Star Wars in a Long Gone Delhi

I must admit that I'm waiting for Revenge of The Sith with as much excitement as any ten year old. Regardless of what the SF snobs say, I can't help it. One day when I was twelve, I was genetically modified to forever like anything connected to Star Wars. This event took place in Delhi's now long-defunct Archana cinema. I was too young to travel across the city by myself so I saw the movie only once.

By the time Episode V released in India (1982 or 83), I was in 11th std in school and travelling on public buses by myself so I managed to see it five times. EP5 ran in Delhi only at Shiela cinema in Paharganj but since that's walking distance from New Delhi Railway Station it was actually quite easy to get to by a DTC bus. In Shiela, they used to sell fabulous Keema Kulchas from Connaught Place's Volga Restaurant during the interval, which would happen in EP5 just as the Millennium Falcon flew into the giant worm's throat during the asteroid chase. Last month, while watching EP5 (for the first time since then) on DVD, I could actually taste the keema when Solo fired his blaster into the creature's tongue. I guess that used to be just the point when I would get to the meaty part of the kulcha after the interval ended.

I can't understand this anti-Star Wars snobbery on so many SF lists. I started with SF because of Star Wars. Within months I was on to Asimov and Clarke and soon after, Ursula LeGuin and Philip K Dick. Which meant that as Gibson and Sterling started producing their masterpieces during the 80s, I was perfectly primed for them. None of this may have happened to me if I Star Wars hadn't made me fall in love with SF.

A confession: I never saw Return of the Jedi when it was released. I was in college at the time and at the height my own intellectual snob period. Truly ashamed.