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Nimki Mukhiya, now Nimki Vidhayak, ought to be ashamed of herself.

She has disappointed her Star Bharat and Hotstar viewers, and let herself down, badly.

She has become a stale version of herself.

And to think that she was a breath of fresh air we gulped in, gratefully, five evenings a week. While other TV serials were adorned with heroines caked in make-up thick as dough, clothes and jewels straight from the mandap of weddings, Nimki’s only adornment was a pair of dark goggles.

This carefree, delightful young woman thought she belonged on the sets of a Bollywood film, while she lived in a village of Bihar with her taxi driver father, an earnest sister Mahua, and younger brother Monu. She was ‘BFF’ with Tunnu, and always at odds with Abhimanyu, the village block development officer who was entranced by her.

On a whim and out of sheer boredom, Nimki became the village mukhiya, after a hard-fought gram panchayat election.

Whimsically, she had also convinced herself that she was violently in love with the handsome but-oh-so-sulky Babbu Singh, son of Tetar Singh — the most powerful man in the village and formerly the village mukhiya.

Independent, argumentative, she was one helluva lady, possessed of a decided way with words, and a keen sense of humour.

She endeared herself to viewers, perhaps even inspired young women with her guts, charmed them with her guileless ways. She scored A+ in self-confidence — viewers believed she was one woman who didn’t need a man to define her.

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The plot

Nimki married her beloved but reluctant Babbu only because Tetar Singh’s family hoped to act as the rulers of the village — through her. In the Tetar Singh haveli, she was harassed, humiliated, mistreated — she stayed in the domestic worker’s room, did not sit with the family or have any physical contact with her husband.

She always fought back, gamely, word for word. She withstood the taunts of power, the guile, venality of Babbu, Tetar, his wife Anaro, and Ritu Raj, husband to Babbu’s sister, the sweet Sweety—with rare good humour and chutzpah.

But her insubordination could not go unpunished. She opposed Tetar Singh’s attempts to rule the village and when it became unbearable, she returned to her father’s home.

It is then that Babbu Singh raped her.

Ostensibly because she had the audacity to try and change the fortunes of the villagers with her new-fangled schemes, including a fashion show.

When the villagers and she refused to oblige Tetar Singh by stopping the fashion show, the obedient son, Babbu, arrived on the scene: to rape her to avenge her opposition to his father’s wishes, for daring to dream she was his equal, to assert his manhood, his caste status and his marital rights over her.

And finally, he raped her to teach the village a lesson.

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Real, so far

Badly injured and violently abused, she regained her composure, filed a rape complaint against her husband. She discovered that she is pregnant, lost her father – confined to a wheelchair – in a mysterious disappearance, engineered probably by the Singh family.

But, she battled, on with Abhimanyu’s help. She recognised his worth, and readily returned his affections. They fell in love, imagining a future together.

As would be expected, she lost the rape case due to the machinations of Tetar Singh’s family — justice bowed to the might of the powerful.

So far so good: the TV serial was a realistic portrayal of caste, class and gender politics in rural India, exposing the deep socio-cultural fissures that still run through the heart of the country.

But, through it all, Nimki had stood her ground, an example for millions of exploited women in the country.

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Going south

Then it goes horribly wrong.

Babbu suddenly had a change of heart, after his sister is raped by her husband, the despicable Ritu Raj. He returned to Nimki, begged forgiveness, and before you could say ‘Babbu Singh’, they were back together in the marital home, this time, seemingly in love, and looking forward to the birth of the child borne out of rape.

Abruptly, Nimki turned her back on all those who till then had stood by her: Mahua, Monu, Tunnu — and the faithful Abhimanyu.

At this point, the show’s producers became somewhat confused: one storyline suggests Nimki reunited with her husband only to teach him and his family a lesson; the other more powerful track has Babbu and her in love — just as Nimki always wanted.

In reconciling with Babbu and deserting those who love her, goes against everything she had stood for in the series — Nimki has betrayed herself.

Some unbelievable plot manoeuvres followed that saw Nimki turn against Babbu Singh again, as the entire Tetar Singh family comes to grief.

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An insult to rape

Fast forward: Nimki Mukhiya has been transformed into Nimki Vidhayak and, as an MLA, Nimki has moved into a palatial Patna home along with her chachi and brother Monu.

She and Mahua-Tunnu are estranged, hapless Abhimanyu has married Sweety – and lo and behold, dashing Babbu has returned as Mintu.

This time though, he is the good guy. Nimki and he meet and, something close to love is in the air.

And there you have it.

The entire sequence of events following Nimki’s rape, the collapse of her character and convictions in the face of Babbu Singh’s handsome face– and the new storyline –sends out a very ugly message to young women – think of the young girls battling for their rights in the Swami Chinmayanand case and, the notorious rape case against MLA and former BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar.

It says, you are naive to think you can challenge or withstand the patriarchal structure. Worse, you are just a silly little girl who wants to live in a storybook romance with her handsome husband, rape or not rape.

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