Then and Now! Is Life The Same? Can we enjoy both?

The timeline is 1976. Place: my Madurai. I told my Dad.
"I want to see MGR's film, Neethikku Thalai Vanangu." Can I go this Sunday afternoon?"
"Good movie. You can go. Here's Rs.2.25 Rs. 1.45 for the ticket, 25 paise for the busfare to the theatre. With the rest you can have some snacks during interval and come back home by bus. I expect you home by 6."
"Thanks Dad."
That was a bonanza by the standards of that time. A greater bonanza if seen against our family's finances at that time.
Those days the balcony tickets started with 1.45. And above that were Rs. 2 and Rs. 2.90 tickets.
The film was running in Central Theatre about 3 and a half miles from our home. I got into the bus and was in the theatre an hour before the show time.
The film had been running for 50 days. But it was MGR's film. So it was still crowded. When I went to the counter I learnt that Rs.1.45 tickets were sold out. And there were only a few Rs.2 tickets. I was hell-bent on seeing the movie on that day. So unmindful of consequences I got the 2 Rs ticket and walked in with pride.
Nothing to eat during the interval. That was okay. It was only when the film ended that I realised that I did not have the money to go back home. Of course the bus ticket was just 25 paise. But I had no money. Period.

Humming a song from that movie I walked the entire distance home. I was very happy that day for I had seen the movie and got a nice sleep, because of the walking.

Cut the scene. Move up 30 years in the timeline. Timeline B. 21st November,2007. My daughter says, "Dad, shall we go for a movie today?"
My wife and daughter had decided to go to Om Shanthi Om running in Satyam. By 9 30 I logged into the Net and booked the tickets. (Elite class cost Rs. 120 per ticket plus Rs. 5 service charges) Went to the theatre just 10 minutes before time. Picked up our tickets and moved in.
Sathyam theatre is a different world. Today's Sathyam is better than some theatres I saw in the US. If you are there, don't forget to visit the toilet. It's a state of the art facility.
In 76 when I had to go to the theatre's toilet it was a nightmarish experience. In a toilet designed for use by 12 men at a time, there were 85 men all waiting for their turns.
In Sathyam the toilet capacity is 15 and there were hardly 10 men even during the interval.
Popcorn costs Rs. 50. Large pack Rs.70. Softdrink was Rs. 40.
The accountant in me was wide awake. The per person expenditure today was about 100 times what I spent in 1976 for the MGR movie. OSO was good. But definitely not 100 times better than Neethikku Thalaivanangu.
But that's a silly comparison which is going to take us nowhere.

Was I happy then? Am I happy now?
I was happy on both the ocassions. Many things have changed, some beyond recognition. I could enjoy both.
My friend used to lament, "Dude, we were born in a wrong time. We should have been born at least twenty years later. We would have enjoyed the software salaries and the call centre's life style"
I don't agree with him. It's a blessing to be born somewhere between the two eras. That was the reason I could enjoy Neethikku Thalai Vanangu as well as OSO. To be able to enjoy both is a blessing I cherish. Thank God.
Love,

 

Hi Janani,

In fact that was the song which I was humming when I walked home. I liked Varalakshmi's rendering and more than that Jesudoss' rendering the same song. The lyrics would be different for Jesudoss.

I especially remember the lines,

"Padhai thavariya kaalkal virumbia oor senru servathillai.
sila panbu thavariya pillaiyai petraval per solli vazhvathillail"

To be honest with you these two lines almost became my life's motto and gave me the strength to wade through my life.

I have heard about the cost of tickets in Mayajal, Inox etc. Today I could see it for myself.

Thanks for the post, Janani.
regards,

 

Shanthi,

There is this kind of time-line distinction in vritually every one. We always compare then and now. Unlike the timelines in Varalotti's story, these then and timelines will never meet.

Interesting to learn about your film-going habits. When I was a child video was unheard of. In fact when my marriage was videotaped, it was almost the first in our family. We had to go to a theatre. In a place like Madurai that was probably the only entertainment we had.

Even now if the movie is good, I love to see it in a theatre. I saw Mozhi three times in a theatre. Of course the highest ticket was just Rs.30 and pop corn Rs.5. Cool drinks Rs.7, there in Madurai.

As an accountant I do agree with your cost consciousness. But once in a way you should throw away those rules and have a nice time.

I would love to go to a movie only with my wife and/or daughter. But if the movie is really good, I love to go for it all alone, at least once. That I think is the best way of enjoying it. Ever since I finished my CA apprenticeship I have stopped going to a movie with my friends.

Let me do some naradhar velai. Let me pm veda giving him the links to this thread. ha ha ha.
regards,

 

Re: Nice

Dear Padma,

I know almost all the lines of the song by heart. I also like these lines,

Aaru karaiyil adangi nadandidil kaadu valam peralam.
enrum nalla nerri kandu pillai nadanthidil naadum nalam peralam.

and the following too,

thooka marunthinai ponravai petravar potrum pukazhuraikal
Noi theerkkum marunthinai ponravai katravar koorum arivuraikal

The concept of timelines lends a very distinguishing characteristic both to our memories and to our experiences.
When I am working on my laptop using some advanced excel functions like vlookup and analyse a thousand records, I remember my first few days of training for CA. We were given manually written ledgers (computers were unheard off in 1978 when I started apprenticing) for just totalling up. We had to do it from 10 in the morning till 1 in the afternoon. Start again at 2 and finish at 5, of course two coffeebreaks of not more than 15 minutes were allowed.
Given todays technology the work looks silly. But it taught us a lot of patience and made us fall in love with numbers. The love affair continues till today.

I know, to live in Mylapore, is the closest to heavan. But at times it gets way too crowded. A few years back I had been to a flat to meet a bank official. I was simply stunned by the density of human population per square foot. I think the Mandaiveli bus stand and the tank area will report the highest density in the whole world.

In the same way you complain against your husband, my wife does against me. She is a die-hard Vijai fan and would like to see his movie in the theatre everytime. I find that every other movie of his is an intolerable flop and so I refuse to go with her. She has a set of friends with whom she goes for the Vijai movies.

I think it is veettukku veedu vasarpadi.....

Stay tuned for the fictitious timeline. Less than 60 hours to go.
regards,

 

Well, Shanthi, you make seeing movie at home quite an interesting affair. I think there is a timeline-difference between the time I grew up and you grew up. Even when I was in college, Sony had not yet invented the video tape. Theatres were our only recreation.

Interestingly this brings us to another time-line difference. In my days we used to go to a theatre for a movie and come back home for dinner. Now we go out for dinner and come back home to see a movie.

Kidding apart, timeline differences apart, I admire your taste and your aesthetic sense.

regards,