BajiRao Mastani - Story of Love

BajiRao Mastani - A Story that made me furious, glorified wrong kind of love, intended to show love winning religion, cultural and socioeconomic differences, but landed as a story of betrayal, at least to me. Mastani - Woman who hopelessly falls in love with BajiRao and decides to chase her love. She knows that her chase will leave BajiRao’s lawfully wedded wife Kashibai in an endless anguish of grief, but She chose to love no one but Baji Rao, not even her own conscious or the inner voice, let alone Kashibai. I find it hard to call this Love; I rather define it as a state of helpless mind losing control over self. BajiRao - A brave and honorable warrior, a leader bound up in protecting his country and its people and Kashibai’s long wedded husband. He falls week at keeping up to his moral scrutiny when a stunning woman expresses her desire to belong to him amidst a full court. Therefore “Falls in Love” with her. BajiRao conveniently forgets his commitment and the promise he made to his wife, his dearest friend and closest confidant, KashiBai. My mind refused to accept BajiRao's Love; How can a man who has a complete blind spot concerning his long known wife's pain and agony can love and be loyal to a person whom he had known only for a few days? Kashibai - A warrior’s wife. A man whom she trusted with her life and with her child proven to be a most unfaithful person in her life, she felt betrayed. She witnessed her 5 feet 10 inch tall stature of trust and pride melting down and she was helpless. She probably never again in life can even attempt to trust any man, she felt hopeless. She did not lose her husband alone to Mastani but her pride and her ability to have faith. Despite all those cards going only against her, she chose to stand by her love, by her husband. She was strong enough to free him from the bonds that were tying him to her. She knows that she can rightfully impose any exemplary punishment, instead she accepts “The Other Woman” and welcomes her with a smile on her lips and warmth in her heart and makes her a part of her life. I call this is Love, a true love. It had all the beauty in the world. Her love was limitless; it was not selfish or needy. Her love was more powerful than Baji Rao’s sword which won him 42 battles. Her love was more beautiful than Mastani’s art that won for her Baji Rao. Kashibai’s Son hated Mastani. He fell deeply in love with that “hatred for her” and kills Mastani’s little boy for that “love”. Unfortunately, I failed to find any difference between the kind of love that Mastani had for BajiRao, BajiRao had for Mastani and the Son had for his “hatred for Mastani”. I could not justify their choices as they all stood by their Love, But the kind that gives pain. It is a dangerous weapon capable of shattering trust and destroying lives. There is no convincing justification for the devastating effects of such love. Love is beautiful when it is selfless and intended to give or it is beastly, ugly and scary. One such beautiful love was kashibai’s, She gave it all when her love demanded, but went unspoken, unmentioned, unnoticed.
- Sandeepa Kolli