'bout last night

We went to watch The Kashmir Files at the movies last evening. Before the projection, and for some obscure reason, both the Mauritian and Indian national anthems were played and everyone stood up. Everyone? Not quite, my very good friend refused to budge an inch, detecting a propaganda smell behind.

I respect his choice and will not discuss it. But at the same time this gave me food for thought about how we, human beings, perceive things. To me, one should show respect towards a national anthem no matter what. Patrice on the other hand brought the situation to a whole new level by intellectualizing it. A national anthem shouldn't be used for any purpose, less so for some obscure reasons in a cinema when about to project a movie revolving around such a sensitive issue. Good point. But then, was it really propaganda? If yes, which purpose was it serving? Was it to protect one group from another? If yes, whom against whom? Or was it a way that the hindus in India found for extracting support from mauritians due to what is happening in Kashmir?

I believe we were both right and wrong. Maybe I reacted too quickly and didn’t stretch my brain enough to analyze what was going on. Or maybe he didn’t see that there was a message of patriotism underneath it all, one not meant to hurt any specific group but simply to portray the ugly truth of what this conflict is  about. Now that I think about it, maybe the Indian anthem was played because it was an Indian production of not just any commercial film. Had the movie been a Pakistani production and their anthem played, I would have stood up just the same. Not everything needs to be a political act.

This is what probably differs us. For Patrice, everything is a political statement and he is driven by this passion of right and wrong. This is actually what I like about him, this thrive and energy he has to fight against injustices, just like my brother. I, on the other hand, am not like that. I do not carry such passion. The authenticity of our friendship was highlighted yesterday with him remaining seated and me standing without any of us feeling embarrassed in front of the other. We took a stand as per our very own perception, our outlook on life and we felt enough respect towards each other by not arguing over it.

As for Antish, he did not know that people usually stand up for the national anthem of any country, not only theirs. He learned it last night and did it for the Indian anthem. If for any reason, he chose not to stand up, I wouldn't have argued with him either. People are responsible for their own choices and should be respected for that.

I will not talk about the movie itself here. It was uncomfortable to watch with layers of it that I still need to digest.