Children are the joy of our lives they are the ultimate happiness in this world

Jalsa , Mumbai        Sept  26/27 ,  2011      Mon/ Tue  12: 21 AM

Children are the joy of our lives .. they are the ultimate happiness in this world .. and I have spent an entire day in that happiness today .. I shot an ad., for FORCE Motors at Karjat a few hours drive away from Mumbai at the BIG ND Studios, built by the great Nitin Desai an art director who came up from most humble beginnings to today, have the luxury of a vast studio spread over acres and acres of land.

The kids that we imagine of today are indeed not from our hemisphere, they come from some other planet. They are here with us pretending as normal humans, but they are indeed aliens with the superiority that none of us shall be able to comprehend or master !!

Most of the day has been spent locked inside this SUV Force 1 which I am brand ambassador for, dealing and keeping myself entertained by 6 of the most precocious children I have ever come across lately. From the latest gossip in tinseltown to the politicotown thet are aware of all. They have an opinion of their own, they have reasonable arguments supporting their views and when in doubt, reflect back to their parents and their beliefs on issues as serious as what the future of the country shall be.

From the care and consciousness needed for the environment of the region to the reasons for the failure of certain films, they have it all … pat ! Confident and relaxed, they do not have a care in the world. And one wishes desperately that they would ever remain so.

They have dialogues of favorite films at the tips of their tongues. They have an entire episode learnt with the expressions in place and the winning answers. And they have their own interpretation on the popular issue of corruption in the country and what needs to be done to cure it.

In the middle of all this, they are diligently following instructions on how they need to act when the camera starts moving, and never make a mistake !! I mean … who are these kids and how and where have they suddenly come from !!

They know their Bugatti’s and Lamborghini and their Ferrari … they know the 2G issues and the present news items that ‘break news’. And apart from all this, while you try to assimilate all that they have to state, they shall suddenly test you with the most simple yet complicated question to answer !!

I shall not deliberately enumerate the moment of the questioning, for, embarrassment is certainly not a trait that I take seriously to. And suddenly as this concoction of six belts out event after event, question and opinion after opinion for me to digest, one of them of 10 shall turn to me in that same child demeanor and inform me that his brother was a great fan of mine ..

” He saw every film of yours, Uncle. And now that I am acting in films he wanted me to arrange a meeting with you. But .. you know when the Opera House blast happened, he was going up the lift in the building on a non working day and he dead now ! I miss him very much !”

A moment of sudden silence …

And then as though nothing had happened, he starts his antics with the other 5 seated along with him in the SUV … playful, mischievous and so lovable with his method of speaking.

” Will you get me a role in a YashRaj Film .. I will give you the DVD of my film ‘Chillar Party’ .. if you tell Yash Chopra, he is a friend of yours, he will give me a role in his film.”

And then immediately back to pushing and shoving and pulling with the others .. ! I mean who are these guys ? They are not normal ..

But the child’s abnormality is his or her cutest factor .. it is the closest they shall ever get to being normal. May they ever remain so !!

I rest now, as I would for the next two days to repair my chest and rib .. Shekhar Kapoor shot the commercial today and it was wonderful catching up on old times with him ..

Sleep well dearest ones .. I shall too provided you do too ..

Amitabh Bachchan

Happy Rosh Hashanah a time to seek love and peace and togetherness Amit Jii

Jalsa , Mumbai     Sept 25/26 ,  2011     Sun/Mon  12:19 AM

Happy Rosh Hashanah .. a time to seek love and peace and togetherness, to forgive, to understand, to be compassionate and to acknowledge the beliefs of one another ..!!

Vikas Agarwal .. your birthday tomorrow, well today actually, and so wishing you all the best ..

But a day of Sunday of rest and recouping did in fact give opportunity to recover lost sleep and ground for repair on the rib and the hairline fracture …

The morning was spent in mourning and visiting the house of Surinder Kapoor, Anil and Boney Kapoor’s father’s place to be present before they performed the last rites. Such moments bring sorrow to those that are directly affected. Such moments bring sorrow too to those that witness, for, in each of us there lies a story and a visual of an event that was more personal to you and involved your own loved one. Visions of the moment when your own loved and dear were in similar state and condition. And it is disturbing. The more you wish to remain away from it, the more it chases you and never does allow to be a part of that. The immediate wish and desire is to shy away, to not face it, to not allow it to take you along with it. But it does. And it does become difficult. The pain of such suffering is immense. But it is a pertinent reminder that no one shall be able to get away from this reality.

The wife is back after spending time with the children and grandchildren and full of delightful stories of them and their mischief. Grand parents live for such moments in life. We are no different.

But after the rest and the Sunday crowds, a visit to a function for the competition on body building by athletes from all over the world. And goodness … they are unreal these gentlemen and … women ! Its like seeing one of those hand painted structures of the human body, where every aspect and muscle is enhanced for better look. But here it is reality. No hand painted or structured abstract figures, its the real stuff, the real McCoy. Just so incredible !!

A quick exit from here to be at an Award ceremony for Television .. the ITA and 2 awards for me - an award for ultimate excellence through the years, and the other for best anchor for KBC. Some short speeches later back home to contemplate what needs to be done on the blog and on the twitter and how to convey and conduct what would be of interest for you …

What really is of interest for you ? I have often wondered. My routine of the day the work and its consequences ? Or my opinion on certain matters local and general ?

I find it most amusing how, particularly on twitter, the level of questioning is rather unique. Its almost like, at times, a reprimand or an assessment of your act or deed, done or undone, is dictated to you. Many shy away from it. They are not in the business of wanting to hear the negative or the undesired. But on a virtual platform, that exists and invites comment, it will not be possible to hear good all the time. Also it would be unfair to expect such activity. We are not all good all the time. Neither are we all bad all the time. A healthy mix of the good with the bad would do nicely. But one would have to have the courage to bear the adverse, to not allow it to cause disturbance, but instead to learn what needs to be kept or what destroyed. Many a time I find that even in the adverse their is an element that teaches me and that coerces me to accept it with the intention and hope that I shall benefit from it. Better do you not think … !!??

Its an early call tomorrow .. to far away place away from Mumbai … driving distance but away, and so it would need to get on to the road and beat the morning traffic, soon enough ..

Doing a commercial for FORCE Motors and the SUV that I had launched some days ago…

Good night then and sweet dreams … as always ..

My hairline fracture on rib has a companion - Mr Abhishek Bachchan

Jalsa , Mumbai       Sept 24/25,  2011         Sat/Sun  12:32 AM

My hairline fracture on rib has a companion - Mr Abhishek Bachchan. He has had a hairline fracture on his finger on shoot in Jaipur for ‘BolBachchan’. Was on his way to the Hotel after pack up and the crew playing cricket hit a ball in his direction, which he tried to prevent from hitting his face and damaged his finger. Its got a fracture and he is in a splint and bandage, but operational !!

The song and shoot for the film ‘Department’ got over today and that is all. My work is over. A special friendly appearance for Ram Gopal Varma and my 7th film with him. Done !!

Mumbai Indians beat Chennai Super Kings at the Championship League T20 cricket in a absolute clinger. Holding our breath till the last ball was bowled and finally did it. A little unlike the team, but Bhajji as Captain in the absence of an injured Tendulkar did the trick along with Slinga Malinga ! Quite amazing. Least expected from these two to win a game for their team !!

And while this was on, just heard the sad news that Anil and Boney Kapoor’s Father passed away. Mr Surinder Kapoor, a kind hearted and affable man, a Producer of eminence in his own right, passes away.

One does not know where to begin. So much is happening and happening fast and in such a destructive manner. Putting on the television is like a kaleidoscope of different Breaking News in different colors these days.

There are deaths of prominent celebrities, earth quakes in the North East, devastating in intensity in Sikkim particularly, monstrous floods in Orissa, upheavals in the Government administration and its cabinet of Ministers, .. one just does not know where to start … or indeed start at all ..

The old and practiced art of astrology seems to be paying dividends. Most of all these troubles had been predicted by some quite a while ago, and as always we had  and have taken them all with a pinch of salt. But really though, what does one do in such circumstances. If you believe in them you succumb to the craft of the unknown yet known and that could be equally destructive to the mind as would similar effects which were not known and become known !

There are some faithful followers and believers of this art. It is we must all admit, a craft that tickles our mind and nature. Who does not want to hear predictions, particularly those that concern yourself. When will I be successful, what is there in store for me, what about my family and friends, will the good times continue or will they end, if they are to end when would the times start again … and on and on and on …

By the end of it all we are conducting every breath we inhale to be guided and dictated by the sooth sayers and predictors. I am not so sure whether this is such a good idea, but who cares. No one. We may all make these very diplomatically correct observations and feel somewhat glorious in our most un conservative thought processes, but somewhere I think we do feel that we are vulnerable to that which is unknown. And it is our incessant curiosity that prevails and colors us in a light which pushes us to believe what is being predicted for each one of us. We may seem cynical about it .. and perhaps in the presence of many others .. but in our solitude of mind and spirit we do want to learn of the unknown. We do worry and be conscious of the fact that we know what is to befall us.

I must rest my hairline .. I must obey and listen to the advice of the EF .. and I must tell, some of them that have prepared various promo acts for BHTB and sent it to me for uploading that I am not conversant with the technology that can load them on Blog, hence the delay. But I am at it and soon after a meet with the server, I shall be in a position to post them all up. So do bear with us.

I must thank Prabbir for the effort he took in composing that wonderful poem and to tell him that he is not ignored or cared for or paid attention to. He is heard and read and reacted to, just like every other EF …

I may not have gone ‘yellow’ for some time now , but have never ever not read through each comment and felt warmly towards those that send wishes or greetings or voices of concern towards me .. thank you all that exist with me .. for I do too the same .. and hence …

Amitabh Bachchan , with love and sweet dreams !!

Further bad news reigns the evening hours Amit Jii

Jalsa , Mumbai              Sept 23/24,  2011        Fri/Sat 1:17 AM

Further bad news reigns the evening hours - Vasant Sathe eminent Congress Party senior leader and one with whom we shared a comfortable and able relationship, passes away. Surprising … since just two days ago he was Tv in a debate ! He was a most affable individual and during the time when I was an elected member of Parliament, would be of great encouragement to me. Prayers for his soul.

Then … have just come to learn of Jagjit Singh, that famous ghazal singer, to have had a sudden brain hemorrhage and is critical in hospital. A man with a silken voice, effortless and so endearing in all the most important and popular renditions of his. May he recover fast. He has had a traumatic life after the death of his only son at a very young age in a rash driving accident.

And … the night before was not too comfortable for me, with my pain. The night before was better, but last night was a disturbed one. So early morning before setting off to shoot I spoke to the doctor and he advised we do an X-Ray after my return from work. Work finished by 10 PM but the doctor appointment remained. He had a change of direction and felt we should do a Ct Scan instead. So off to Nanavati and under the scanner and out of it in minutes and now confirmed … there is a fracture in the rib .. albeit hairline. It cannot be given any treatment, for, such ailments are left to heal on their own and this one shall be no exception. That takes care of the next 3-4 weeks because that is the recognized healing period. Bear the pain and that is it… Damn !!

But at the shoot there seemed to be no problem. Its a song and dance sequence and that went off quite well. Well from the point of view of the ailment that I carry. Whether creatively it is satisfying shall only be known when you see it !!

Sometimes it is such a joy to do your own bit without it being choreographed. And that is exactly what the situation demanded. Freaking out !! And that too on 5D cameras … you never can tell in them where they shall be capturing the movement. Tomorrow again at the same location and hope it is the end of my work in the film - a small cameo as a guest appearance for Ram Gopal Varma’s ‘Department’ !!

There is something about cleaning up !! Like cleaning up your desk ; the extra paperwork, the objects merely put aside on the table with the intent of attending to it someday. Wrong ! Attend to it now at this moment, finish with it and do away. Staying with it for any length of time shall merely help you store greater stuff really unwanted. Is there not a lesson in life here !!

The hot water bottle has become my greatest companion for the last two days and with the results of the ct scan it looks like I shall stay with it much longer than I had imagined. Its such a useful element in the house. And from the time I realized the difference between hot and cold, the hot water bottle has never undergone any change in size or shape. It has been like this for donkeys years. The winter in Allahabad and Delhi are distinct reminders of it. If you were lucky and good, the only bottle in the house, for, that was only what we could afford, would move around from person to person in the family, to give comfort in the biting cold. Usually we would desire it inside our beds, to warm up the sheets before we sneaked into it and felt the bite of the cold on the white cotton sheets. But stomach aches, pains of the muscle, fermentation and ‘amrit dhara’.

So how many of you remember ‘amrit dhara’, that bitter curative drops of all ailments from indigested food to the pulled calf muscle. A couple of drops of that reddish liquid from a reddish bottle, on to spoon full of sugar and … a swift intake and that was it … never a problem ever again. Now its different !

I wish to spend more time with you .. but I know I would be damaging my rib even further .. so I retire !

Amitabh Bachchan

The wound heals, as do all wounds both external and internal Big B

Jalsa , Mumbai         Sept  22 ,  2011           Thu  11: 34 PM

The wound heals, as do all wounds both external and internal. The body responds with limitations but responds .. and the work on set is limited and ends ahead of time .. to do what ? Nothing really but to get occupied with the greatest distraction of all time -The Television .. !!

Debates and accusations .. counter accusations .. dramatic interludes and daring presentations. Clippings of old footage sown into the present scenario … visuals deliberately doctored to suit and match the circumstances of the moment .. and then … suddenly …

Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi … passes away !!

An icon of the cricket world, a gentleman with the grace and dignity of a prince in shining armor, a delight at social gatherings … suddenly gone !

His Royal background and his contemporary thought and outlook made him a most endearing human. Many glorious evenings had been spent with him and common friends till the late hours of the night. Many an impromptu ‘gully cricket’ had been played with him inside the narrow and make shift spaces of a Cooperative Society. His quiet but delightful sense of humor gave the evenings a different touch. He was a brave and courageous leader, aggressive and determined to win for his team and country. He was a ‘deadly’ combination of the elegance of his royal blood and the dynamism that he projected on the game that was almost the religion of the country. When he married Sharmila Tagore or Rinku Di, as Jaya and I often addressed her by her pet name, I was there at the informal reception at his Delhi residence and since then many a pleasant evening had been spent with him. At a charity cricket match at Brabourne Stadium he played against me - me bowling and he batting. Every ball that I bowled he smacked to the boundary. Among his many other accomplishments on the playing field, many shall perhaps not know that he was an admirer of the Indian Classical music and was a trained tabla exponent. Impromptu music evenings at common friends are proof.

Rinku Di and I have worked together in several films together. In fact Jaya’s first film in Bengali was with her. Today as she bears the loss of her husband we send our heartfelt condolences to her and the family - Saif, Soha and Saba .. Our prayers are with you .. and may the Almighty give you strength in this hour of grief ..

I do not have heart to indulge in any other conversation for today, so I do hope you shall understand ..

Amitabh Bachchan

So … before all else let me clarify and inform that all is well with me Big B

Jalsa , Mumbai           Sept  21,  2011                                 Wed  9 : 45 PM

So … before all else let me clarify and inform that all is well with me .. yes I did have an incident on the set today while shooting a mild action sequence .. got hit either by an elbow or the butt of the security carrying a carbine in the shot … and its ruptured internally the flesh cover over the rib .. its mild .. its a bit painful when I breathe, but shown it to the doctor and he says its mild and shall repair on its own, because its internal ..

I did in the course of my conversation on the twitter put it out as part of my daily activity, but the media took it as news worthy - which they generally do even when you sneeze - and that has caused some concern among well wishers and friends who have been calling up frantically …

It shall take some time to heal .. I am moving about and shall be at work tomorrow .. relax !!

We are all living in an ‘instant’ world .. instant news, on instant matters, instant reactions from those concerned, if you are lucky a discussion on prime time, a poll on the mobile to gauge the mood of the public and to make for the funding of the programme from the mobile carrier and then … on to the next disaster or story or discussion, ‘instantly’ …

The first lost and forgotten ..

Nothing wrong with this .. its how the cookie crumbles these days ..

I was at the function of the Jnanpith Award as you know in Delhi to decorate the Urdu poet Shahryar. Some of the followers on the twitter wanted me to post a few of his works and words. So I did them and felt good that I was able to do so. On presenting them in Hindi, I got some reactions from some of my Pakistan followers that since they do not read Hindi if it could be put out in Urdu, a language they speak and is their national tongue. So I did that as well. Which to me looked pretty exciting, because I do not know Urdu but thanks to the Google Transliterate, it all became possible and I could live momentarily in the glory of that effort. The problem is that not knowing the language could mean a wrong translation by the machine, which we would never know. So whether this could be a constant matter in the future is extremely doubtful.

The mere time consumption is the deterrent. You open twitter. You go to Google Transliterate. You write in Roman English for Hindi. Each word at the press of the ’space bar’ brings up the word translated in Devnagri the text for Hindi script. At times because the machine reads words as they are written it translates it directly. If there is a mistake it gives options by pressing the delete button. The correct word chosen you move on to the next word. And so the entire process of writing a sentence gets completed. Now since the digits allowed on Twitter is 140, it is difficult to count them when writing another language or script, since the count changes. Having done this to approximation you select all, copy and move back to Twitter, get to your designated space on the blank box, highlight it and paste the translation and press tweet for it to get posted. Finally !! This takes a while. After and as you gloat in the execution of the process, you skim down the responses to discover that a fan from Pakistan cannot read Hindi and would I please put it out in Urdu … !!!

So back you go through the whole process - roman english, to urdu to paste and when it appears you get them saying that some of the urdu spellings are wrong .. so would you please write it in roman english on the twitter page. So dutifully you do that and sit back to breathe on your ailing chest rib cage, when you discover a fan which informs you that they know neither Hindi or English and can you put out the explanation of the poem … !! And as you contemplate doing so, you discover that there are queries from fans saying : ‘how about putting it out in Telugu and Spanish … and …. ‘

No … ladies and gentlemen I am afraid I am not that well conversed in every language of the world .. so I do hope you shall appreciate the effort made and allow me to go and have my dinner … for, there have been a million reminders that its getting cold .. !!!

Love you all … and do interpret that in all the possible mother tongues of the world …

Amitabh Bachchan

At the gym in the early hours after almost eternity errrm ok 8 days

Jalsa , Mumbai         Sept 20 , 2011       Tue  11:24 PM

At the gym in the early hours after almost eternity … errrm .. ok 8 days .. but what a difference it makes. Been jumping around all over the set, even though most of the time I have had to sit for the sequence. When the body responds it is the most delightfully expressive period of the day. Every thing seems bright and healthy. There is a ring in the air and it is not the call from the mobile. Its … well .. indescribable …

The tragedy of the earthquake in Sikkim as the epicenter and which has spread across the entire northern region of the country, is alarming and sad. The news filtering in is depressing. Our facilities for relief in such moments is still wanting and it is most terrible to see visuals of those that have suffered, managing their lives on their own. Many of the destinations in this hill region have been unreachable because of the roadways being cut off. The army is working round the clock to ease matters, but it is a most difficult task and one can only pray and hope that relief reaches the victims in rapid time and that they are safe. One keeps getting alarming figures of the causalities borne by those that were caught directly and they are all most sad. Sikkim of course has had to bear the deepest cut, but the adjoining regions have had no less - West Bengal, Nepal, Bangladesh, NE regions, Bihar and UP .. even down to mild tremors in Maharashtra ..

My prayers for those that suffer and have lost property and life ..

On the mention of Sikkim, my thoughts immediately ran to my dear friend and neighbor Danny Denzongapa, for he belongs to that region and on very short notice disappears to his home land to visit his village, to which he has to walk to. I called him and was happy to learn that all was well with him and his relatives friends and their homes and business.

Having got home early I spent sometime in front of the Tv watching some very dramatic Chinese action films. They are so amazing. Their stories resemble ours, but their technology is quite remarkable, fresh and innovative. Their speed of action sequences is so fast and quick that it takes a while before you realize what was going on, who won and who lost. Eventually of course the remote won ! Within a few minutes the remote came into being and that was it - the end of that sequence, that picture and switch off !! Enough flying, dodging acrobatic heroes ..

But then we were no less in our hey day. Punching kicking and fighting our way through all kinds of insane situations. Most cases, the villains were common in all, just a slight change of costume and we were transported to a fresh and new environ.

Artists are so adjustable ! Put us in any situation or circumstance and we shall find a way to express ourselves in exactly the way the director wants, even in trying circumstances. We may resist a location on first sight, but when it is understood that there shall be no way out, we get into it as though we had lived there for an eternity. The mud, the dust the heat the cold … everything just wishes away and all that remains is the desire to excel in whatever has been offered to us. …

I must write more, but strangely when I have rested well and not encountered other … the results have been quite the reverse .. odd is it not ??

So in keeping with the text and tone of the post … good night, shubh ratri, navratri, shabba khair ..

May God bless you all ..

Love, love ….. love andlove

Amitabh Bachchan