3rd
Year Anniversary
Iss
Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon?
What
should I name this love?
June
6, 2011- (November 30, 2012)- June 6, 2014
The
Journey From Hate to Love
I
celebrate the day that this wonderful serial was placed on the air on Star
Plus, Monday to Friday with occasional Maha episodes (that I longed for) on a
Saturday, which played on my computer and television multiple times a day.
I
long for the reliving of those moments of waiting, butterflies in my stomach,
palms sweating and the feeling of anticipation, sitting on the edge of my bed
to see my ASR turn into my Arnav and wondering what will my Khushi Kumari Gupta do next?
(Didn’t
we all feel they belonged to us?)
I
use to talk to ASR and even myself while watching,
“How
dare he?” and “Did he just do that?”
and then just melt when he looked a certain
way. I laughed so hard at Khushi’s
antics and mannerisms.
I
got lost in his chocolate puppy dog eyes, which could express every emotion
with a blink, a stare, a wink and you could always tell his fury by his eyes.
It was the emotion of love, unfolding and deep
hurt which built walls that would crumble before our very eyes that I came to
know and love, seeing it in his eyes, slowly but steadily through his
mesmerizing gazes at his beauty, Khushi and her possessive flying dupattas. I couldn’t wait for his stone cold heart to
crumble and melt into the warm and loving embrace of the young, zany, middle
class girl who really didn’t know about love herself.
They
had a common link, orphaned at a young age from parental tragedies and both
were raised in loving homes in Lucknow, only causing both to be stronger
individuals. They were complete
opposites as well, ASR didn’t care about anyone or anything, power and money
and he himself were his gods while KKG was powered by her devotion to Devi
Maiiya, sanskars and tradition.
Their
paths crossed with Devi Maiyya intervening many a time. Starting from Khushi being at the wrong place
at the right time where she met the infamous and furious ASR, falling into his
arms and ruining his show right before his eyes and as those eyes gazed at the
dazzler in his arms and her pink luscious lips… to her dupatta flowing freely
over his face caressing him lovingly… to her holding the key to his wish… to
her scooter running into his car even though they moved to a different state…
to Khushi being hired by his company and her unintentionally ruining a fur coat
for a VIP model and that’s when he noticed, really noticed the beauty in red.
How
could she make him feel this way…stirring things inside of him he didn’t really
care to understand, he chose not to understand or want. Walls went up, anger took over and revenge
settled into his heart. He would not
feel this way and this was his punishment to her; so he sent her out in the
rain to park cars and made her work extra long hours knowing she had to go home
for her sister’s birthday and then banished her to the guest house all deteriorated
and decrepit, ready to fall in a instant only to realize she was stuck there
and off he went to her rescue late at night where he was confronted by a
lioness and the battle really started.
Anger
took over and as much as he pushed her away she came in front of him.
Devi Maiyya had other plans for them.
So
I sat at the edge of my bed waiting and watching, biting my nails, palms
sweating and heart racing in anticipation for those plans to unfold. I waited and watched, as our couple hated
each other, argued, fell upon each other, and continued to come together over
and over again and again I waited and watched Devi Maiyya’s plans unfold.
Watching
Lavanya become his live-in girlfriend was not easy. She was the arrogant ringleader at work who
hated Khushi but Khushi was there to rescue and help her out at the Raizada
Mansion making her fit into the role of bahu of the Raizada household. Anjali
and Naniji loved Khushi from the beginning since her sari selling days and were
her greatest champions and Devi Maiiya’s matchmakers on earth. We see Khushi’s magic change a girl like
Lavanya into a proper bahu for that same Raizada household only for Khushi to
find herself attracted to the man she longed to hate and avoid at every
turn. She didn’t understand what was
happening to her but something was pulling her to him, stirring deep inside to
her soul…a lifemate perhaps?
I
hated Shyam with my whole being even from the earliest I can remember. He just made my skin crawl and I must say
Abbhas did an excellent job portraying his character. The plot thickened with
Shyam weaseling himself in as a paying guest at the Gupta house. He followed
them there from Lucknow where he first saw and saved Khushi from some very
sleazy goons and they didn’t forget the favor.
So the innocent Guptas made a place for him in their home and he was a
perfect candidate for marriage with the Sanka
Devi,
Khushi. Babuji’s illness was brought
about by the evil Shyam for his scheme to marry Khushi. In their helplessness it would be good to
have another man around the house and someone who could take care of at least
one of the marriageable aged sisters.
I
was still at the edge of my bed, sitting on pins and needles as I watched
Khushi hatch a plan to sabotage a business trip so Lavanya and ASR could be
alone but needless to say our Devi Maiyya gave Lavanya a zit and alas the vain
woman couldn’t go but Khushi wound up in ASR’s trunk unconscious due to a knock
on her noggin’ and there she went instead of La.
What
ensued changed everything.
A
trust built in a very strange way between them.
He was angry at first…of course he would be after all she put sugar in
the gas tank. So they walked through the
woods and she had to trust him. He lost
her for a while for she was forbidden to speak and she fell in a sinkhole and
he panicked a little until he found her.
Her clothes were stolen and she was left with bridal attire so when they
stopped at a roadside stand they were assumed to be eloped lovers.
Oh
yes, she made him suffer. Dancing away,
Khushi happily let go of her inhibitions and her hips swayed and the beauty in
all her glory mesmerized him. He scooped
her up, after all it was their “suhaag raat”, and brought her to their
honeymoon suite where he dumped her on a chair and furiously he left her there
all night to sleep in the cold dark living room as he slammed the bedroom
door. Honeymoon over.
I
saw another side of ASR that episode because when he woke up and went to check
on the now unconscious Khushi, he swept her off the chair brought her to the
bed and cared for her so lovingly you would think she was his wife. I saw a
changing ASR and a little bit of the cold in his heart was warming as he gave
her medicine and held her glass for her to drink. I sighed.
On
the way home Khushi was mistaken for that runaway bride who stole her clothes
and after seeing Khushi manhandled by a goon, Arnav in a fit of rage beat the
living daylights out of the goons until Khushi called out his name and placed
her calming hand on his shoulder to stop.
I sighed again.
What
was going on? Was he changing? Iss Pyaar Ko Kya naam Doon?
Upon
the couples return Khushi finds out about Babuji’s illness and he is in the
hospital. She goes with great
despair. She can’t lose her parent again.
I sat there crying feeling Khushi’s pain and sadness.
I just knew she needed a hug, someone to
support her and then there he was….
There
were so many times in this show where he supported her as she crept into his
heart. She allowed the cold walls of
doubt, distrust, hate and fear to melt away from his heart and she built in him
trust, friendship and support and a place where he had no fear to feel and he
could feel love was safe. His attraction
to her kept growing but his denial was great and he continued to push her away
but again Devi Maiyya knew there destiny. Through twists and turns,
misunderstandings and deceptions the plot thickened and our couple fell in love
with fairy lights, lit diyas and poolside as its backdrop. Enchanted by the
other and mesmerizing gazes across the room, something stirring, iss pyaar ko
kya naam doon? He followed his
attraction, her eyes and lips beckoned him that night at poolside, a gaze of
permission perhaps but he couldn’t control himself any longer and he
surrendered by attempting a kiss. A kiss
that was so breathtaking that had us on the edge of our seats again only to be
interrupted by reality’s ringing of his phone.
That night he returned to her, her mother’s precious payal that he had
in his keeping- holding close to him but all was destroyed with reality’s ring
and an engagement announcement took place instead. He would hurt her and push her further
away. ASR announced his intent to marry
La.
Through
twists and turns, again our IPK took us to the limits wanting to hate La but we
couldn’t, wanting ASR to openly confess his love to Khushi and he didn’t, but
we saw a self centered woman change into a caring respectable human being and
became mature as she realized that the man she loved and wanted to marry loved
someone else even though he never would admit it. So La left us and I actually cried, did you?
IPK
did that to me, to us, it let us love every character developed or undeveloped,
even a goat named Laxmi.
Iss
Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon? Continued with more storylines and we were still
waiting with anticipation for this love bud to bloom into the rose.
This
love remained unspoken and I delighted in all the crazy scenarios as well (as
the entry of NK, Khushi BFF) and then was destroyed finally by a misconstrued
incident by a devious, deceptive, lying and cheating husband and BIL. Trust was broken and I cried so much, it was
heart wrenching to see their pain.
It’s
hard to even write about.
We
all know what happened next with the following tracks… the forced marriage,
Gupta House, the bridge and Revelation of Shyam Part 1, Arnav’s kidnapping, The
revealing of “I love you, Khushi”, the search is on with detectives Mami and
Khushi, Dadi’s entry, Arnav’s Safe, the Revelation of Shyam Part 2, Anjali’s
Accident and Miscarriage and Remarriage of A&K with Garima’s Truth, The
Revelation of Shyam Part 3 and then all the silly story lines after that I
choose not to even acknowledge but I still watched on the edge of my bed in
anticipation.
Iss
Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon? a Hindi serial, which although off the air, still stays
with us. We gather in threads on this Forum, pagal in love with the show’s
story and the actors. We haven’t
forgotten, nor will we.
Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon? Has been our
journey from hate to love, from sadness to happiness and because of this show
we gather together united in love as sisters.
We transcend every nationality, creed and even age for we have a common
bond, a show with brilliant actors that taught us hate can become love,
Iss
Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon?