SORE BOTTOMS.

The serpentine queue was stretching outside the gates of the theatre. The people were jostling to get a foot hold in the ticket line. There was a separate line for the ladies who had swarmed upon the theatre with their kids in tow. Their lips were glossy with outrageous shades of lipstick. A scuffle soon broke out in the front as soon as the houseful board was put at the window. The crowd was livid but left grumbling to try their luck another day. Some had come to see the movie for the second time while most of them had lost count. This was the block buster of the century and people did not mind seeing this spectacle over and over again. The hanky tied black marketeers would rub their itchy fingers in glee. Their pockets would swell then.
It was the late 70s and movies ruled the roost then. The television and the computers were yet to enter our uncomplicated lives.
The theatre was a decrepit one, paan stains dominated the lobby outside. The seats were of hard leather which used to hurt our small bums. Springs used to jut out of the seats and Bugs used to lurk in every crevice,waiting to suck our blood. There were a couple of fans in the balcony which used to blow sweat filled winds at us. We were lucky to get fan seats. The poor viewers in the stall would sweat it out often using vernacular newspapers to fan them. The balcony crowd used to throw the litter at the stall crowds, fights would ensue then. The ones with the choicest abuses won. The fight would sometimes spill outside the theatre too.
The foyer outside the screen used to attract our attention more than the movie. Soggy wafers and Crisp wadas-samosas used to be displayed in a dirty glass shelf illuminated under a powerful halogen yellow lamp. There were no micro waves back then. A small box of ice cream candies elicited the maximum rush. The parents would buy for their nagging children and the lover would buy a solitary candy which would be licked by him and his female friend in the dark confines. Some people would smoke in the corridors, blowing rings in the stale humid air.
I could not understand the mystery of the corner seats. The couples would be so cooing busy in themselves and would hardly watch the movie. I would stare them at frequent intervals, much to my parents' disapproval.
But as soon as the hit song would start playing, We would stand on our seats, remove our shirts and dance with joy. Our appreciative parents would clap then. Few would dance in the aisles spraying 25 paise coins in the air which would jingle on the hard non carpet laid hard cement floor. It was real fun then. Catcalls and Whistles would accompany every hit song.
The tickets were priced at 1.1 Rupees for the stall and 2.2 Rupees for the elite balcony. It was a princely sum those days. A 5 rupee note would suffice for a small family. As soon as the movie would end, people would walk out slowly to their homes. Some would yawn. The elite would hail a rickshaw and their fat family would barely fit in the small vehicle. The sputtering rickshaw reluctantly, took them home.
We would go home and scratch our itchy bottoms. A soothing lotion would be applied to treat the bug bites.
As soon as the next movie hit our theatre, we all would be excited and raring to go again.
The movies were our only escape from bitter middle class reality lives.

Yesterday, I went to see a movie with my family in a state of the art multiplex. The entire bill came out to nearly 2000 Rupees !!. I was shell shocked and my mind flash backed to my childhood days.
When I came home, My bottom did not itch this time.
It hurt.
No lotion could sooth it.