If you happen to plan your next movie outing at Fort’s Sterling cinema or the Suncity multiplex in Vile Parle, pay close attention to the slides on screen as you stand for the National Anthem that plays before the beginning of the film. As Rabindranath Tagore’s Hindi translation appears on the screen in the Devanagari script, this is accompanied by various circular and square symbols as well as curved lines that resemble stick figures. These unique letters are part of the Brahmi script in Pali language, one of the most ancient scripts of India.

One of the verses of the National Anthem translated in Brahmi script