As we grow older, we develop a love-hate relationship with our family. On one hand, there is a familiarity and acceptance that you can only get from them, but on the other hand, there is the distance that comes from out-growing the way our parents think, and returning to that is nothing short of stifling. “Ghar Waapsi” does a good job of representing the former but falters with the latter. The Indian family is a complex body, and most millennials often find themselves in the middle of two worlds when interacting with them.
“Ghar Waapsi” follows Shekhar, who returns to Indore for a while after losing his job. Staying away from home and getting lost in the hustle and bustle of a modern-day lifestyle, while still supporting his family financially, it has been a while since he has been a part of them. The way he rediscovers what it means to live with your family and takes a hard look at what he wants from life forms the crux of the story. Let us see how that happens in 6 episodes.
Spoilers Ahead
The Aftermath Of Shekhar Returning Home
The series begins with Shekhar at one of his office parties, asking his colleague to take care of the coming appraisal. He mentions that he has two EMIs to pay and he also has to support his parents financially. Considering this, he needs to be making more money, and he believed that after the hard work he had put in over the last few months, it was not an unreasonable ask. His colleague assured him that he would take care of it. Cut to two months later, he has come to Indore, and his brother Sanju and his friend Darshan have come to receive him. Shekhar does not tell anybody that he has lost his job. He only tells them that he is visiting. It looks like he is the favorite child. Shekhar has come back home after two years, and he comes to know that his mother has been diagnosed with high blood pressure. But his family had kept that from him, to avoid adding to his worries. He also comes to know that his sister has a boyfriend, though she refuses to talk about it. His brother, Sanju, seems to be hiding some secrets and moving with the wrong crowd.
Shekhar’s family owns a travel agency by the name of A1 Paradise Travels. It has been running at a loss for two years due to people turning to online platforms to book their trips. Sanju helps at the agency, and since there is never much work to do there, he is generally considered to be unemployed. One day, when Shekhar comes to the agency, he finds that Sanju has made some transactions of up to Rs 60,000. Upon questioning, Sanju refuses to answer and makes up an excuse of loaning it to Mr. Mathur, his father’s business partner, when questioned by his father. But Shekhar knows that he is lying. It turns out that Sanju had borrowed that money to invest in a gaming space but had been betrayed by his partner, who refused to give him his share of the money. At a loss for what to do, he vandalizes the store in anger. As a retaliation, he is sent to the police station by his partner, and Shekhar comes to bail him out, where he finally comes to know the truth. He goes with Sanju to the gaming parlor and confronts the man, but understands that they wouldn’t get back their money. He assures Sanju that he will take care of the financial ramifications and starts taking him away. But after a few taunts by the man about their family’s failing business, Shekhar loses his cool and breaks their table with a stick. Both the brothers are in the police station, and Darshan has to come and bail them out. The whole incident acts as a sort of reconciliation between the brothers and dissolves any last trace of animosity between them.
When it comes to his sister, Shekhar finds that she has started keeping her life private and doesn’t share much with him, as she used to. One day, when he catches her in a park with her boyfriend and asks her about it, she tells him that the distance between them has gotten too great to share such things with each other. After spending 12–13 years with him, he disappeared from her life as he got busy in his own life. She doesn’t resent him for that, but she doesn’t depend on him either, like she used to. Later that day, they bury that hatchet, and we can predict that they will slowly start making their way to each other. Things are more subtle when it comes to his parents. His mother tries to set him up on a date for an arranged marriage, and that forces him to reveal that he is out of a job. His mother doesn’t take the news well but eventually comes around. His father is supportive right off the bat. While Shekhar is looking for a new job, he starts working for his father’s travel agency and comes up with an idea that could save the business. He says that customizing the travel experience according to the person could be the USP that would get the agency up and running again. With the help of Darshan and Sanju, he executes the idea, and the family business is saved. He also develops a relationship with Ridhima, his girlfriend, during school times. She is a divorcee, and while his friends initially raise their eyebrows, he lets them know that he holds different views.
After multiple rejections from different places, Shekhar finally gets the job of his dreams at HealthyFine. While he is seriously considering whether he wants to leave behind his family and go back to the corporate grind, an incident at his house makes the decision for him. Due to a slight slip-up, his parents find out about Suruchi and her boyfriend. Chaos ensues, and she is forbidden from leaving the house. Shekhar loses his patience and lets them know that he is dating a divorcee and that this thinking of theirs, which is so set in a mold, is what makes him think that he is better off living away from them. Right before he is about to leave, he makes up with his parents, but not before his entire family tells him, through words and actions, that they will miss him and wish he would stay back. Back in Bangalore, he moves in with Ridhima and starts a new life. He is doing well at his job, but as expected, he has gotten so busy that he barely has time for himself. After a confrontation with Ridhima one day, she asks him if he is keeping himself occupied to avoid thinking about how much he misses his family. Shekhar does not have an answer. But there is a moment of reckoning for him when one of his closest friends loses their job. In an emotional state, the friend say that each one of them is like a spare tire- they are replaceable and don’t really matter for the car to keep running.
‘Ghar Waapsi’ Season 1: Ending Explained- Why Does Shekhar Quit His Job? Does He Go Back Home?
After a successful presentation at his office, his boss promotes him, which surprises Shekhar as there was a senior, Murthy, who was next in line. But his boss tells him that Murthy did not have the type of leadership and innovation that they were looking for, so he would be eventually phased out. That night, Shekhar breaks down in front of Ridhima and questions the point of everything he is doing in his life. He hates that he sees his boss’s face more than his parents’. He hates that he is unable to form real friendships. He hates that he only feels guilt when he sees Ridhima’s face, and he hates this system that gives him no real value. Ridhima tells him that his real happiness is with his family. She says that if he stayed back for her sake, he would end up resenting her, and she did not want that. Both of them break up, with Shekhar deciding to go back home and Ridhima choosing to move on in life.
Once he is back in Indore, he gatecrashes the celebration of the completion of 30 years of A1 Paradise Travels and tells his parents that this time, he has fired his company. He now wants to live in Indore and build a life that includes them. Though the ending of “Ghar Waapsi” Season 1, makes us smile, it also leaves us keenly aware of the sacrifices one must make, in the pursuit of happiness. Because even happiness comes at a cost.
Final Thoughts- What Works For ‘Ghar Waapsi’ Season 1?
There is so much that the show gets right. The cast is phenomenal, but we wish Suruchi’s character had been explored more. How she smiles when it is revealed that her brother is out of a job or when she laughingly looks at the confrontation between the men in the house makes us think that she might be a bit of a sociopath. At the very least, she had to have a unique perspective on things, which should have seen more screen time. The character of the father had our hearts. This is a man who does everything in his power to make sure his children are free to pursue their future as they wish. And Darshan, Shekhar’s friend, brought a tear to our eyes when he questioned Shekhar as to how he could be such a bad friend.
“Ghar Waapsi” does a great job of representing how it feels to be a part of your family again, but falters in its depiction of the fact that the emotional distance is not just due to the miles in between, but because of the ideologies of different generations and lifestyles. They dedicated just one scene to this, which leaves us with an element of frustration. It should either have been explored more, or not touched upon at all. Overall, it’s a great show and, dare we say, a ‘must-watch’. It’s hard to coin that term for any show when there is such a saturation of content. But it maintains the standard successfully. Take a bow, “Dice Media.”
“Ghar Waapsi” is a 2022 Family Drama series streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
