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In all the beautiful characters out by Gulzar in this movie, I adore Maya the most. Maya is the most imperfect amongst Sudha, Mohinder and others in the movie, yet she is fascinating.
She is from a Dysfunctional family and mostly brought up in the hostels by her stepmom. She tries her best to find stability in Mohinder. She escapes the mundane world every now and then with her solo trips, I presume this is to avoid getting hurt by people. She is impulsive, she loves riding bikes and she even goes and buys a baby(only to return it back a few hours later). In her friend’s words “Doondne se nahi milegi wo”(By searching, you can’t find her) ….”This is Maya”

She adorns most of her thoughts with poetry. She seems so naive and yet the most profound thoughts are from her. "Even her simplest thoughts are personified and that makes it so unique. Here is phone call to Mohinder to come see her ”Saanse bahut choti choti ho rahi , sevaiiye ki tarah Ek lambi saas mujhe udaar de do da please Pune se Mohenjo-Daro tak bas mein bahut din talk tang nahi karoongi” (My breath is becoming very short like short noodles, give a long breath for Loan from Pune to Mohenjo-Daro, then I shall not trouble you for many days)

She is remembered also by her poetry, when Mohinder quotes her to Sudha saans lene bhi kya aadat hai jiye jana bhi kya rawaayat hai jiye jaate hai jiya jathe hai Aadathe bhi ajeeb hoti hai (Breathing is also what a habit Living on is also what a ceremony We just live on Habits are rather Weird)

I have a feeling that Gulzar has etched her out from some of himself and am sure it’s his favorite character too. The beauty in all of this is that, she is the “Other woman” yet she never comes across wrong or selfish, that is the magic of “Maya” that Gulzar has woven into this character.