Posted on: January 3, 2009 - 12:38 am
Prateeksha, Mumbai January 2, 2009 11:59 pm
I go past the CST Station in toward Capitol Cinema and I cannot but think of the carnage that overtook this region not too far away. The audacity and the gall for such a worthless exercise. I am embarrassed to even talk about it..
But ‘Aladin’ and the shooting is in progress and I have been asked to come a little late. The clothes however do not at all suit the occasion of the film and after several trials and discussions, it is decided to get a fresh one. And the shooting can wait. Artists if uncomfortable will cause discomfort to the produce. So I wait and finally zero in on something personal that is rushed from distant places. It has taken an entire day and i have not been able to shoot. But time is made to rehearse for the song and that is always useful…
The Capitol Cinema interior looks transformed. It is colorful and bawdy as is the requirement for the song. There are bright and burgundy drapes and a bunch of attractive dancers, many that were with us from the ‘Unforgetable Tour’. Such a delight and a joy to be in their midst again.
I finish early, obviously, and drive back home with enthusiastic joy. There is no work to attend to en route in the car and I look around and out as I drive through. Strange, but there are several objects which had missed my attention. The development from mills to high rises, from narrow congested lanes to extensive and long fly overs - if they remain intact however.
Home has surprises. Shweta has come in with the children. They are still cuddly but growing at the rate of knots; mentally and physically. A most rewarding exercise. They excel in video-games. Shweta has ventured out into placing amicaby everything on the table so all can see it…
It is a revelation to see and observe these children of their Mother’s and Father’s. They will become the interest in the family till they are here. All decisions and work will focus and move around what Navya and Agastya want ! Some of their friends come in too. So independent and full of confidence. They should devise a potion to keep them that way. That age that temperament that innocence and gullibility, everything..
Akshay’s son Aarav and a few others play around. A little one keeps staring up at me, then comes close enough and hugs my legs - “Bhoothnath Uncle !!” she exclaims. Recognition at last !! The entire evening she clings on, making little drawings for me, involving me in conversation; not all of it relevant, but there all the same. Aarav is his father’s son. Live and active and full of daring-do. Up the cupboard, over the couch, down the corridor… and that mischievous smile never distant.
On the day of my Mother’s passing away, a year on a friend builds an atmosphere and writes in to me. I reproduce it for my family extended -
The winds of memory for her must still blow fierce, glints of myriad flashing instants of your mother like those dappled beams that dance in the shadows on the ground when the wind blows through a tree’s canopy above, the sound of rushing leaves about you and the dust unsettled where she moves. Absence, so near to its opposite, and yet so far, both just beyond catching the corner of one’s eye.
I like it enough to be able to share it with you. Don’t tell anyone.. Ha ! ha ! ha !
They keep coming in. My Father my Mother…
My love,
Amitabh Bachchan
