Independence Day TV…
It was inevitable, with all our television channels and all our scores of news channels, that something like Independence Day would fall prey to the same commercialisation that everything else has fallen to in recent times..
There are all sorts of channels and programs having NOTHING relevant to Independance day being advertised all over TV and Radio, all just trying to cash in on the “holiday” and use it to their advantage to get the maximum number of eyeballs and eardrums for that day.
There are movie channels trying to exploit the afternoon of Independance Day to get us to increase their TRP’s by watching “KRRISH”
There are news channels trying to exploit it by conducting some INANE first ever Indo – Pak opinion polls...
There are positives to everything and probably the saddest but greatest positive here is that were it not for the ads promoting KRRISH, a LOT of people may not even remember that it is in fact India’s Independance day today.
Sad but true.
National Anthem at the movies…
I was one of those people who treated the idea that some Maharastra government came up with to play the national anthem before every screening in theatres in bombay with scorn and contempt. To me, it was just another inane, nonsensical political gimmick....
But, everytime since, whenever i have stood before the 70MM screen and watched the National Anthem being played, I have, in all honesty, really relished it because ever since leaving my school, where the national anthem was played everyday in assembly, i had NEVER ever got a chance to sing / hear the national anthem and forgotten what a great feeling it really is....especially when you sing along to it.
Its sad that other than people who represent the country officially, the common man, whom that very flag represents, rarely gets a chance to even hear it, leave alone sing it in any aspect of his normal life.
So, in a warped up way, i am thankful to whatever politician came up with that idea, for whatever his reasons may have been, because it gives me a rare joy everytime i go to watch a movie. It takes me back to school in a very nostalgic way.
One last word…
Wordweb seems to think that Independence = “Freedom from control or influence of another or others”
If that is a correct definition of Independance, then honestly, from 1997 to 2007, havent we been going in the OPPOSITE direction?
After all, our markets are dependant on others now. When NASDAQ falls, so does the BSE. Our economy is more prone to get affected by external factors. Even our Nuclear program now has external influence on it. We are dependant on others more and more now than we were before 1992. Am i just being simplistic or maybe i should just take WordWeb with a pinch of salt?
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY.
