Fandom ……..beyond unwavering loyalty

 

Fandom

         ……..beyond unwavering loyalty

Standing outside Chamundeshwari  devi temple Parama  prayed “.Holy mother, Please bless me & make it happen this time”, His elder sister was in her  late  30s and  ‘neighbors  would not miss an opportunity to remind him.. “Prabha too is not getting any younger” he consoled himself  Parameswar Vadiraja , or PVR as he was popularly known   was getting desperate and wished  to re-connect with his protector & God mother Padma without further delay., anticipating some benefaction.

He was determined to achieve it this time.Luckily   a second opportunity was opening up after the debacle  last year

 PVR had almost accomplished it a couple of years back. But when he arrived at Holy Sangam, the place fixed for the meeting, his heart sank. Thousands of delirious  devotees had already assembled as early as 3.00 am. He had to do with watching the flower decoration (ಪುಷ್ಪಾಲಂಕಾರ)   & “warding off the evil eye".ritual (ಕುಂಬಳಕಾಯಿ  ದ್ರಿಷ್ಟಿ  ಪರಿಹಾರ).for the enormous  Utsava,murthy.that was being carried around .There was no way he could enter the Sanctum .His attempt ended in  failure.

Not able to withstand taunts from friends any longer, he decided to consult astrologers practicing different techniques, seeking success for his attempts.

He engaged “Kollegal Puttashamachari” to perform Chandika Homa for Devi Gayathri in an attempt to succeed  this weekend,

  “Galige” Narayana” promised  him  Success if  set out from home at exactly 2.16 am .

However “ Vaastu” Govinda”  did not approve. He advised PVR to install a Chinese “Happy Man” idol in front of his bed.He even offered to sell him one

On the festive day, Parama  was up and ready. Carefully following all the rituals prescribed by the various Astrologers he reached the Precincts. Even at that unearthly hour some 800 people had converged. On the venue, He was not ready to lose this opportunity. Parama  dodged the line .climbed on to the guard rails and “Swam” over the heads of hundreds of people  towards the Sacred  Window.  He knew he had finally made it !!

An year earlier, his attempt at getting the tickets for “Mayura” had failed  but   he made up for that..Now he would be able to participate  in  the milk abishekam for the enormous   Utsavamurthy (plywood Cut out)  in front of the Theatre , the   Aarthi   &  coin shower  in the sanctum when Annavru his God  appeared  on the screen! He himself had saved a bagful of 5 Paise,&  10 PaIse Coins.for the big occasion. Now he had to wait for the Release of Annavru’s “Premada Kaanike” in a few days

 

For “Bhaktha” Parama ,and thousands of "devotees" like him , beloved Annavru was God incarnate  and the legendary single screen theaters Chamundeshwari, Prabha,Sangam, Lakshmi, Gayathri,,Padma Shantala, Rajkamal  were the sacred temples  that brought  God  before them !

Having spent the best time of my life watching countless hysterical scenes like the above from very close quarters ,I have attempted   to “freeze-frame” scenes of the riotous  revelry through this dramatized post, intentionally exaggerating the intensity  of certain events & hoping, it will rekindle and archive treasured memories of the magnificent  “single screen"  cinema halls.

Those  born in the 1950  60 70 s  used to wait for the day when they could head to theatres and immerse themselves in the joy of  watching movies,  incessantly munching groundnuts  .The halls that once reverberated with the noise of whistles, catcalls and people clapping & dancing on aisles , have gone silent & on their  way to extinction. Only the memories of the golden days remain.