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Simple pleasures

Last Updated 16 July 2014, 18:19 IST

Many years ago, when I was a child in Kolkata, movie­going was a big event in our lives. Father used to take us out for a movie only twice a year and we talked about it for months afterwards.

 The night show on Saturday was the most convenient one for our parents. Mother used to think that the two youngest of the children, my immediate elder sister and myself, might fall asleep during the movie so she used to make us take a nap in the afternoon.

Of course we would be too excited to nap. We would lie in bed, poking each other and giggling, wondering what the film would be about and how late it would be when we got back. Once in the theatre, father was very strict about us maintaining pin drop silence.

 We were to keep absolutely mum which we did. It was not difficult because we were fascinated by the advertisements, the documentaries and the highlights of cricket Test matches which were thrilling! (I am speaking of the time before TV entered our lives.)

 As soon as the actual film began, mother would hand out orange­ and lemon­ flavoured toffies to all of us. During the interval, father would buy snacks from the vendors who prowled the aisles and would hand out small packets of potato chips and popcorn. We had to share them which we didn’t mind­. Everything was such a treat! 

As the years passed we started going to films with friends instead of family. The noon show (12 to 3 pm) was the most convenient for us but it meant missing lunch. We made up for it by chomping on patties and chocolate during the show.

After I got married and moved to rural Karnataka, I discovered that my new family considered movie­going to be nothing short of a picnic.

My mother-­in-law would pack all sorts of things to eat in the theatre­. Salted peanuts, banana chips, chaklis, til ladoos, shelled pomegranate etc. Once we even ate piping hot chicken lollipops which my husband procured during the interval from the restaurant next to the cinema hall!

Then came the malls with their multiplexes and all our picnicking was brought to a halt. No food was allowed to be brought from home inside the hall.

We had to eat only what was available in the stalls outside the hall which was popcorn and ice cream. Most of the fun in watching a movie is in the eating so movies became bland and unexciting for me. Nowadays, more interesting fare is available in these multiplexes.

 Pani ­poori, samosas, cakes, sandwiches, etc. In fact the latest multiplexes try to woo customers by serving food at the seat itself. So in a way, we are back to square one because this is what used to happen all those years ago in the Kolkata cinema halls.

 Vendors sold chips, popcorn, chocolates and ice cream which we could buy from our seats without having to get up.

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(Published 15 July 2014, 17:31 IST)

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