Arnav Singh Raizada and Redemption!
Ok so, let’s talk about it.
Rewatching the show as an adult made me realize that many people weren’t happy with Arnav’s redemption and how it was portrayed. They were looking for something more intense and serious
Now this might be a little unpopular opinion but THAT kind of redemption would be very unrealistic for him and let me explain it why.
By no means I’m trying to defend or justify his actions towards Khushi. I completely on the side that what he did to her or how he treated her was extremely wrong and toxic and I don’t support that, his past trauma shouldn’t be an excuse. However IPKKND is a show that handles trauma and trauma response in a better way than most of the ITV shows.
Notice how they (characters, storyline, scenes) never try to indicate that Khushi should fix Arnav’s trauma. That’s right! It’s because they are well aware that both of the characters are deeply traumatized yet have different outcomes. However I really wish they highlighted Khushi’s trauma as well and gave it more importance.
And now speaking of trauma they both had similar kind that of losing parents, but everything that happened later on was different.
For Khushi she was younger than Arnav when her parents passed away, only 8. She even mentioned it in one episode that she had no idea what death meant and always thought her parents would come back. And considering the fact that she was immediately taken in by Garima and Shashi there’s a high chance that they didn’t let her know or tell her anything about her parents death, leading her to believe that they’ll come back. There’s a high chance she found out later on after growing up or Madhumati told her while lashing out at her for something.
Notice how Khushi is always smiling, laughing, is very goofy and not only that she’s also always trying to fix everyone’s problem and never complains about her own. And even if she does she only does in front of her Devi maiya. It’s probably because she has a fear of judgement from other people.
I am very heavy on this but growing up Khushi heard a lot of such things as “You should be grateful for us, we took you with us and saved you. You would be in Orphanage without us” specially from Madhumati.
That’s why Khushi believed that no matter what happens she should always make them aka Guptas happy, never complain or do anything to make them upset. No doubt she was so hell bent on getting their forgiveness after the elopement track.
Arnav on the other hand was older than Khushi, he was more mature and had witnessed everything. His mother confronting his father, their deaths, his sister being left at the altar, his grandmother (Dadi) abandoning him and Anjali instead of taking responsibility and his uncle throwing him out of the house. Having to endure all this at the age of 14 made him more cold in general, which compelled him to ignore his emotions and just see things practically. It was his goal to be rich and successful so that no one can look down on him and he did that keeping his emotions aside.
You can critically argue that Arnav had some little changes after he started catching feelings for Khushi. Like being able to take jokes, laughing, having more compassion but still the huge parts were there. Notice how he still got nightmares and felt the pain deeply, and how he struggled saying things like sorry, Thankyou or even happy birthday. That’s the proof right there that falling for Khushi did infact NOT heal his trauma.
So that’s why! The kind of redemption people wanted would’ve required some intense therapy sessions which obviously didn’t happen 🤷♀️
