To stand or not to stand – that’s the question!

I was in Bangalore for the Christmas weekend and went to the theater in Ulsoor which I frequent. This particular multiplex opens every show with the national anthem. Kind of a strange tradition, imitating the Americans who open every ball game with the “Star Spangled Banner”.

But I am a hardcore patriotic and a mushy one at that. I’m one of those who gets goose bumps every time Jana Gana Mana is played and whose eyes tear up every time the National Tricolour unflurs.

So it is natural that when I saw two illustrious citizens of my country hesitant to rise for the national anthem, I was royally pissed. These two guys, maybe around 30-35 years, were giggling away to glory when the announcement was splayed across the screen. Everyone promptly got up.. it is so heartening to see youngsters who bunk college or steal away from their parents vigilance to enjoy some quite “love”, standing still, cutting calls, stopping their chatter to respect the anthem, to respect the country. So when you see people who think that the whole thing is a joke and wait for the whole theater to get up before deciding to get up just so that they are not the only ones caught sitting, your blood boils.. or at least mine does. A pre-trailer of Ghajini flashed through my mind where I was Aamir with bulging muscles and 10 packs and all and was chasing these guys through MG Road and Ulsoor and beating the shit out of them. I thought of a 100 ways to torture them such that the next time they even hear the opening strings of the anthem or for than even Vande Mataram or Saare Jahan Se Acha they will stop whatever they are doing and stand still and maybe even salute the imaginary flag.

I was relishing that thought when another thought flashed through my mind. If India had to police the morality and actions of her citizens and punish them for every flaw, wouldn’t she be like one of the Arab countries which impose their will on their citizens? Wouldn’t the citizens of India then want to flee and resettle in some other country where they are guaranteed some degree of freedom? (Even with all the freedom that this country grants, her thankless citizens still want to resettle abroad, that’s another issue and another blog subject). Anyway, if we were to chase every Indian who said something against the nation or its leaders, that’s all we would have time for – given our population and given the fact that all we do is complain and whine. We would be like the Taliban who dictates what to do and what not to do to its citizens and nobody liked Taliban, now did they??

Shouldn’t we be proud of the fact that we live in a country where freedom is taken for granted to such an extent that we are eligible to give our opinion / advice on even topics about which we know zilch. We can tell ISRO how to do better when Chandrayan 2 gets launched, we can advice the EC on how to hold clean elections, we can dictate to PC the best way to control inflation, we can spit on the PM for not implementing our innovative ways of dealing with terrorism… we can do all that and still walk around without the fear of getting apprehended and thrown into prison for being a traitor. How many of us want to exercise that freedom but on our own terms. When we say / do something, its justified, its for the country.. when someone else does something totally contrary to our imbibed thought process, then we need to kick them in their ass!! Maybe the two gentlemen in front of me didn’t see the point of playing the national anthem before a movie.. neither do I, but my reaction to the situation is totally opposite to theirs and its only in countries like ours that people can have such diametrically opposite views and still co-exist peacefully (for most part).

I love clichés and I love SRK and so can’t desist from quoting a line from one of his movies. In Main Hoon Na, when after a totally unbelievable chase sequence where SRK, who is on a cycle chases the villains, who are in a Scorpio and catches them (man.. aren’t Hindi movies awesome!!) he takes into custody one the key players of the enemy camp who during interrogation accuses the Indian army of being passive and not doing anything for the country. And there is a one line by SRK “Accha hua tum Indian Army ke samne ho, isliye abhi bhi zinda ho, hum agar tum jaise hote to tume kab ke mar chuke hote”… or something to that effect.

Meaning in short that India still allows her subjects to rave and rant against her without starting a witch hunt against them. And that.. that singular factor is enough to make me even more proud to be an Indian.