Gabbu Singh Diaries 3 | The nervy movie hall debut.

They say your life changes once you are married. But now when I look at it I feel even the married life was pretty much in control, it actually changed after the parenthood arrived. So it won’t be an exaggeration if I classify my life in pre Avyaan era and Only Avyaan era J. So in the pre Avyaan era where we could eat where ever we wanted without much planning and without those unwanted stares, where we could travel where ever we wished to without planning for the weather and step free access (for prams) and we could watch literally every movie that got released without planning in advance for it, life has all of a sudden become an un-ending planning workshop J. So by now we have mastered the art of (or got attuned to J) traveling and eating out to near perfection but until recently going out for a movie has been a big monkey on our backs. Not that Avyaan has ever created a havoc in the cinema hall, it’s just that we couldn’t ever muster the courage to go to one with him.

Now before I share Avyaan’s debut movie watching experience, it’s important I get comfortable. And with that I mean I formally introduce to you Mr Gabbu Singh. Now that’s what people who know him call him, hardly anyone addresses him as Avyaan but of course for his nursery folks J. Now, how he got this name is even more interesting. So when we were expecting his arrival, his mom used to watch a very irritating sop on TV where in the lead actress called her toddler as ‘Taabar’(a rajasthani way of addressing ones baby), I somehow always heard it as Dabar and found it very funny. And I used to tease her by calling our soon to be born baby as Dabar, somewhere I found Dabar as very macho and emphatic too, as it reminded me of those villains of the 70s & 80s movies J. Now once he arrived Dabar became Dabbu but then we found that as slightly un-cool, so we changed it to Gabbu, that also went well with his then demeanour. And since then it has been Gabbu, though people use other variants like Gabar, Gabban and Gabbi as well. But I call him as Gabbu Singh, I feel it goes well with how he marshals our lives J. Though, I am sure in the years to come he won’t enjoy his girlfriend’s calling him Gabbu and he will come back complaining but by then we will probably prepare ourselves with a strong explanation for it J.

So we have been pondering upon this idea of going to a movie with Gabbu Singh from a very long time. We couldn’t manage it in Pune, Delhi or London considering ourselves as unprepared for it and mainly due to a disagreement on the fact that who will come out and let go his/her movie in case he starts his own movie inside the hall. Another reason for this delay was that I was also very particular on which movie should be his first ever movie, as that’s not going to change then. So when we were at my native couple of weeks back, the opportunity presented itself when my Dad brought this idea up of watching ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’ in  a recently opened multiplex in the town. I thought it to be a perfect mix as not only it would be a good debut movie for Gabbu Singh but with Mom, Dad and Bro around we will have enough hands to manage the unwarranted movie too J.

But as the show time neared it was evidently clear that nobody was keen to let me watch the movie with ease by taking Gabbu Singh’s ownership in the hall. Mom and Dad were busy discussing about the impending family function, bro was busy with his friends, Mrs was super excited for her movie date after a long time and I was super nervous thinking about the ordeal ahead. So where everyone was busy deciding on which popcorn and sandwich variants to select from, I was busy looking for places in the lounge outside where I would be keeping Gabbu Singh busy while everyone else would be glued to the movie inside the hall. As we entered our audi he was apparently very happy to see a huge screen and a bevy of people inside. His excitement while watching the trailers of the new movies before the show was a real treat to watch for. I hardly focused on them as my entire focus was on him and his moves, and I was relieved with his reactions but also had a sense of concern that this on screen razzmatazz and pace will end soon as the movie begins. To my surprise he continued to stay silent for next hour too with his focus still being on the big screen but there after he started getting restless and that in turn got his dad all the more restless. I somehow tried keeping him engaged for next 10 odd minutes but beyond that he has had enough. I got off my seat to take him out for what I have dreading for from a long time but to my good fortune it was the Intermission time as well. There was a sense of relief and achievement that half the battle has been won J.

Post interval Gabbu Singh was hardly interested in watching the movie. And I understood that the real movie for me starts now, I started showing him his nursery rhymes and pretty soon ‘Old Mac Donald had a farm..’ was buzzing in the background, embarrassingly that did invite some unwanted glares too. But even those rhymes couldn’t keep him interested for too long and he was in his full elements very soon. His mother then realized that he is sleepy and I handed him over to her so that she could make him sleep. He was asleep in next 10 minutes and that helped me settle my nerves too, though every movement he made even while sleeping got me on the edge of my seat. But thankfully there was no unwanted action from Gabbu Singh till the end of the show. And I was apparently happy that it went through without much trouble and it got managed pretty well. Though, it’s a different matter that I could hardly focus on the movie or even comment on how actually the movie was J. But never did i knew that it will be such an important parenting milestone to clock.

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Afterthought – Gabbu Singh’s mom gave me a reality check after the show, that there is no reason to be so happy about this rather uneventful movie outing as the newness of the entire setup kept him engrossed and not my impeccable managing skills. And according to her, the real fun would be in the next visit to the hall J.