Dale, who had been trying to keep control of the situation until help could arrive, then begins providing medical aid to those injured. Qasim, who is seen as the leader of the people, laments the lack of money and isn’t able to arrange for professional help in attending to the injured. ..
Dale is in a difficult position. He’s the only person who can provide help to Lakshmi, but he’s not able to do so. The viewers see the tragedy unfold in front of them and feel the weight of the situation.
We finally see how he was caught in the robbery. The police were only able to apprehend him as Charlie escaped because of Dale’s compassion in trying to help the policeman Charlie had shot. Ideally, he should have run off with him, but like with the fire, his conscience pulled him back and at least try. And that got him caught. He still didn’t take Charlie’s name and it takes a big man to be able to do that. Dale’s angelic intervention in the people’s lives continues as people queue up outside Prabhu’s tent to seek help. Dale uses the entirety of the money Karla gave him to provide for supplies.
In this episode, Prabhu helps Walid get ahead in his bid for Paravati and Lisa comforts Karla over Rujul’s killing. She feels responsible because she wasn’t able to make the right decision. The showdown between Khaderbhai and Walid finally takes place in this episode.
The new blood asserts itself and says its better financial muscle puts it above the old gun in the pecking order. Walid’s more prominent business and backing off. He instead goes to the Palace, where Zhou is told for the last time to side with Khaderbhai. He is the one who facilitates her business and can shut it down anytime.
Zhou has no idea that Khaderbhai and Karla are working together. Khaderbhai manages to keep the status quo but Zhou is unfazed. She still believes she is being short-sold by Khader and continues to sell brown sugar in Kahder’s territory despite his warnings. ..
Khaderbhai, a well-known philanthropist, visits the Sagarwada slum to meet Dale, a resident who he has spoken with previously. Khaderbhai is familiar with the area and wants to make sure that Dale is doing well. Dale gets into Khaderbhai’s car feeling reassured and the two discuss their respective lives. ..
It seems like this crime boss is indeed a man with a heart of gold. Funny thing to say about someone who just murdered another person in the previous episode. Khader and Dale bond over each other’s inherent goodness. It is almost like their instincts attract the other without even them knowing about it. Khader even narrates an incident where he helped a poor man endure against a rich tyrant who harassed him for rent. Khader evidently takes a liking to Lin and takes him to a club where they get high and discuss whether reality is an illusion or not, with Khader believing it is and Lin not so.
In episode 3 next, Dale is so moved by it that he almost cries. He spots Karla too in the club, where she is taken aback seeing the two persons she wanted to keep apart together. Just as Khader did with Zhou, he feigns knowing Karla or having any association with her in front of Dale, who unwittingly introduced the business partners. The dynamic between Karla and Lisa is at a delicate stage. The latter leaves the former’s house when she feels hard done by Karla.
It is possible that Karla deliberately left her alone, not wanting to get attached to her. She has distanced herself from everyone as of now, with the exception of Ahmed, whose name came up in episode 1.
The ending of the episode is strange. Ravi, Lakshmi’s son, confronts Dale for being unable to save her. He is devastated by her loss and cannot see clearly the ramifications of what he is about to do next. Dale accepts the mistake and apologizes. ..
Wasim allows Dale to stay in Lakmshi’s tent, and decides to adopt Ravi so that he can feel at home again. Qasim tells that Dale has been given the place to keep helping others and present himself to those in need when the situation comes. ..
The Episode Review
Dale was wrong, and he knows it. But in the spirit of the wonderful culture, he is forgiven.
The novel Shantaram features many such occasions when the people came together to protect those that looked different than them. It is indeed heartening to see the kindness and compassion brought to the screen with a deftness and sensibility often lost in foreign representations. Writers have continued to allow Dale to redeem himself in the eyes of the viewers.
Dale is a refreshing change of pace in the television world. He is a morally upright protagonist who does not resort to the nefarious ways of others. This is evident by the fact that his karma is building up as he does good deeds. ..
Khaderbhai and Walid are rivals, but their rivalry is just beginning to pick up. It will probably dictate the terms going forward, however, the writers must endeavour to sustain character development that has been good till now. ..
