The Holiday Register

“Raja no chopdo aavyo, raja no chopdo aavyo”.
“रजा नो चोप्दो आव्यो, रजा नो चोप्दो आव्यो”.

This is how mother remembers the best moment of her school days in Calcutta in the early fifties. She says, in her school, the holidays of the month were announced to the students via a fat register called ‘chopdo’ in Gujarati. A minion would bring it from the Principal’s office to the class and the teacher would read out the announcement. Now, in a school, there must be many other announcements. But, it seems that this register was exclusively for the holidays. Not surprisingly, the arrival of this ‘chopdo’ was the most welcome relief for the girls in the middle of a class. I could just guess the sentiments of delight and joyful cries as in माय school, the holidays were given as a list in the diary, the element of surprise and dramatic revelations were not for us। I never knew what it felt like.

Until yesterday. When, in the middle of my history class, our peon brought a notice and asked me to read it out to the class. Absent mindedly, I began to read. The first words out of my mouth, even before I realized their meaning were: “Holidays in September”. There was perhaps a micro second of stunned silence and then uproar.
I found myself reading a list which was seemingly unending and each item on it was greeted with delightful cries, the loudest for the last two which happen to be Mondays when I have a day long studio covering two subjects for the same class। I don’t recall ever having brought a greater cheer to my students than this।

When the uproar died down, I continued my lecture amidst a very upbeat class. However, I being me, with my wicked ways, unleashed another list at the end of the session. This list being a schedule of submissions (the dreadful stuff every Architecture student has to keep turning in to avoid being eaten alive). For sure, I did not read it out myself, asked the CR to do the honours.

Why be a villain when just a few moments back I was their hero?

Video Parlours in a New Avatar

Last sunday, I watched "Kaminey" in a cinema opened recently in Khandeshwar. Now, this establishment which goes by the name ‘multiplex’ is really a few shop galas clubbed together and has two really tiny screens that are barely larger than the new age TVs. The hall had a seating capacity of 80 and was half full at 10pm which I am told is very good going. The ambience was cool and clean, the projection and sound quality above average. However, the experience was nowhere near watching a thriller on a single screen that looms real large in front of you, covering more than your normal cone of vision, engulfing you and 500 others who have packed the hall in a thrall as if casting a spell.

The collective experience of watching the film was perhaps more like in those places in the eighties and nineties which went by a name- ‘video parlour’. These were mostly shady places among the kind of shop galas that were covered by cement sheets and fronted by a narrow verandah in which would be placed a chalk board on a stand. Coloured chalk caligraphy announced the daily screenings of video cassettes of B and C grade Hindi films or similar regional language films.

There was one such video parlour just outside our colony and many a times I would notice this ubiquitous chalk board and its contents on my way to the station. My most favourite occasion was coming upon it with a title which went- “India win England- 6.00 pm- Rs.75”. This was of course on the morning following the semi-final of the 1983 world cup in which India against all expectations defeated England. Many people gave it a miss instead of bunking work. Somebody from the video parlour had recorded the live telecast and made most of it, selling the show more than once.

Valentine's Day

Yesterday was the valentine's day that was marked by pink chaddis, pink saris, moral brigades, love brigades and what not. An innocous western saint and his day has assumed a large proportion in our country- which in itself is not surprising. We are all asked to take sides- should we or should we not celebrate this western festival? Then, long explanations follow why we
should or should not celebrate it.

While we were in college, we had not heard of a Valentine's day. (I graduated in 1988) Many of my college mates would have been only too pleased if they were 'forcibly' married off (for free) by self righteous outfits. And mind you, we had not heard of these outfits too, then. For all I dig into my memory, my first valentine day gift was in 1992 when on 14th Feb, my
beloved husband of one and a half year presented me with a gift paper wrapped 'masala no dabbo', a crucial kitchen item for a Gujju girl which was missing in his parental house. I still use it. So, tell me, is valentine day against our culture?

Of couse, the advertising hype around the day was at its peak at that time. The college where I teach saw two quite bizzare celebrations involving auctioning of chocolates to be gifted to the objects of devotion. Many other days became popular such as rose day and friendship day- again largely unheard of earlier.

Suddenly around at the turn of the millenium, the valentine's Day caught attention of Shiv Sena (other outfits are new kids on the block). I distinctly remember that students in my campus had put up posters about the upcoming valentine's day events and had made a large heart shaped rangoli in the courtyard. The Shivsainiks came, objected, tore the posters, smudged a few
corners of the Rangoli and left. This was enough to scare the authorities. The event was modified as 'the butterfly day' and postponed to a later day. The heart shaped rangoli was changed into a butterfly! The 14th Feb was no longer mentioned. I believe, the students also got tired of this concept. The youngsters today, prefer to go to many hang outs in the city on days that convenient to them rather than celebrate a sedate 'day' in the college. The advertising blitz in the paper no longer had that zing. Shiv Sena no longer cared about this day.

We thought the Valentine's Day was slowly becoming dated when thanks to the fringe outfits, it has again been revived in the public mindscape. The publicity generated has benefitted both the pedlers of valentine's Day merchandise and the outfits who want to oppose this phenemenon.