A and I or A um nAnum

When A and I decided to go and watch the Tamil film Abhiyum nAnum today we were simply looking for some light entertainment and were hardly prepared for what the evening turned out to be.
At the PVR Cinemas all the staff were dressed in white kurta-pyjamas and the men wore white caps in celebration of Republic day. And they played the national anthem with a request asking people to stand while the anthem played. But a young lady occupying the seat next to me and her husband were too busy checking their phone for messages to stand up. So I was compelled to exercise one of my dirty looks which eventually got them on their feet by the time Balamurali came to Bhagyavidhata.
It takes less than TWO minutes for the song to play people, is it too much to stand up and pay your respect for one day in a year?

The film itself is a celluloid version of what in printed form could have been a doting daddy's blog - a devoted father tracing his relationship with a daughter who is dearer than life to him. His bond with his daughter Abhi is a living version of every sentiment that the Tamil Poet Subramanya Bharathi expressed so beautifully in his poem 'Chinnanchiru Kiliye kannamma". The first half of the film portrays this beautiful father- daughter bond in a sweet and endearing way. Every parent goes through these pains and joys with every child - a journey so universal and yet so very personal and unique and it offers so many interesting angles and possibilities to explore without becoming worn out or boring. The second half is about the pains of a parent in letting go once the child is ready to fly the nest. In this part the plot seemed to lose its way in too many things but was still entertaining. How can it not be with a dozen Punjabis thrown among Tamils and and all that bangra and fun lighting up the screen? Camera work was breath-taking helped largely by the natural beauty of OOty and Munnar.

By the time we stood up the cleaning staff had walked in and started clearing the waste that each show generates. As we reached the exit we were calmly advised by the security to use the stairs and exit the mall as quickly as possible as there was a minor fire in the building. Glances of panic were exchanged secretly but no one said anything. We were asked to leave the building as soon as possible and wait for instructions to get back to the parking lot for our vehicles.
And as we crossed to the other side of the road and waited for the fire to be put out and take our vehicles out these were some of the scenes we saw:

1. People trying to get closer to the building to get a better view making it tough for the mall staff and security who were trying to ensure everyone was out of the building safely.

2. People trying to take pictures of the building's wing where there was smoke on their cell phones - Citizen journalists perhaps.

3. Auto drivers very 'helpfully' offering to ferry stranded people at certain fixed prices.

4. Through the glass windows, we watched the mall staff trying to break the windows at the transit food lounge with fire extinguishers. A few of the mall staff had become suffocated with the smoke and were driven away in an ambulance.

5. Traffic police and the state police just wanted everyone out of the area and had no clue about where the fire was and when and how we could get our vehicles out. The way they were behaving, we began to wonder if there was more than a minor fire in the building.

6. Through all this the Mall staff stayed calm, efficient, polite and helpful. After an hour of waiting when we were still not allowed inside the building, one of the mall staff took our car key and walked six flights of stairs to bring our car down and refused to accept the money we offered as a token. Thank you stranger, I hope I will someday be able to repay you for this. Or perhaps I might get a chance to pass on this Random act of kindness to someone else who needs my help.

And that is how what started as a totally mundane day ended up being quite an eventful one.
It might be interesting to read the newspaper versions of the incident tomorrow. I already saw a piece that claimed:
"Panic gripped 'Forum Mall' in the upmarket Koramangala area here on Monday evening after a fire broke out there, police said."
If there was any panic, I didn't see it. People were calm and followed instructions and acted very sensibly. Noone ran out, no one screamed. The mall staff were exceptionally well-organised and calm. The only ones that seemed agitated were the police.