Anathema...

First it was performed only on two days of the year. Then some jingoistic rabble rouser decided that 'youngsters aren't patriotic enough' and bullied theatre owners to play it before every movie. Now thanks to Airtel and AR Rahman, we hear a different rendition of the national anthem in every ad break. Yes, its nice to hear people as varied as Bhimsen Joshi and SP Balasubramaniam sing it, or to see the Mangeshkar sisters sing ('They look so happy when they sing together!!') again. But every 10 minutes? Isn't that a bit too much? Now that the anthem has become a part of pop culture sponsored by a corporate entity, how long before the flag becomes a part of someone's new designer line, or the national song is remixed by some DJ??

And how many times do i have to stand up for the anthem in a day to prove that i'm a patriotic Indian?