The desire and the power of youth is a miracle of nature

Jalsa, Mumbai          Aug  13/14,  2013                Tue/Wed  2 : 31 AM

The desire and the power of youth is a miracle of nature. The will, the determination and the confidence of wanting to get and do something is simply unfathomed. As you look back at those days, or the days and acts of the youth of today one wonders at the acumen that they displayed, the strength of their conviction and the accomplishment that they so achieved. There was an air of carefree disdain, almost harbouring on arrogance. But no .. it was never arrogance, it was what youth brings with it - the confidence of achievement.

What a glorious chapter it is in all our lives. And as we look back on it, we are at times ourselves taken aback by its atrociousness. We wish and wonder when those times shall return, knowing fully well that they never shall, but just its remembrance fills us with an energy that provokes us to match to excel what we did then, and do it better … 

Some that reconcile with time, as must they should, find life to be complacent quiet, silent and peaceful in their everyday environs - a walk in the park with fellow team, that game of golf early in the morning with their decided group and later a quiet drink in the restaurant discussing the strokes and the bets that they concluded, the proverbial rocking chair with book or pet, or in some with their grandchildren, teaching them the tricks of the trade, the whys and wherefores of the world, tips that they shall cherish all their lives, meeting old friends and spending evenings recounting the events of days gone by …

It is a natural phenomena to be in such state .. there is repetition in all that is done, there is routine, which if broken by a mere nano second, has the capacity to ruin the mental set up of the elder … they need that … they function so, and that needs to be acknowledged and respected …

Most importantly however, it has been noticed that solitude is a craving at this stage and age .. I have always wondered why ..

But for me … I am blessed … for I have the blessings and the constant connection with my extended family. When I need to talk, I talk. When I need to share I share, and when I need to be left alone, I am graciously left alone. This is an ideal situation, but not always adhered to. Many think it to be rude and disconnected, many demand a response and constantly … if there are several platforms to get in touch with me, each medium shall be bombarded with questions complaints requests … little realising that for the other this may be an immediate want, for me though it is something that I accept but find it difficult to pay attention to as immediately as demanded - there are other works to be attended to as well ..

A lapse i this results in all kinds of insinuations, harsh conjectures and livid accusations. That is not what I shall want or appreciate. I do not sit idle continuously in font of my phone or lap top waiting for the next request to come in .. I have other work and commitments of equal if not more important nature. That needs to be understood and conveyed in the manner of your communication. When you write back that ‘what is the matter with you, I have been writing so much and there is no reply ?’ or ’ i am really upset that you treat me in an alien fashion “, it further confirms to me your complete disregard of my circumstances. If you are unable to reckon with this as a dedicated Ef, what can I say in response. It builds in me a barrier, artificially though, of one that does not put himself or herself in my shoes ..

I am most appreciative of the connect. But I cannot physically attend to its immediacy .. in time I shall … but in time .. !! Which if I may say with a certain degree of praise, is more than what most others do. Hired staff and team that take care of running a site and its responses is a method, but not my method.

There is accusation of a bias and deliberate favouritism. Wrong ! There is balance and equality to the best of my acumen … and that is how it shall remain ..

The drowsy drugs keep me horizontal for hours without knowing. Timings are at an absurd level .. the stride is wonky to say the least and the speech, matter of fact and neighbouring on extreme tiredness …. BUT .. my connect is unshakable .. and shall ever be so ..

Love and a drowsy Good night to all …

Amitabh Bachchan

My Mother’s birthday today greetings from all in varied form

Jalsa, Mumbai               Aug 12/13,  2013                Mon/Tue  1 : 55 AM

My Mother’s birthday today .. greetings from all in varied form .. some near and dear, those that spent much time with her, knew her well, her habits her nature. Feels good to know of them and their feelings ! My Mother if alive would have heard them out, invited them over for a chat, fed them, taken them out for a drive, to a coffee shop … any where, and remained a close friend ever .. I have not imbed that spirit … I wish I could … this platform is the closest that I have gotten to it .. its lovely, endearing … but with her around I know it would have been better … she knew the knack of .. perhaps knack is a wrong word , it is too harsh .. she knew the value of a friend and the extension of a hand towards it ..

An entire group of labor worked in the most oppressive heat of Allahabad, carrying our belongings to another house when we changed residence, by those hand carts, which is all we could afford at the time, sweat and the heat taxing them and their work load … but when they did reach their destination, she didn’t get down to unpacking and placing the stuff in the home - a natural for any house wife - instead, the first thing she did was to get some of the home staff to go and buy dozens of lime, blocks of ice, buckets of water and personally made lime juice for those that had worked so hard, the entire day, spending individual time with them to see that they had rested and been fed well .. it was her way of saying thank you to the most oppressive work they had done …

The servants in the house became her friends, never the lesser work force that helped in the home ..

If there was music heard in any corner of the home, she was the first to start up an impromptu dance, in which ever room she was … her spirit was impossible to defeat or fathom. Out of School, she would insist on taking me to a coffee restaurant which played music and get up and ask me to dance with her, ballroom fashion, on the dance floor … much to my embarrassment !

The chat and sweet meat shops in and around where she moved, in Allahabad, in Delhi, in Mumbai were her buddies .. all of those old timers still remember her and when I meet some of them once in a year or something, they talk with such candor and love for her and her spirit, they miss her presence … this is not normal. They still send the latest sweets or packets of their products to the house in her remembrance. Such was her association.

A dear and close friend of the family that remembered her wrote to me and descrbed in the most apt words .. ‘she was such a star’ she said ..

Yes … she was such a star. She would walk into a public place and own it in one glance. She exuded energy of a different kind. We are still to learn from it. Her fight for all things that came with difficulty were a lesson in life .. she was tigress protecting her cubs when it came to her children and family. No one could get passed her in such condition. She was capable of changing faith if it was desired for her children.

I had often wondered where all this came from, until I read a close explanation of it in my Father’s biography. She had lost her Mother at birth. She never knew or experienced what a Mother’s love was and meant. Her interpretation of life then, was what she believed, all Mother’s to be.

And what Mother she became … and what she interpreted all Mother’s to be !

I am blessed to have had her with me … and my guilt today is that I never went to meet her at Prateeksha this morning … but I know if she were to be alive, she would have understood the circumstance even before I were to express it.

She was the Mother of that famous tale often told to us :

A son out of some dispute and difference fought with his Mother, and one day killed her. Her heart dislodged from her body and felled, lay on the ground. The act over the son walked out of the room, and almost tripped on her heart lying on the floor ..

The heart spoke up even as the son controlled his balance … it was the Mother’s voice and she said, after her son had tripped and almost fallen :

'I hope you didn't get hurt, son !! '

Good night 

Amitabh Bachchan

A wedding dressed gentleman

Jalsa, Mumbai          Aug 11/12,  2013                Sun/Mon  2 : 44 AM

They come in their hundreds, stay for long hours at the gates and patiently wait for those few minutes when I come out and greet them. They are special. They are special too that belong to the Ef - Siddharth, his brother, Jayshree and others whom I spot in the crowd but cannot meet them… they leave gifts .. I am humbled and honoured … thank you … but you make it very difficult for me to repay you for it ..

It has become a schedule for me … sundays ! I wait for the indication from the security, I dress up for the moment .. a track or a shawl or just some pathanis .. it is fast becoming an issue … 

That is the problem with the one billion cameras that abound each time you step out of the house .. magazines now have special sections on what and who was seen where, what they were wearing, from clothes to bags to shoes, to glares … everything is captured and commented upon ..

'Look, he was wearing the same shoe, or the dress of particular lady was the same with another, why is he wearing this expression, and on and on and on …

So … there is an attempt now, to be conscious of what and how you shall be presenting yourself, each moment of the day … and may I say with utmost humility that the number of changes required, so there is no adverse comment in press, is fast running out … its getting expensive to be seen in public these days ..

Like last night, getting into and coming out of Shahrukh’s house for his Eid party, was as time consuming as the amount of time spent in side with him. The paparazzi just storms the car and blocks the path, making it extremely difficult to move … this is complicated further with a million flash lights that strike your face by the photographers … 

Ever tried driving a car with such encumbrances … try it .. and then ask for the results of the pictures … they all come out like we’ve seen an unidentified alien out of space !! Further … the pictures are sold to various magazines and network sites, who on taking one look at the picture, not understanding the circumstances they were taken in, shall carry a by line at the bottom of it when printed in their prestigious media, trying a clever verbology describing the moment without any inkling of what went on when it was being taken ..

But all is not bad continuously .. a private friend’s marriage celebration or an engagement as did happen later this evening was devoid of the rush and clamour of the, camera division … resulting in staid relaxed visuals ..

….. like my ‘progress report’ .. Shweta and Abhishek …

… a wedding dressed gentleman ..

….a swinging son Abhishek on the dance floor … and ..

childhood closest buddies Karan and Shweta … Karan looking much the star, after his recent return from Sri Lanka, where he was shooting for Anuraag Kashyap’s, Bombay Velvet, as an actor … if you please … !! 

Children are the pride of ours … how they suddenly grow up to be mature individuals, when they were such cute cuddly babies just the other day … !!

My love to all … 

Sholay 3D to release on Amitabh Bachchan's b'day?

Sholay 3D' to release on Amitabh Bachchan's b'day?

New Delhi: The 3D version of the 1975 Bollywood classic `Sholay` will release on megastar Amitabh Bachchan`s 71st birthday Oct 11, said a source.

The movie, famous for the bond of friendship between characters Jai and Veeru, essayed flawlessly by icons Amitabh and Dharmendra, is being revived in 3D.

"The date was specifically chosen as it coincides with Bachchan`s big day. He is the biggest star we have today and what better day to release the film," said a source in a statement.

Producer Jayantilal Gada will distribute `Sholay 3D`.

`Sholay`, directed by Ramesh Sippy, also featured Hema Malini, who played Basanti and Amjad Khan, who essayed villain Gabbar Singh.

IANS