Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Amitabh Bachchan speaks for Aishwarya Rai Bachchan!

Amitabh Bachchan speaks for Aishwarya Rai Bachchan!

Amitabh Bachchan today announced to the twitter world that the twitter ID aishwarya_rai is a fake one and informed people that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan does not have a twitter ID. 

Everybody wants to hear it from Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. But, ever since news about her pregnancy became public, Aishwarya Rai has kept a low profile. 

However, somebody recently made a fake Id in her name – aishwarya_rai. Speaking about the ID, Amitabh Bachchan tweeted, "Just came across an ID : aishwarya_rai ... this is a fake, it is not Aishwarya's, she is not on twitter at all .. 

Alright a legitimate reason for all Ef to revolt in anguish and concern, or even dare to threaten the DHR

Jalsa , Mumbai        Mar 19/20 ,  2012             Mon/Tue   2 : 43 AM

 
" I'm late, I'm late for a most important date … " wasn't there a song of this nature ? Tried singing it just now as I sat down me weary bones to post. But I can sense a repulsion to the late hours, date be damned .. Alright a legitimate reason for all Ef to revolt in anguish and concern, or even dare to threaten the DHR … but the outcome of a late evening is the joy of spending time with song and music manufacturing at a recording studio near by and forgetting oneself it its depths and joys and pleasures ..

I was wondering on Twitter which way should a string instrument be played if one was both lefty and a righty .. I had strung up a sitar once some years ago and would spend hours with it without any training, to play it. That desire comes back again. Paucity of time in these years of being busy has deprived me of those simple pleasures of spending time with instrument, and inventing on own terms the learning of it .. pulling in a teacher at this late age would be ridiculed, so I refrain and opt for those moments to be free of such encumbrances and need now the time which I have in plenty to tinker around with a Sitar and a Sarod .. !! Okaaay ! Stop those snide giggles, I really mean to do that .. just for my own pleasure … surely I should be given such privilege .. Its either the rocking chair, or this. I would I think prefer 'this' …

So the dilemma really is whether i should work on these string instruments as a lefty or as a righty. When I was earlier tinkering around with the Sitar, it was in normal position … that of a righty … but now I feel maybe I should try the other way .. it could make all the difference … like suddenly I would convert myself into this wizard maestro, giving formal public recitals .. ha ! the joy of wishful dreams ..

If I do opt for the lefty stance they would have to make a special one for me and that would take some time  … impatient to get going immediately, I guess I would get one immediately and start off in the normal position and then when the right one arrives which is supposed to played left, I shall change over. I believe ambidextrous humans have constant brain disorders … I mean the change over outside is quicker than perhaps what the brain needs to adjust with in the same speed inside … I guess .. I am not sure .. brains are complicated machinery … is there not that theory of which ear one holds the mobile to … apparently lefties have their brains on the right side of the head and vice versa, so holding mobile, which does emit reasonable amounts of radioactivity, damaging for all of us, on the left ear is safer than the right ear .. I hold mine on the left ear, which if my brains are on the right side of the head, is the right way to hold it ..

Too many lefts and rights, don't you think .. lets leave it at that ..

Good night and love to all … safer .. many ask for it individually, which would be an arduous task ..

Amitabh Bachchan

I just wish though that the Indian commentators would be a little more glorious

Jalsa , Mumbai               Mar  18/19 , 2012               Sun/Mon 1 : 28 AM

  

Late again .. DHR did not mind .. was watching replay highlights of the cricket India vs Pakistan .. always a show stopper .. did not see the live broadcast .. India lose often when I do … so ..

Magnificent play by all our team .. Virat Kohli scores 183, and is fast becoming the darling of the country .. just 23 years and playing like a dream … inspiring and so committed .. a great example for the youngsters that watch him and aspire to be playing for the country. I just wish though that the Indian commentators would be a little more glorious in praise for our achievers. I hear some of the other commentators from other countries, and when their team plays, they concentrate more on them than the other, even though they are meant to be neutral. They are not entirely biased, but you get a sense that they are more interested in their boys and their play rather than the victory of ours. Even when their team loses, they make it sound as though they won – just a slight slip and they would have been victorious ! Is really their point of view .. I mean Virat will be hitting the ball to the boundary in succession, but the commentator of the opposing team will be almost talking to the player on the field that that is not where they should be bowling and that the field placement is wrong. Not a word about the brilliance of the shot played by Virat …

The art of commentating needs very deft handling. I feel its not enough that you are an expert of the game. But because your comments are going to the universe they need to diplomatically enhance the mood of the audience that listens to them too. Especially when the country you represent is playing. Our masses need to be carried along too. Keep their hopes and spirits high, and maybe, just maybe, the collective positivity that is exuded by the commentator and the millions that hear him, could all reach out to the players on the field. A packed stadium cheering for the team works wonders at times, and I believe so can this medium of comment …

A collective slogan screaming from 50,000 voices could move a mountain .. but we need that slogan. A song maybe, sung by all in the same voice … music and drums and noise that identifies India .. flags, banners what ever ..

When you see the soccer for example, and see the enthusiasm with which the crowds backing a particular team cheer for theirs, its a revelation .. its a different world altogether .. can we not strive to build that in the games where our boys and girls play. I saw PT Usha the 400 meter athlete at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1982, win the first position in the most important Heat for her event. In the final she lost by a whisker in winning a medal, by coming 4th. I am almost certain had she the strength of a mass of Indians cheering for her it may have inspired her just that little to do better. On the day when she ran her Heat, a friend and I were the only two Indians in that vast Coliseum, screaming our lungs out through some very puzzled looking spectators. Another 100 more would have done the trick for her. I see at such events, especially the jumps and track events, the contestants asking through hand gestures from their countrymen in the stadium to clap and cheer for them to raise his or her adrenalin before they start off ..

It works for public figures too. A large boisterous crowd is a boon for us at an event or at a public meeting. Suddenly the tired legs spring to life, the voice becomes strong and confident. I experience it every Sunday, as I did today through the 28 years of its existence …makes one feel wanted and loved … nothing more important for a public figure than this .. watch ….

 

 

 

And as I conclude music again to put the day to an end .. a beautiful charming folk constructed by that duo of Amaan and Ayaan Ali, sons of the Sarod maestro, Amjad Ali Khan and a group of sufi singing 'qawwals'. The Sarod the most loved instrument by me .. sonorous and subtle … an instrument of the nature of the Sitar, but more difficult to play, because it does not have 'frets' unlike the guitar or the Sitar, so one has to practice for years to hit the correct note without any assistance. And Amjad, not from the films, a dear family friend and both Amaan and Ayaan growing up as little kids in front of our eyes, and great friends of Abhishek and Shweta and the family. Ayaan the younger one now married to Nima, Billu Sharma's daughter. Billu, Romesh Sharma close family friend, producer of 'Hum'.

( Some of the greatest Indian classical events have been the 'jugal bandi', or dual players – Pt Ravi Shankar on Sitar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan on the Sarod, and the great 'tabla' player Allah Rakha, father of present time great Zakir Hussain, in a combined concert .. ah !! pure music magic .. unbelievable moments .. leaving you in absolute ecstasy for hours and hours till the morning light appears, having started playing late into the night, in an open auditorium. What one not give to see them recreate that magic … alas now only on film or record !! They shall never make the likes of them anymore … Ustad Allauddin Khan the great maestro and the guru who taught Ravi Shankar the Sitar and Ali Akbar Khan the Sarod, was Ali Akbar Khan's father .. Ravi Shankar married Allauddin Khan's daughter and sister to Ali Akbar Khan )

'Bahut din beete, piya ko dekhe .. ' many days have passed without seeing my beloved …

Repeatedly been listening to this throughout the day, from their, Amaan and Ayaan's latest album, RANG, Colors of Sufism .. it has the smell of the earth of Uttar Pradesh and my hometown Allahabad .. simple, endearing and almost going into a trance of the atmosphere of the times … could spend the entire night just with this .. but it is past the hour of 3 am .. !!

Wide awake and willing to continue with this music the entire night ….

Amitabh Bachchan 

Who ever constructed the ‘Happy Birthday’ song, had great foresight and vision

 Jalsa , Mumbai                    Mar  17 ,  2012                           Sat  10:24 PM

  

A day full of flowers around the house, colored, strong smells and in huge large bouquets … greetings for the birthday girl, Shweta … a quiet birthday just with family, but full of warmth and love and the little things that go to make a young lady happy …

Tomorrow its her husbands birthday … Nikhil turns the same age ..

Who ever constructed the 'Happy Birthday' song, had great foresight and vision. Or did he /she not ? Did they ever imagine that it would be sung in every corner of the globe each minute … and now I believe, there is a copyright on it, so when it is played publicly they pay IPR, or whatever it is that constitutes the regulations of payment for copyright.

And was it a confectionery that devised the concept of the cake and the candle on that wishful day. The number of candles signifying the years, the burning of them, the blowing away and the wishes, the cutting and the feeding … nowadays I see a very ugly side to it, where they smear the cake icing and all on the birthday candidates face .. so unbecoming and so messy … just not a very pleasant sight to see or to perform … birthday bumps it used to be .. now its this other facial routine. The posterior pain was better !!

Who started these practices ? And how have they defied time and distance and location to live on for decades .. !! My Father in defiance of this practice, perhaps influenced by the struggle for independence during the Raj, wrote his own birthday song, which on occasion we often sing ..

Varsh Nav, Harsh Nav … jeevan utkarsh nav …

I think my parents both Mother and Father sang it for the first time in Allahabad for Pt Jawaharlal Nehru's birthday ! I think .. I need to look it up and confirm … it has stayed with us and whenever possible is played out .. I do like it immensely … and instead of the cake , the 'khoya' .. I do not have an English convertible for it, but has condensed milk and heaps of sugar and is incredibly delicious .. the candles have been replaced by a single 'diya' and that is all the auspiciousness that gets associated with birthdays … this and the temple for blessings of the Almighty and the feet touching of the elders for theirs …

Todays generation sends emails and musical greeting cards and sms and mms and God knows what else to express birthday wishes .. oh yes and on the mobile too, jamming it to numbers in my case at least beyond 1500 at times… so that it takes almost a year .. perhaps till the next birthday to respond to it .. !!!

As kids we looked forward to birthdays, because of the gifts … even if it came in the shape of a new pencil !! You slept with it under your pillow for days, not wanting to lose its new look … kept the wrappings and the ribbons .. some still do .. for years inside folded pages of books … opening up at times just to remember the moment …

Ah ! the innocence of youth and the beauty of devotion and love … such wondrous thought and feel as you go back to those memories ..

Hey ! do I bring up the topic of memory often these days ? They say it signifies aging and perhaps, 'nirvana' around the corner … better stop then ..

Time to be spent with the kids now and in solitude with them for a few days .. alone …

Love to all and my sincere thank you's for all the wishes that you sent for Shweta .. I did attempt an entire brigade of yellow today, but did not cater to all … my regrets .. but I do live in your thoughts and your words .. Thank you ..

 

Amitabh Bachchan