What am I talking about -

1. I dont understand what it really really means...

2. Its written by someone who died way before I was born..meaning its not really contemporary..

3. I am not a big fan of the author. Infact, I have not read anything else that the guy has written. This on top of the fact that the guy was a prolific, influential and well known author who wrote poems, plays, books et al.

4. Its not sung by my favorite singer. Infact, its sung by a motley group of classical singers mixed with some filmi types. Odd combination no....

5. I hear it in the oddest of place - darkened hall, 100's of unknown people around me... me in a relaxed mood and they make me specially stand up to listen to this...

You guessed it right. Its the National Anthem.

The point is despite reasons 1-5, I get goosebumps when I listen to the anthem. It makes me want to sing along - actually sing along loudly, saluting the screen alongside, doing a march past (while standing at the same place) and when it gets over - shout slogans like "Bharat Mata ki jai" and what not. But I refrain so that people around me dont think that they will be spending the next 2.5 hours sitting next to a total freakshow (what to do - I am please-everyone, dont stand out, merge in the background types) .

But I do singalong. Ofcourse, the mute button is firmly pressed. It immediately puts me in a good mood, refreshes the hell out of me and most of all makes me proud to be an Indian.

PS: Last time, I heard it - I felt all of that and more. Why - coz the movie that followed was not one of those David Dhawan types (which, by the way I enjoy) but a totally rocking Chak de. Its a must watch. For a more convincing pitch - go here. It convinced me for sure.