him to tell this to Madhvi’s parents. Guru ji tells him not to say this ever again or they will kill him. A widow’s life can never be life before ever. It is considered a sin! Stop thinking about such things or people will find another reason to get you out of school. I am going inside. Come soon. Bhima nods.
Madhvi asks her mother to give her vegetables or pickle. Her mother tells her to accept it that nothing will hold taste for her ever again. It will always be like this now. Madhvi requests her Baba to give her some pickle. No one is looking. He keeps the bowl aside. Don’t eat if you don’t want to. You can die if you don’t want to eat. Madhvi thinks of the happier times when her parents used to cater to all her whims.
Bhima says maybe Aayi and Baba are right that I wont be able to do anything for you. What kind of a brother am I if I cannot do anything for you? I should help you get some reassurance that you will be able to live your life again but how!
Madhvi forcibly eats a few bites of the bland food and cries. She keeps the bowl aside.
Bhima is on his way home. How to do something for Madhvi Didi? He notices a widow passing from there and speaks to her. He asks her when she lost her husband. She begins to walk away. He apologizes to her if she felt bad. My Didi became a widow yesterday itself. She tells him that it will be 18 years in 2 months from today. He asks her how she got accustomed to these traditions. I want to help my Didi somehow. She is amazed at how he can think of such things at such a tender age. She shares her experience with him. I slowly understood that a woman should never be born. Bhima’s eyes well up. She says I spent 18 years of my life going through all this. I have begun to hate life. Death wont come. I pray that it will be better if a woman dies before her husband. Bhima says now I think I will be of some help to Madhvi Didi. She nods and goes.
Bhima tells his family members what he got to know today. How could she survive all those years? Meera says she must have tried to commit suicide in the early years but she wouldn’t have been able to do. It is equally tough for a woman to live and die. Bhimbai comforts her. Ram ji asks everyone to have dinner. Bhima denies. I am not hungry. Bhimbai asks him till when will he not eat. Madhvi’s life wont change by doing that. Understand that she must live her life this way only. Meera says life is a school which teaches everything. Bhimbai tells Bhima to learn to live his life in this school too. Bhima says I will. I will be at peace if I skip my meal tonight. I will feel as if I could support her in her pain somehow. He lies down to sleep. Ram ji says let him accept the situation in his style.
Madhvi is unable to sleep. She thinks of the recent incidents. She decides to commit suicide to put an end to everything.
Bhima sits up with a start as he recalls Meera’s words. Why do I feel this way? He shouts and runs out of the house. Everyone wakes up. Ram ji and Bala go after Bhima.
Madhvi reaches the same spot where the cart had upturned. She takes a step forward but Bhima pulls her back just in time. Ram ji and Bala stop at a distance. She tells him to let her die but he shouts against it. Listen to me first. If you don’t think I am right then you can jump from here. She stops. Bhima apologizes to Madhvi. I got scared when I saw you in this state. I shouldn’t have shouted. I told you last night that I will support you yet I dint stand by you. You spent the entire day on your own. I promise you I will take care of you and will study too. He relates what he got to know today. I know it will take time but I will find a solution to your problem. Have faith in me. If you cannot then you can jump from here and die. I wont stop you. He turns to go when she calls out to him. You don’t know what people have been saying to me these days. You can come near the well tomorrow to understand how difficult it is to live your life as a widow and how easy it is to die. She starts crying. Bhima wipes his tears.
Next morning, Madhvi comes near the well. The ladies taunt her again. Why did you come here so early when we told you yesterday that you can take water from here only when we are done? Our day will be ruined if we see your inauspicious face first thing in the morning. Bhima reasons that Madhvi’s days are badly already. You are just making it worse for her. they tell him to stop calling Madhvi Didi. She is from our community. She is destined to bear the consequences of being a widow now. Bhima questions them but they repeat their words at him. He says you have a problem with me calling her Didi. She is from your community yet this is how you are treating her. I don’t know about last birth but what you are doing to her in this birth is no less than a sin. This is written in pundit ji’s books and my school as well. God may have done anything but don’t treat her like this. They threaten to call the villagers. Bhima requests them to let Didi take water. Madhvi agrees to wait. Bhima knows she will be hungry. She tells him to go. No one can help someone like me as this is my fate after all! You have my swear. Please leave. Bhima walks away reluctantly.
