National Anthem in Cinema Hall

I was used to National Anthem “Jana Gana Mana” while praying in schools. It used to be sung at the last when we had taken oaths and had sung other prayers. And at the last, we used to yell in harmony “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”. I still feel a sudden nerve of patriotism when I remember those moments. From school teachers, I understood the discipline of standing straight for the approx. 52 second when it was played and not to talk. It is to pay our respect to the anthem. It devotes to the nation & for me, it emits the feeling of gratefulness to the nation for has accommodated me, took care of my rights, securing me and being the higher guardian. Also, whenever in TV if suddenly National Anthem is played, I either mute it down or had changed the channel considering that I am not prepared, as I was either having dinner or other similar reasons to make me not to stand & concentrate on the sacred song. It happens even today. I don’t listen to the anthem every now and then but only at the important occasions & when I do, it comes automatically from the heart. Times passed and when I joined college I realized that I miss singing National Anthem, I did. So I used to wait eagerly for the Independence Day & other events celebration which used to occur & where National Anthem was played. I had always had the tendency to never miss such opportunities. The playing of the Anthem thus became rare and hence more sacred.

Some months ago, we are told that it is now mandatory to play National Anthem before the commencement of the movie in the Indian cinema halls falls as a weird decision to me. I was clueless in the beginning, only later I felt that it is forced upon decision. It is against our liberty to choose the timing when we have to align our mind to something we believe is of greater importance. I have met no Indian who would not be paying the tribute to the anthem when it is being played. Although it is easily said that the patriotism of Indian only comes when there is an Ind-Pak cricket match. Sorry, India is a developing country with a lot of corruption issues at its core. More than half of the century has passed taking arbitrary decisions by the government and forcing up on its citizen. The youth of today are now contemplating on those decisions made and their voice is more articulated than before, we are more aware only the thing that the web of the years of mismanagement has compelling us to devote lesser time to any revolutionary ideas.  People of my generation who have studied hard to get into engineering and medical colleges wasting years of preparation beforehand are insecure since they have a lot at stake if something goes wrong. But this doesn’t mean that we are not following up with such decisions although with a tinge of growing frustration.

Playing of National Anthem before the commencement of movie at the theatre is a failed attempt by the Constitution to make us more patriotic, it is wrongly placed & it infringes upon the privacy of the people at the conscious level. As Karl Marx quote, “A Nation which enslaves another forges its own chain” & someone truly said, “Conscious faith is Freedom; Emotional faith is slavery; Mechanical faith is foolishness”, I feel the government must press upon the developments and curbing corruption, Patriotism is there secure in our heart! 

Jai Hind. मेरा भारत महान