Rumours rife on Twitter about 'Beti B' being named Aaradhya

Rumours rife on Twitter about 'Beti B' being named Aaradhya

The newest entrant in the Bachchan family, nicknamed as Beti B, has send the media and fans into a tizzy following reports that she has been finally christened as 'Aaradhya'.

Fans on Twitter were abuzz with rumours about Bollywood star couple, Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's daughter finally getting a name yesterday, after four months of her birth. But megastar Amitabh Bachchan and his family has neither officially confirmed nor denied it, keeping the guessing game on.

A user posted on Twitter, "Trending in India, other than the rail budget is #Aaradhya Bachchan. Yeah the kid got a name, finally."

"The Bachchans did well naming their daughter Aaradhya. With a 'aa' name she'll be on top of most alphabetical lists," said another user.

A joke went as, "2033 Breaking News: Karan Johar to launch Azad Rao Khan and Aaradhya Bachchan as lead pair in 'Oi Tweetiye!'. Music by debutant Alim Rahman."

"What will Aaradhya learn first -- KBC or ABC?," another said.

Ever since the reports of Aishwarya's pregnancy came out, gossip mongers were engaged in all sorts of guess works on whether it would be a boy or a girl for the Bachchan family.

Then after Aishwarya delivered a baby girl, there were talks of photos of little one getting leaked online.

Also, grapevine said that American talk show host Oprah Winfrey would reveal the picture and name on the daughter on her talk show. Later, various names like Aaliya and Abhilasha started doing the rounds following which father Abhishek Bachchan recently confirmed that they have zeroed in on a name for their daughter.

Abhishek had clarified that the baby girl was not named Aaliya and that the picture of his daughter would not be 'revealed'. And that one can catch a glimpse of her when she naturally begins to go out.

According to him, releasing a picture of his daughter and making it an event is rather a pompous thing to do.

Earlier, when superstar Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek had held a press conference after the baby girl was born, they had said, "There would be no naming ceremony for the baby, as the families don't believe in naamkaran."

The Bachchans have been fiercely protective of the latest member of the family ever since Aishwarya gave birth to a girl on November 16 last year.

Haunting lines from Julius Caesar by Shakespeare

Jalsa , Mumbai             Mar 14 , 2012           Wed  11 : 45 PM

  

" Beware the ides of March"

" The ides of March have come "

" Aye Caesar, but not gone " !!

 

Haunting lines from Julius Caesar by Shakespeare .. remembered every time the 15th day of March approaches ..

The impact of great writing remains with us, the weak and the decrepit dissolve, never to be remembered. Why does it happen, one has not been able to find a scientific solution, but they do. The impact of its existence was perhaps because the modes of communication were never as acute as they be today. Perhaps the oft repeated, loses value and presence and if I may say, patience. Are we then in our need and desire for rapid information and far greater speed of rendering it, destroying value …

But surely value would be recognized if valued it was. Is the need to be able to depend so largely on Google as our encyclopedic mind robbing us of something larger. Do we have the time and intent to give space to what we feel transpires in our lives. Is the present need important enough for us to ignore what should be given greater value. I cannot say. I am not this generation. And if I did show concern would it be a laughing matter. I cannot say this either. People and purists ask often if we are fast losing our values and ages old culture. I honestly cannot say. What may seem debasing to me, could be the highest point in another's life. And it is quite probable that I shall find myself in minority here. Debased minority is an area of confusion in today's times – it may never have voice. Or not enough voice to withstand the majority that enjoys what we may think to be debasing. Majority succeeds in all modes of life. Once painted with success, it would be nigh impossible to taint it – if we were to take an extreme step. But we dare not ! Its consequences would be far too severe to bear. So, one languishes in minority and dissatisfaction ..

 

We spoke of religion the other day on this platform, and a dear friend made some very pertinent remarks. I have sought permission to put it up here, and while it takes time for that to come I cannot but resist the temptation of posting the thoughts here tonight. I hope and pray that they shall not mind its presence, even though it was meant for me in a personal capacity .

 

"Equally, there is much of value, as you say, in religious texts. But not wholly so. Most religions and their texts have perpetuated the injustices of their birth: the prejudices, vagaries of diet – the general peculiarities of their writers – and chaotic historical incident of their times. The iniquity and cruelty of caste, misogyny, slavery, violence, domination – all these things are there too in these texts."

"The point is that everything is in the texts. Both good and bad. We have absolutely no choice but to read them embodied in our own selves, with compassion, generosity, critical judgement and condemnation. That is wisdom, the realisation that wisdom cannot ultimately be lent, borrowed, given, taken from others. The wisdom of others is the greatest blessing we have in the world, that it can act as partial guide to our own singular pursuit. But ultimately it is singular: we must strive for it alone, we can only search for it alone, and then we cannot hope that it will be there ever to be found. It is simply the striving and searching, without hope of its gain, that is our life's pursuit, and one of solitude. Your father's striving for wisdom will bring great guidance, but his striving for wisdom and yours must be, by the very nature of our singularity as human beings, forever separate and different."

"How we eke out our lives in solitude and uncertainty, stumbling with reading between the lines, for all things, all names, are shorthand for what we cannot know. Your father's words are shorthand for the unknowable world inside of him. As are dreams, whereupon one might then see that all our shorthands are in the end only read well by ourselves, not by others – and even for ourselves, who knows what they mean? Consulting Freud in order to interpret our own dreams may be interesting for historical and cultural reasons, but it is nothing beyond someone else's suppositions over yours, Amitabh. One makes one's own meanings: when you consider your dreams, only then do they mean."

 

Simply wonderful and written with such depth and truth .. I loved the 'singularity pursuit', for in the end of it all we are but singular. I also liked the concept of the 'shorthand' .. it was such a novel way of portraying that which we may never ever know or feel or observe. There is a meeting point in the singular and the shorthand .. but put out with novelty of expression ..

I leave you to dwell on all this, with love ..

Good night …

Amitabh Bachchan

A journalist friend did some calculations and discovered that on an average of approximately

 Jalsa , Mumbai                     Mar 13 , 2012              Tue  11 : 17 PM

 

Last night was a rare moment .. emotion , nostalgia and more .. but tonight is tonight, balanced and controlled, reminiscent yes of yesterday but not overwhelmed by it.

Some attempts at restructuring the body back to normal .. the weight loss is vast and even though it gives a lean look, would be too lean for normalcy .. so  … at it now … since many are concerned by the condition. yes night sleep is most desired at moments like this, and there is a concerted effort to be able to give it some relevance. Tonight seems to be going well in that direction … so far …

A journalist friend did some calculations and discovered that on an average of approximately 500 words that I write her, when I reach  DAY 1500, the figure would be 7,50000 words .. which according to those that write and publish often, is the equivalent of having written 7 books … !!

I cannot say that I am happy about it for I have never attempted to write a book or even entertained such thought. 'One poet in the family is enough' my Mother had quipped on being asked if there were other aspirants in the family. I would second her whole heartedly ..

I think I would be hesitant to write a book book per se … not going about it with an intention before hand that I write a book .. but of someone were to take some words away from me and put it to print, perhaps that is the very extreme that I would be willing to go … With such a wealth of literary talent about, it would be most presumptuous to imagine, myself in such august company .. and then … the daunting task of taking liberty in being involved in something to which my Father has already set such impregnable heights to ..

 

It is Tuesday today .. the Siddhvinayak temple at PrabhaDevi will welcome its auspicious pilgrims today that start to walk bare footed from different parts of the city, converging in the early hours of the morning, having left their home at midnight .. I have partaken on this journey a couple of times .. it is exacting .. but the will and the energy of the others that walk along with you on the streets is so invigorating, that one almost forgets the lacerations on the feet of us constant shoe worthy individuals .. the 'arti' in the early hour, the first of the day is so humbling in the presence of Lord Ganapati, that at times it moves one to tears …

The mouse which is the 'vaahan' or carrier of the Lord Ganapati has its manifestation in a silver construct at a vantage point in the temple .. they say when you whisper your wish in its ears it come true ..

On one of my walks to Siddhivinayak, documented intricately by the electronic media throughout the 3-4 hours that you occupy on the streets, they even captured that moment when I was with wish and the 'vaahan' .. A few days later in an electronic media interview, the young stringer asked me how the walk was like .. well how does one expect it will be .. they already had it all recorded . and then came the 'howler' .. " we saw you making a silent wish in the ear of the mouse Sir " she opined, " what did you wish and say in the ear ?"

( 'really miss, what kind of question is that ? like I am going to tell you on national tv, what I wished in a temple .. ??? )

Ha ha ha !!!

I responded with the straightest face I could muster .. " I wished, that the lady that sits in front of me now be bestowed with better intelligence " !!!

Really !! It is perhaps the most ridiculous moment that I may have faced on tv interview ..

 

Leave you with that for the moment .. and head for bed, instead .. rhyming again !!! A poet in the family !!!!

 

Love to you and as ever my wishes for a good night ..

Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan …  twice .. for the one I deliberately missed last night … ha ha ha !!

Praise for Amitabh Bachchan's Ekla Chalo Re

Praise for Amitabh Bachchan's Ekla Chalo Re

Kolkata, Mar 13 (PTI) Amitabh Bachchan singing in his trademark baritone the famed Rabindrasangeet 'Ekla Chalo Re' for the film 'Kahaani' has drawn applause from Tagore exponents who are willing to pardon him for minor glitches of pronunciation. "He is not a Bengali and so his pronunciation will be different. But he has made an honest effort and given full respect to the song," veteran Rabindrasangeet singer Pramita Mallick, who also recorded the same song for an album earlier, told PTI here. Classical vocalist Indrani Sen, a Bachchan fan, says she has always loved the baritone of the megastar. "If you talk about pronunciation then even Asha Bhonsle has sung a number of Tagore songs where her accent wasn't perfect. But they were all hits and so is this song," said Sen about the song by Big B singing two verses, both in Bengali and Hindi with music by Vishal Shekhar. Singer-director Debashish Raychaudhuri said, "If you ask me for a critical appraisal then I will say that he could have worked on the pronunciation. But even then his voice has touched my heart." Young vocalist Manoj Murali Nair dubbed the 69-year-old actor's rendition as 'experimental'. "The song is experimental and can't be seen as a proper Tagore song. The song has come out well and in a very trendy way which will help the genre to find new listeners," he said. Describing the song as "truly awesome and worthy of all awards, Bachchan had said, "May I just say that singing Rabindrasangeet for the first time was the greatest revelation. The beauty of the language, the lyricism of the tune and its 'dhun' (music) are outstanding." The song, one of Mahatma Gandhi's favorites, was penned in 1905 by Tagore.

I live and exist with my soul .. a soul tormented by the memory of my Father

 Jalsa , Mumbai                Mar 12/13  , 2012        Tue/Wed  2 : 46 AM for 3 : 25 AM

I live and exist with my soul .. a soul tormented by the memory of my Father, his presence, his works, his words and his great mind .. they play in my ear now as I attempt at this early hour to speak to you, to express what must simply be an exasperated act for you and all the Ef .. but I would be dishonest if I did not share what now has become my alter … in more ways than one …

In todays time and space it may seem odd, weaving close to an eccentricity .. so be it .. but I compose and sing and listen with eyes shut and transpose to a situation where there is tranquility in solitude .. I shudder to share, to allow interference .. for, too long have I spent wasteful time in catering where service is shunned … where thought and care and understanding is taken as a given … what will the most talented and knowledged give opinion on this, when they are unaware of the depth of the emotion that rides parallel to my thought … I would feel diminished and vacant were it to occur so .. this moment must remain with me and me alone .. it is verily impossible to expect a meet of souls … there would be the possibility of an opinion that could be right in the eye of the righteous .. that look upon it from a distance .. that pay service of appreciation because it is righteous to do .. that is a compromise .. soul needs an aloofness,  no reverent compromise, unfettered attachment … this I obtain within, not without or with another, not because I would not entertain it … I would .. but the assurance needed is frightening .. once given out and not of consonance .. would devastate. That consonance would require immense sensibility, not necessarily of high degree – mine is not of that value – but one that would sink into the abyss with me … why would anyone be interested in that ??

Living and existing then with my soul … brings me to the beginning .. a beginning that really is truthfully, the end ..

Signing off with my name would for this instant seem ungainly and devoid of what is desired .. a blankness, a void, vacuumed and floating … perhaps to appear … perhaps not !!