A BROAD DAY LIGHT CRIME - Theatre and Snacks!

Ask a family of four, “Why is it that you don’t prefer to watch movies in theatres?” Their immediate response would be the high expenditure to be met; they whine that it is not just the ticket fare but the additional expenses that come along such as parking fee (not only in case of malls) and the highly expensive snack counters!!! This pinch on a family’s budget is the most important factor for increasing movie watching at homes and video piracy. It is not about justification of this illegal activity by pointing out personal economic reasons. But addressing it might increase theatre goers with a smile!

I say this because in 90s and 2000s, families did go to theatres in large numbers but they had the privilege of carrying their own snacks for every family member. But now there is a strict rule enforced that “outside food is not permitted.” Why??? To maintain cleanliness of the hall? To ensure ban of plastic (in case of chips and the like)? To uphold etiquette by not making anyone munch throughout so as to give every movie watcher a pleasant movie time? NONSENSE!!!!! To mention the least, snack counters in fact serve you while movie runs (depending on your advance booking on when you would like to be served). That makes it clear that the reasons for not permitting outside food are not that are mentioned above. It is to make you buy from their counters! Isn’t it a CRIME?????

There are families that cannot afford high priced food; there are some who would like to avoid giving junk for their kids (most theatres offer only junk food); some may not be comfortable with outside food and; some might feel really annoyed with the loooooonnnnnnggggg queues during intervals that would spoil mood to watch rest of the movie; and some who can afford think why do I have to waste money.

Kids easily get carried by visually appetizing items available on the counters. But had the families been permitted to carry their own, it is the parents’ responsibility to soothe the kids. But given the existing situation, every movie goer is left with only two choices: (1) buy at the counters (2) stay without snacks. Mostly, we are tempted to eat something at the counters and that becomes favourable to the theatre management.

What if every movie goer consciously decides and practices not to get anything at the counters??!!!! Let us give it a thought!!!! May be the earlier practice of letting people in with their own snacks will come into place. Let it be purely our choice: to bring our own or buy! It is highly condemnable to let some theatre owner decide it for his and his family’s welfare!!!

PROTEST!

Tamil Nadu tops Indian states that held most number of protests in one year according to reports in 2015 (Hindustan Times, April 30, 2017)

Protest!!!

The connotation of the word has changed drastically over a period of time. These days it sounds to be one or many of these: dictatorial, horrendous, impractical, hilarious, diversion, unruly and purposeless. Probing reasons for such referencing is beyond this piece of writing. My whole idea here is to promote protest! Particularly among Youth.

Hold on! Don’t be in a hurry (just like google that predicts before I say) to label me as an anti-Indian.

Starting from our family structure, to school, college, workplace and society, we are taught not to protest, most of the times. Thus begins and grows our failure of expressing though it is widely referred to as a constitutional right! Somewhere we fail to groom our youngsters in knowing the value of protests, in encouraging them to participate and in preparing to handle its means and ends.

Without a doubt, canvassing to the parents that the child should be taught to protest right from its childhood is indispensable. May the parents of today’s kiddos (who seem to be knowing the world inside out and upside down) do it for a better society!!

Instead I would like to insist that educating college students to protest is substantial. Coz, that is the bunch filled with fire and enthusiasm withinJ. Bollywood and Kollywood keep fantasizing this. We see a lot of movies in Tamil moving around students, youth, politics and protests such as Puthiya Mannargal, Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu, Ayidha Ezhuthu, Ko and Uriyadi to name a few.

Unfortunately in reality, whenever a protest is likely to happen (through intelligence reports or self-declaration of students’ union) the management gets geared up to collect data on participants so as to threaten with dire consequences to please the ruling party. In another case, students are easily provoked by teachers, political parties and unions to protest against one or more for personal benefits. In most of these cases, students are totally unaware of what, why and how of it!!!

Protesting against something or someone is both an art and science (I know it sounds more like a subject’s introduction in most of our classrooms). YES! Protesting is both!

It is science when participants pool their energy in understanding the matter that they do not agree with. Unless one knows the nuances of an issue, the disapproval remains meaningless and superficial. Breaking the problems into tiny bits to gather information and finally coagulate the same to get a bigger picture is where science lies! This segment of protest cannot be done away with and there are absolutely NO SHORTCUTS to rely on.

And how is it an art?!! It completely depends on what have you chosen as your mode of protest! You can choose to be either conventional or creative. Hundreds of protests have taken place in the world till date among which some are unforgettable. One recent interesting protests is that of Japanese bus drivers who refused to charge their customers that eventually led to loss of revenue, instead of boycotting their work. Considering the modern day protests in India, unique ones include the Jallikattu protest in 2017, Iron Sharmila’s fasting for more than 15 years, Tamil farmers protest in Delhi, violent protests of Tamil women against TASMAC shops and the silent march of more than a lakh farmers in 2018. To watch more unique protesting methods (all tiny ones), I recommend this Tamil movie, Joker! J  The tool one chooses to protest has to be in sync with their purpose and desire. More creative and unconventional are the protests, more is the reach and attention. This requires EFFORT to THINK.

So here is a quick checklist! When you decide to join a protest, try finding answers to the following questions:

·         What is it for? The PURPOSE?

·         Whom/what are you protesting against?

·         Why this? Why now?

·         Do my personal values sync with the group’s?

·         Who benefits? Society at large or any individual?

·         What is the mode chosen? Anything detrimental to fellow human beings?

·         What if it is decided to drop in the middle of its journey?

·         How handle situation when any untoward incident take place?

·         Do I possess enough legal knowledge on this?

When you are unable to answer any of these basic questions, it is a better sign for you to not participate.

Students and teachers out there, let us understand and accept that “Imparting this knowledge to students is crucial, as protests are precious for it is a strong way of communicating your stance.” Making it a part of teaching and learning by teachers and students respectively will prove bigger results. This exercise would easily penetrate into society and enable larger audience to join hands.

Let us not forget history, sensible partaking in protests with utmost sincerity for larger benefits to the society has transformed participants to leaders, particularly in Tamil Nadu.

Why do I write about protest now? There are quite a lot happening around us that demand registering our dissent, of course strongly!!