There is still some hope for India

Hyderabad is a bustling city trying hard to become a metropolis. An IT hub and at the same time a global village. Dotted across this large village are many movie halls or theatres. Competing with the multiplex are the home grown halls like Anand and the second rung multiplexes like Talkiestown. Still getting a movie ticket on a weekend in Hyderabad is a real tough task.

My story is about one of these weekends where I was thrilled for having got a ticket at Talkietown for one of these 'popular' movies doing the round. So I (with my family in tow) drove down to the fringes of Hi-tech city to watch the movie. I walk in early feeling happy about myself and absorbing the world around me. There were these other movie goers like - the yuppies (obviously from the IT world), the local villagers from Miyapur and Bachupally, these sweet looking 20 somethings, young girls and guys, old grandparents with their ‘khandan’, the young couple trying to hide from the public gaze and the rowdies from the local bar. Everyone was geared to enjoy the evening and have a good time - being a popular movie you could hear the laughter in the air, children demanding for the customary pop-corn and cola, Mother’s surreptiously pulling out the water bottle from their bag and the girls giggling away to glory.

Finally the doors of the hall open and everyone rushes in to find a seat and settle in before the movie starts. The customary documentary is running on the screen followed by some Life insurance company trying to sell kid education insurance in Telegu. The humm and excitement within the audience is very audible and the mother trying to pacify the scared child burning in your ears. Then even before I could hear or experience the sudden drop in decibel levels I see everyone around me getting up and standing. I hurry myself to stand in silence more as a mob-involuntary response than any other thing. Then I see unfold in front of my eyes the rendition of Jana gana mana - the national anthem - in the voice of Lata Mangeshkar. Everyone around me has gone silent. I am amazed that there still are movie halls in India which still play the national anthem before or after a show (as a child I remember this every time… it brings nostalgia). There is pride in the eyes of everyone and pin drop silence in the hall. Not one person is sitting and the person on the mobile has switched off his call hurriedly. The sight is just amazing.

Even though we find families moving from joint to nuclear families, even though the eastern values are being eroded by western ones, even though our political leaders have lost direction, even though the going is tough, even though the environment is going to dogs, even though the social values are being lost - still there is some hope for India. There is patriotism still in the air and the national anthem still makes your heart flutter (even as I type this and visualize that scene my hairs stand!). Hats of to movie halls like Talkiestown that still run the national anthem.