If possible refrain explosion. But if it travels beyond tolerance and limit

If possible refrain explosion. But if it travels beyond tolerance and limit

Jalsa , Mumbai    Oct  29/30,  2011        Sat/Sun  12 : 28 AM

 If possible refrain explosion. But if it travels beyond tolerance and limit, explode and explode full in intensity ! Do not smoke, smoking is harmful, but if you do then smoke the best. Drink if you must, but if you can afford it drink the finest.

I do not smoke, do not drink, do not eat meat, do not take Indian sweets, no cake, no pastries, no toffees, no paan bahar or paan, no coffee no tea no cola, no ice cream. Nothing religious or health related. Just …

Not testing will power either, nor wanting to prove any point. I just do it and none shall behold the reason for such. Perhaps as I grow older and the memory cells begin to spin out, I may need to put it down somewhere for posterity. I may need to put down a lot for posterity, though I am not certain if I shall – many of the experiences which to me seem indifferent and uninteresting, are enjoyed by others. I could consider doing things for others, but there may be reservations in that too. But why should it be disclosed. Why the reasons behind all that is unknown. Why ??

I suppose many coerce me to put it all down officially. A book, an autobiography. Hah !! That would be such an audacity on my part. I love the reading of others tales, their lives and how they lived it. To even suggest that others would have similar interest in mine would quite obviously be a great travesty of my modesty. Or would you rather state it as ‘immodesty’. They both sound equally, as though they know what I am meant to mean. I make comedy of my expressions ! There is hidden mirth in there. A desire to be smart and in possession of a seemingly intelligent action ! Ho Ho Ho !! Laughter overcomes my intellect. Really ? Intellect did I say ? Whoever said that or thought it so, must be one deprived of any sensibility ! But sensibilities seldom attack writers of the dis eminence of ‘yours truly’. Ah !! well ! we shall await final judgement on that perhaps later after the responses fly in. Do justice to it, please .. I implore !!

I am but smitten with the intellect of those that profess they have none. I am beholden to those that come across me and give me more than I can ever educate myself with. I am but a name that became of importance on the results of another’s making. My own is of limitations. I portray that, which others believe should be portrayed, in a manner which they discover and invent. I never manufacture, never invent. I follow invention. My craft has been tutored to follow, and follow to the best of ability. That is it !

I write and speak yes, but of what I believe and feel. It is not historic or of any value. I speak officially to a mass, but not with intent of speaking, but to perform. To perform a duty, or at most an obligation. But if that shall be taken as literature, or aesthetic writing, then they that do so are the foolish of highest orders. They make themselves unaware of fact from fiction. They suppose. I oppose. I desist. They insist !!

But I shall be victorious if there was to be battle. Not because of any personal strength, but because of my insistence to be away from any participation. When you participate, you commit, you open flanks ! That is where all the truth shall prevail. For that is not written for you, enacted for you, deliberated for you. That is that traveller in the lost deserts of the wild and vicious Sahara – without food, shelter, water or shade and no oasis …

Accolades come and go. That is their nature. But accusations persist once they begin. Accusations have a life larger and better groomed than accolades. Accusations are flowery in word and at times in deed, if correct. They bring the varied colors of the ill will and unsubstantiated falsehood. They have the ability to be meatier and perhaps of better taste. They live longer, add tributaries to themselves without asking. They seemingly flow with the rush of the stream that claims to be of some distinct purity. They shine and shower themselves with the cleanliness of time.

Truth, if ever spoken or deposited, would be insipid and uneventful. Tasteless and morose, without any reflective glory of showmanship. It would be it and that is it ! Dull quiet and almost soundless ! The cacophony of the untruth is so wild and full of decibels that these gentle little tinkles of the bell will hardly ever be heard. Which is why truth sits silent. Almost in despair, but most valid and secure in appearance.

I will not justify. I will not cringe on the untruth. But I shall set fire to it within and I shall hope that its flames overwhelm me, pour out above innocent countenance and be seen as a burning flame in its blue flamboyant glow, even in the hours of the dark …

Those that dare to come within it shall duly burn and be vanquished … those that do not, shall ever enjoy the glow from distance. It shall be as pretty as ever. Burning yes, but not inviting in its beauty, but almost threat like spread invitation to come closer and learn that the glowing beauty has the requisite qualities to commit you to ashes … forever !!

Amitabh Bachchan

Greetings for Bhai Dooj the festival and ritual for the bonds that exist between a brother and sister

Jalsa , Mumbai    Oct  28,  2011       Fri  11 : 21 PM            

Greetings for Bhai Dooj .. the festival and ritual for the bonds that exist between a brother and sister ! The sister asking for protection and the brother willingly promising her his immense love in doing so. Presents are exchanged, greetings and prayers are conducted and sweets are fed to each other. Raksha Bandhan in reverse almost. On rakhi the sister tying that sacred thread on the brothers wrist, the brother gifting not just his love and protection but also giving the sister a token gift of that enduring affection. On bhai dooj,similar sentiment but now the sister gives a gift of her affection and love to the brother !

So strong and valuable our sentiments for the conduct of our family system. The togetherness, reliance and sense of being one and remaining so. A culture advanced in its thought and execution, when other cultures encourage separation and drift apart !

The lights at all the premises remain lit in all their glory even though Goddess Laxmi’s day has gone by. But stray sounds of the fire crackers still abound, the lights remain in all their glory brightening up the houses and corridors of residences … just in case …

Mazal and her niece from Israel and the ever helpful Nandita drop by in the evening and some time is spent talking of so many topics from India to Israel to films to children to everything under the sun. A call to Valorie in the US is undertaken too. The connection of this Ef world grows with such grace. Did we ever imagine that it would become so ? Not by me ! But … I have noticed that many of the Ef have taken such great initiative in pursuing a path that has built a world of wonderful feelings that in today’s times of grief and turmoil, seems heaven sent. Its been a world of its own almost, where each member has taken that extra step in restoring faith and goodness among all irrespective of distance, country and circumstance. Help to each other has become such a spontaneous realm. Strangers in the city have been converted to family guests purely because they belong to our extensions ! This is an amazing story and one that fills my heart with great joy and fulfillment … Thank you all for your most voluntary hand, extended in friendship.

The time for rest is over, the time for work begins again and the time taken in getting through all the letters and gifts and wishes for the birthday and the festival have all been taken care of. Soon individual acknowledgements shall be at your doorstep. Such a relief to have gone through all of it personally and not allowed it to be treated by staff assistance.

There is a great sense of completion when one indulges in this practice of the personal. A typed response is perhaps the routine but now and then the hand written note does add that something special to the communication. And in this day and age when we are getting more proficient at typing our own perfect font of speech, it is a delight to find that the written word is a world and class apart. Pens and writing material still occupy a major space on my desk … and in numbers too. There is a great romanticism about the process of filling a personal favorite pen with ink. The mechanics of the operation, the filling up of the compartment, the tissue wiped nib and body to rid it of extraneous left over and finally the joy of the flow from it when put to paper !

The invention of the pen and writing instrument, the ink, the paper that it shall finally adorn, all have been perhaps one of the finest inventions since the wheel ! We may eventually move into a space where we would be getting rid of all that has been mentioned before, but for me as I am sure for many the pen and its ink shall remain in their iconic importance.

The battery on the lap top measures a close red. The clock above speeds past the hour of rest. And the early call tomorrow beckons …

as does the final greeting before the end ..

my love to all

Amitabh Bachchan 

APOLOGIES !! APOLOGIES !! AND HUGE AMOUNT OF REGRETS AND SORRY’S !!

Prateeksha , Mumbai      Oct  27,  2011         Thu  12 : 30 PM

APOLOGIES !! APOLOGIES  !! AND HUGE AMOUNT OF REGRETS AND SORRY’S !!

My act last night on the blog was just sooooo embarassing ! My desire and my penchant to not connect every single day of my life with my dear and loved Ef, provokes and pushes me each day to write .. but last night Diwali finished very late .. indeed it was still on when I sneaked up to write to you and simple passed out due to lack of sleep ! What reads on the blog is just some incoherent and completely irreverent and irrelevant nonsense. This what I write now is to compensate and replace the error .. do forgive me !!

I will not change the mistake though ! I shall not erase the Blog of last night ! May it remain as a reminder of my folly. I am human after all and prone to many such.

Diwali is always an open house. People come without any formal invitation, it is a custom that we explore for all our festivals. Festivities are for the coming together of like minded friends and well wishers, and last night we came to know how gracious our friends and guests are. Many came, many for the first time and I would like to believe that they spent time with us in the spirit of camaraderie and celebration for a festival that encourages brotherhood, friendship, prosperity and well being for all.

Jaya, as always the initiator of such events, decorated the place in her most artistic and inimitable style. The house looked wonderful. As it did at the time of the ‘godh bharai’ for Aishwarya ! Traditional decorations are a weakness for me. I simply love the ‘mogra’ flowers, the ‘bela’ and the lamps and lights in the live diyas, unlike the artificial ones often used these days. At a function recently the traditional lamp lighting ceremony before the start did not have the oil and wick diyas. They were replicas of them wired to an electric current !! Looked odd, but there you are ! However .. later, the management told us that any live flames are banned now in auditoriums, especially in the one where we were, as a fire hazard – the venue having been gutted as a result of a fire not too long ago. Understandable and correct too !!

So another Diwali goes by. Another New year as per the Hindu calendar begins. The prayers and the religious pious remembrance towards the book of accounts, the matters that deal with money, the safe the registers that deal with invoices and all matters concerning finance are all brought out in front of the Goddess Laxmi, the goddess of wealth and Her blessings sought for prosperity ! Much like during the day of Dussehra when evil is destroyed by the killing of Ravana by Ram, all the weaponry, the guns and swords that are personal acquisitions are brought out in prayer and blessed by the deities. These are all old and time tested and most traditional rituals through the ages and centuries of our existence, and we happily maintain them.

” One must never be too far away from tradition ”

And as the days pass by we come closer to the ending of another season of KBC. A few more episodes, another eight I believe and then its over ! There is a sense of leaving ‘home’ almost as one approaches the end. It has been one of the most enlightening and emotional seasons of my association with this format of television. The contestants their lives and their stories have been such an eye opener to not just me but to all that have witnessed their outpourings as they battle with their intelligence and wits to overcome the odds that they have faced for generations. And to see them exult and celebrate their unbelievable earnings within hours, gives to us a great sense of fulfillment for them. They have come from backgrounds that would never have given them opportunity to earn in a hundred years what they achieve, and to learn and know that this moment of theirs shall change their very existence perhaps forever, through generations, is truly such a satisfying experience. It has been their accumen and skill that has been responsible for their change in their fate as it were. The opportunity given was ours, but the skill was theirs. Given opportunity even the most deprived can prove to the world that they are in no way lesser or weak. They possess all that is required to do better in life and they prove it time and again at the Hot Seat of KBC !! My salutations and respects to them all …

It is another day of rest today. To recover, to dwell in all that the past year brought with it and to prepare for the next. Life has this uncanny wheel of time that never stops and never allows us to get off it. And so we shall ride it with pride and effort and perseverance and all its odds, for, that is what we have been brought in to this world for. We are all special and all different and all without doubt, someone with qualities that others do not possess. It is our duty therefore to be content with it and to nurture it with all the effort within us to further its cause. The cause of bringing to all around us, happiness and peace and well being ..

A most prosperous New Year to all and may you be ever blessed by the forces that guide us ..

My love … and once again in ending, my apologies for last nights’ blog ..

Amitabh Bachchan