How Truthful Are We?. Review on Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay

I come back after a long, long time. Its not that I have stopped writing but lately I have found very little to write on. It will be a lame excuse to say I cannot make time. If one is passionate about something one does and will make time. Perhaps I am not passionate enough about my blog(?). But this is not a post to introspect on that.

This is a post to talk about a serial I have just finished watching. There are many serials I have watched in the meantime. Thought of writing about them. Could not find enough time to sort out my thoughts and feelings. And then set the task aside. But this one I made certain to write about.

A sensitive little girl, at a very young age, witnesses her father committing suicide. Her mother remarries leaving the child with her grandmother and maternal aunt and uncle. The grandmother loses no opportunity to remind her that she is the daughter of a looser who took his own life because he could not pay off his debts. She is again and again made to believe how hateful she is and how sinful her father was - a drug abuser and a gambler who lost everything because of his bad habits.

She grows up to be a woman of letters. She excels in academics. She is good at painting. She is also adept at hiding her feelings. She secretly hurts to have a normal life - a happy home and loving parents! But what she has is a brood of uncaring relatives who will be too relieved to get rid of her. The only person who loves her is her mother's sister. She wants her to be married to her son. However, the son's mind has already been poisoned against her by none other than her cousin(daughter of her maternal aunt and uncle). Once, the three musketeers( the brother and both sisters) used to be best of friends. Now the sisters would like to happily kill each other. Seed of this immense hatred was sown in their early childhood itself when her maternal aunt wouldn't stop comparing the girls. "Why can't you be like her? See! How she stood first in class. And you? Just good for nothing." It is these and many more such words which not only soured their relationship but also stunted their emotional growth and sense of self esteem. One grew up feeling deprived of parental warmth and support and comfort of a nurturing household, the other grew up believing that she was one worthless nobody.

The brother returns from abroad. His mother is all set to marry him off to her beloved niece. The son is unsure of his choice. He used to once love her. Now, brainwashed by his cousin(who quite unabashedly professes her love for him), he has doubts about the girl's innocence. On the other hand, he cannot disobey his mother whom he loves dearly. So, he gives his consent to marry the girl. But just before the wedding life takes an unexpected turn .

Mehreen(the fatherless girl - Mahira Khan) is accused of murdering Mashal(the spiteful cousin - Kubra Khan) and put behind bars. She fails to convince her relatives that she is not guilty of any crime. Her friend, Saffan( who also wants to marry her) comes forward to bail her out of prison. However, Mehreen's aunt, in the meanwhile, coaxes her son to get her a good lawyer who can prove her innocence in court. Mehreen gets a bail, comes out of prison but she has nowhere to go. Mashal's parents and her grandmother will not taken her in. Her own mother has never been able to give her shelter with her new family(after her second marriage). Again, it is her aunt(mother's sister) who extends her support, brings her home and by and by marries her off to her son.

But this is not a marriage born out of love or sympathy. Nor it is a marriage of convenience and mere coexistence. It is a marriage which springs out of revenge. Aswad, Mehreen's(cousin - Usman Mukhtar) husband wants to teach her a lesson. He is convinced that whatever Mehreen says she is the killer. So, he makes it a point to make Mehreen realize the pain that Mashal must have gone through which propelled her to take her own life. He is not violent. He is not abusive. He is not coercive. But often in more than one way, subtle or crude, Aswad draws the point home to his wife how cruel and wicked she has been to her sister, Mashal.

Marriage is never made in heaven. It is a lifelong tryst with destiny. A destiny which is carved out of conjugal harmony and happy efforts. It can also be a nightmare for two people who are destined to be doomed walking a tortuous path without faith and trust. Thus, the day comes when Mehreen loses her equilibrium and accuses Aswad of conspiring to murder her. Her aunt-now-mother-in-law rushes her to the hospital and it is here that one after the other the knots of a crooked game untie very slowly and truth lays bare.

I will not reveal the end as it will prove to be a spoiler for those who may wish to see the serial after happening to read this post. The serial is available on You Tube, produced by Hum TV. It is a million views grosser. But that is not all.

The story written by Umera Ahmed poses very pointed questions: How truthful are we in our relationships with our near and dear ones? How truthful are we with ourselves? How truthful are we with our partner in life? And last but not the least how truthful are with with our lives?

These seem very ordinary questions. But if you really delve deep down inside these are the most difficult ones to answer. Mind you, "truthful" here has a larger domain which includes trust, loyalty, dutifulness, love, care, understanding, compassion and faith. Have you ever thought of the concept of truthfulness?