Adultery Priya Didi

[RCF]

Understanding the Psychology Behind These Scenes


The progression is intentionally gradual, shaped by Priya’s internal conflicts, her sense of responsibility, suppressed desire, fear of consequences, and emotional vulnerability. Each moment is meant to reflect how a woman like Priya might realistically process attraction when it clashes with her values, rather than presenting closeness as a simple or impulsive decision...
“Totally understand the intention, we know she is attracted, we know she is vulnerable, we also know she is fighting a battle within her thoughts against her morals and her thoughts on Ravi. So, your writing about taking a step back from the events in the day is exactly how it should have happened, I expected Priya to take a step back after imagining Ravi while being intimate with her husband. “

These scenes are written to explore how human psychology behaves under emotional pressure, especially when desire, guilt, fear, and existing commitments collide at the same time.

“True, her taking a step back and retrospection on her behavior is expected. “

At the heart of this moment is cognitive dissonance,  the psychological discomfort that arises when a person’s actions conflict with their values. Priya is not unaware of her feelings for Ravi. In fact, that awareness is precisely what makes her reaction so intense. Desire and denial often coexist, especially when desire threatens a life she has already built.
Exactly my point, she is not unaware of her attraction towards Ravi, she is well aware of who is responsible for every event that happened throughout the day. Cognitive dissonance doesn’t really mean you shift the entirety into anger and desperation, rather should be mature enough to share the burden and could have guided Ravi in the right path, I have expected the later than the former reactions.

Why Priya reacts by confronting Ravi

When Priya messages Ravi and questions his actions, it may appear as though she is “conveniently shifting blame.” Psychologically, however, this is a defense mechanism known as externalization. When the mind is overwhelmed by guilt, shame, or fear, it seeks relief by redirecting responsibility outward, even if only partially.

“Not necessarily, she need not confront Ravi is my whole point, she knows her one single look of anger could have stopped Ravi from even touching her in theater, every expression, every subtle movement she made has only encouraged him towards making another move rather than pushing him away…so her anger towards Ravi is unwarranted. “

This does not mean she is innocent. It means she is emotionally destabilized.

Freeze response vs. consent

One crucial psychological factor often overlooked is the freeze response. Human reactions to unexpected intimacy are not limited to “fight or flight.” Many people, especially women in socially constrained environments, experience freeze, where the body becomes compliant while the mind is conflicted.

In the theater and the car:
• Amit’s presence
• Social consequences
• Fear of exposure
• Existing emotional attachment

…all combine to paralyze overt resistance. Silence or lack of protest does not automatically equal clear consent, especially when power dynamics and fear of consequences are involved.

“This is such bullshit reasoning in my opinion, Yes Freeze response is very much prevalent but in this case its not what happened, When first Ravi made the move with his hands towards Priya in theater, she could have simply walked away by taking her hand back, You as a writer know what I am talking about, When a man makes a move esp. towards a woman he likes, desires and inspires from, he never hurts them intentionally. His move shows he is willing to test the waters, her move showed she is willing to try it as well. It’s definitely not freezing response. It’s a consent she gave to Ravi by touching his hand back and letting him feel her in the dark atmosphere of theater. If a woman who can feel, react and play an active role in intimacy in theater or car, she can also clearly say no without opening her mouth. “

Why she reciprocates later

When Priya kisses Ravi back, this is not a contradiction, it is escalation of inner conflict. Her earlier restraint collapses once she is alone with him. At that point:
• Desire overrides caution
• Suppressed attraction surfaces
• Impulse wins over principle

This is where she does make a choice, and the story does not deny that.

“This I agree, at that point she has already made the choice of approving intimacy towards Ravi. Her resistance was way earlier and that’s when she made the choice. Its neither freeze response nor acceptance to the fear of revealing the conflict due to proximity of her husband. She willingly allowed Ravi to rest his head on her shoulder, she willingly touched his hand back, she willingly turned her head to Ravi’s advances which led to their kiss. “

Why she feels exploited

Feeling exploited does not erase her participation. Two truths can exist at once:
• She allowed something to happen
• She feels taken advantage of emotionally

When someone knows your vulnerability and acts on it, the mind may interpret that as betrayal of trust, even if attraction was mutual. Her accusation is not legal or moral, it is emotional.

"This is where I differ. She didn’t allow something to happen, she participated, she made a choice and showed that choice to her partner in Ravi, that she is enjoying his advances, she made a choice that despite her husband being beside her she is willing to react positively to Ravi’s advances. When she has made that choice then she loses the ability to react negatively again when she feels guilty. Rather her mature reaction should be that we both made a mistake and accepting that she is partner in crime. She has lost her self-control and acknowledge that it would have made her human not the other way round. Her blaming Ravi of taking advantage of circumstances is more immature reaction to something beautiful that happened between them and it ruins the shared intimacy and its knowledge that both carry. "

Cheating as a choice,  and a process

The statement “cheating is not a mistake, it’s a choice” is valid, but incomplete. Cheating is often a series of small boundary erosions, not a single conscious decision. Priya’s story is about how people arrive at that choice, not about denying responsibility.

“Totally understand but even when this is a process, there will always be a defining moment where one must step on that line and cross it, that defining moment will be your moment to make a choice. If I go back and read every subtle movement made by Ravi due to his attraction to her proximity in theater, and every reaction Priya gave him, there will be lot of process behind her willingness to Ravi’s advances. Her attraction did not start from theater, it did not originate at home, it’s a gradual process from a long time. She felt betrayed when Ravi was with other two women. Why? Because she has already felt Ravi belongs to her emotionally internally. She might not have realized that yet but her acceptance in her mind came way earlier than her acceptance that came from physical need. We can clearly see the choice is not made in theater, the choice has been made long time back and it only surfaced into physical reactions in theater."