41,000 ft in air flying passed Udaipur, closing in on Ahmedabad, on way to Mumbai
Dec 4/5, 2011 Sun/Mon 12 : 38 AM
I fly the skies for most of the country. A wedding in Uttar Pradesh, a small town, distant from the wonders of the metro city, but independent and proud of its selfless devotion to its people and its circumstances.
The reverence and respect that pours out is astonishing. Their culture and their upbringing, the ethos of generations along with its age old traditions, bind them with unshakeable resolve. Their belief and their trust once connected remains so. And that is what is so admirable.
The visit is short, but full of deep regard. There is appreciation of great intensity in their attitude and then before long, we are away from them. Flying off to the capital, New Delhi. The weather in the northern regions is brisk and cool. As you cruise along, parallel to the Himalayas in the distance, the white majesty of the entire range can been seen from the windows of the aircraft. They are miles away, but since the day is clear, the range seems close by.
The crowding around at the airport and the extent of the mobile cameras is noticed to be of greater volume. It is the immediate effect of the aftermath of KBC. Always happens with celebrities. A recent successful film release and the attitude changes from the polity. Failure brings an aloofness which is disturbing. But such is the life of us all in the profession of the creative world.
The early morning news of the sudden passing away of Dev Saheb, Dev Anand has brought about a huge vacuous sense. One never associated him with death, it was always about life every time you saw him. It takes a while for us all to contend with the loss and there is a silence after the initial shock that follows. How does one really view situations such as these. No answers and no comments. The entire day is filled by requests from the media for reactions. I have tweeted about it and since I am on a plane I ask them to use that for their reports. By the evening the channels are playing all his clips from the most memorable and remarkable contributions he made to the film industry, paying particular interest to his great love for music and the fantastic repertoire of his melodies in film after film.
He spoke with the speed of knots, he moved rapidly even when he was not supposed to. His defiance of his age was legendry. His verve and his intention to keep moving were so inspirational. His positivity about life and living were examples to be emulated. And now suddenly he was gone. It just does not identify.
His attitude and singular style in his performances, would get us out of our hostel beds in the middle of the night, jump the boundary walls of the college to the nearest film theatre repeatedly, just to witness the magic of his charm and energy. And on our way back we would sing along with his songs, his deliveries of dialogue and create this wonderful world he had structured for us to be remembered forever.
I had last met him recently when he personally invited me for the premiere of his film. He was frail and weak, but still dressed in his inimitable style, young and modern and the strength of his attitude still with the same gusto.
He signified something that was endless, a continuity which we all took as a given.
On hearing the news the immediate reaction was one of disbelief. Disbelief not at his passing away, but disbelief in the fact that there could ever be an end to him.
An era of the most illustrious period of the Indian Film Industry has been robbed of its most influential icon. And even writing these words seems so insufficient.
On twitter someone wrote a magnificent ode. Dev Anand died at age 88. No that is incorrect. He was not 88 years old. He was 4 times 22 years old !!
Meeting the young Agastya in Delhi soon after his annual day performance, which was why we detoured on our way back, was such a joy. Full of beans and full of the latest on technology and computers and apps and mobile phones. God bless him !
The undercarriage seems to have been released. An indication that we are about to land. I shall say my ‘night nights’ here for, when I get home I shall transfer from Word to WordPress and Post and …. Slumber.
Love to all and more much more …
Amitabh Bachchan
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