aatm ghaat

Aatm ghaat - I'm unable to get this word out of my head. I came to know about this word, few days back, when I overheard a dialogue in one of the Hindi daily serials. I liked the word, almost instantly. It roughly translates to "a blow causing self destruction".  As I keep witnessing numerous instances of aatm-ghaat, I keep thinking more about it.

This post would be about some of the Hindi soaps, I get to know on a daily basis. I know. I know, it's crime to discuss about them. But just because I want to give samples of aatm-ghaat, I can't drag people whom I know onto a public forum. Can I? Should I? Wouldn't that be a bigger crime?

I don't remember the names of the soaps, too lengthy, too crappy. Names are, anyway, not that important.

There is this one soap about the medical interns in a prestigious hospital. The chief's daughter and an intern are neck deep in love. Parents on either side approve it. When all seems well, the guy meets with an accident and "disappears". The gal keeps pining for him. Here comes a new intern - junior to her - and plays such a dirty prank that whole of the hospital - including newly admitted patients - get to believe that there's something physical happened between the two. The gal's father - head of a prestigious hospital, himself a successful doctor, father of two successful doctors - comes up with spineless question,  "Who'll marry my daughter?".  "Meee!" says the junior, and turns from villain to hero, instantly.  This gal agrees to it, despite continuining to ache for her first love. The first instance of aatm-ghaat! She marries. Aatm-ghaat! Her first love returns, gets to know what has happened and goes nuts. This gal continues to watch him as an outsider, despite wanting to be with him. Aatm-ghaat! After six months of turmoil, she agrees to "re-marry" the same guy, now, without any enforcement. Aatm ghaat! Every single moment of her second marriage ceremony, she thinks of the first guy. Aatm ghaat!

The other day, I was talking to a friend about the movie Arya 2. He opines that it is one of the best flicks, in terms of projecting a guy's inconsistencies in actions  when he's in love. Going by the same theory, though the above serial is the crappiest you ever would get to watch, I still believe, it shows how a woman, who can't choose between alternatives can traumatize her men. Nothing can be more lethal than women, in such cases.

There's another serial, which let's us see the other side of the coin. It's about a lower middle class couple, now separated. They get together because of an arranged marriage. Thanks to a series of misunderstandings between the families and the couple, they head towards divorce. By the time, the processing of divorce happens, they fall for each other, so much so that, they can't imagine being separate. But they go ahead and get themselves divorced. Aatm-ghaat!

If first serial has this aatm-ghat because a gal couldn't stand for her guy, the second one is because they strive to be more divine than humanly possible.

May be, as Chuck says, "Self-improvement isn't the answer. Self-destruction is the answer." I don't know. May be, aatm-ghaat is inevitable to keep surviving.  Irony of life, you may call it: Keep killing yourself in bits, so that you can stay alive.