Forgetting real heroes, celebrating filmi ones

Even as a dozen videos about Rajinikanth blockbuster Kabali float around on WhatsApp, few remember the sacrifices our soldiers made to win the Kargil war

In the wee hours of Monday morning, young men in huge numbers were seen flocking outside Chennai international airport. One would think they were waiting to extend a warm welcome to a war hero or to a sportsman who had won a gold medal for India.

As a man clad in t-shirt and jeans walks out, the crowd starts shouting 'Thalaiva' (leader) and cameras start flashing like lighting. All this hoopla was for 63-year old Rajinikanth, who had returned from a month's vacation from US. His movie Kabali, reported to have clocked around Rs 300 crore, has been grabbing the headlines in the media for the past one week, while his fans have been frequently updating social media with the latest statistics and other details about the movie.

Come Tuesday, not many of those who updated the Kabali trends minute by minute on social media -- most of them are youngsters -- seem to remember or know what July 26 means to the country. It was on this day 17 years ago, that the Indian Army recaptured all the Indian posts in Kargil that had been occupied by Pakistan's army. As many as 524 Indian soldiers were killed in the war and more than 13,300 people were critically injured.

"Is it the anniversary of the Kargil war?" asked a young IT employee when the topic came up for discussion, as if somebody knocked on his head.

However, for almost one week prior to Kabali's release in the theatres, and five days since its screening, at least a dozen videos about the movie, complete with stills of Rajinikanth, have been shared by several groups on WhatsApp. In the 24 groups of which I am a member, only four messages were about Kargil.

Just where are we heading? We have forgotten 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan', but want to shout 'Kabali Da'.

Today the nation pays tribute to the brave Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the two-month-long war in Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir, bordering Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in 1999. The war took place between May and July of 1999.

The Army declared the mission successful on July 26, and thenceforth the day came to be known as Vijay Diwas.