Small Pleasures

As far as I can remember, middle class families in Bangalore are used to gaining pleasure and satisfaction out of small things in life. Be it the first rain of the summer, Ganesha celebration at the corner of their road, flying kites, playing tops or cheating in cricket - a lot of small things that become an indispensable part of most people's lives here. I am going to write about one such thing today.

About 12 years back, when Cable TV was like Gwyneth Paltrow's breasts, non-existent I mean, we used to relay on our good old DD for "quality entertainment". Every Sunday, by 12.45 pm, my mom used to make sure all of us started off with our lunch without fail. My grand mother used to make sure she was done with her pooja. There always used to be a sense of urgency in their movement. I always found it odd. By 1.15 my mom would have her lunch. And then it would happen. The TV would be turned on.

Now, for those of you who don't or don't want to remember what used to be aired at 1.15 pm on Sundays, it was the news for the deaf and dumb. That itself wasn't a big deal. In fact, it was a nuisance for my two beloved ladies as it used to just annoy them and make them wait for what came next. And what came next, at 1.30 pm on Sundays, was this. THE REGIONAL MOVIE OF THE WEEK. This was apart from the Kannada movie that would be aired at 4.30 in the evening. You may ask what was so special about the regional movie of the week anyway? It was important, my dear reader, because there was a 1 in 27 chance that the movie would be a Kannada movie. 2 Kannada movies on the same day! Cloud 9, icing on the cake, little drops of honey from heaven, Eccentrica Gallumbits - whatever it is that you use to describe joy, 2 Kannada movies on the same day was one of those things at my home.

My biggest problem with this was the fact that the movie at 1.30 was a "National Award" winning movie. If you know what sort of movies get the Indian National Award issued by the BRFIINA - Board Responsible For Issuing Indian National Award, you will know why I hated them. This is how BRFIINA works.

The most important prerequisite for a movie to get a National Award is that it has to be tragic. The movie should generally have

• At least 3 people with terminal illness, generally blood cancer.
  
• A weird pyromaniac mother-in-law who wouldn't think twice about setting her daughter-in-law on fire.
  
• A man who blames his wife because his sperms aren't motile.
  
• A war where a woman looses her husband, sons, brothers, father and the family dog.
  
• An alcoholic husband, a perverted family friend and a good looking wife.
• 16 songs

These and much more. Note that a good looking woman is also a liability for a movie in terms of getting a National Award and even more so in terms of being aired on Sundays at 1.30pm.

All these meant that the movie invariably left the 2 women at my home weeping for a good part of the movie. They used to sob for all the misery in the world. They used to bitch about how unfair life is. They used to lament the male domination and female oppression. They used to feel completely refreshed, relaxed and rejuvenated after the movie. Like I said, small and strange pleasures.