In the days that I find myself in the

company of others, others that

know me, but not of me, I find
them often question me on my
mechanics or my theory or my
guile in facing accusation and
controversy. Why is it that there is
disbelief and doubt in the case of
Mr Bachchan, yet nothing and no
one, ever brings up questions to
others - others, that at times have
had bigger reason to be accused.
Many have looked upon it with
question and many others with
obvious glee. Many justify it and
many throw doubt.
doubt is the father of invention,
says Galileo; yet modest doubt is
called the beacon of the wise -
Shakespeare.
I cannot philosophize which one and
what is correct.
I look to the philosophy of the Vedas at
such times. If all possibilities may exist
without excluding each other, wherein
the universe is boundlessly various, then
the principles of order and chaos are not
what they may necessarily seem to us in
the daily rush of our lives.
Order and chaos, strength and weakness,
determination and uncertainty, success
and failure: only when the living are in
conflict with themselves, then can life
realise its full value.
These opposites must be constantly
revalued in questioning, for when, at
what singular point, does one ultimately
know what is order, what is chaos?
How often has a seeming weakness then
proved a strength, and vice versa?
How many of us have found that
determination has best flourished in the
fertile ground of uncertainty?
At what singular point in time can we
ever conclude what is really a success or
failure?
Can we ever have the answers to this ?
Chaos can be redeemed that we may not
fear it as a threat to life, for in Vedic
myth, order cannot solely determine the
ideal state: the act of creation must
necessitate the transformation of order
into chaos, so that we may re-
form chaos anew into new order again.
This is the essence of change in the
world. Meaning, action and consequence
can never be fixed: they must be
tirelessly recreated.
And so it has come to pass that failure
has been one of the most
surprising blessings of my life. If I had
not failed I would not have come to
know sage challenge in the fury of lived
events. They would not have been seared
into me for posterity; they would have
not guided me since as faithfully.
Perhaps it could be said that I have
endured through chronic reinvention,
that I conquered all odds to emerge
stronger with each passing day, but I
have only done so due to
some spectacular disasters.
In consequence, I have come to see
criticism, both from myself as much as
from others, as a
commensurate blessing. It has provoked
me to constantly reassess all that I do,
say and believe. To question. To inquire
further.
What with a life that bears such intense
scrutiny of the smallest decision, it has
made me come to truly understand
that we put our life into every act that
we do, however seemingly small or
inconsequential. And as an individual, I
have come to understand how small and
inconsequential I am alone.
See here, on our own, we are mere
fragments.
So it is, that chaos, weakness, uncertainty
and failure have given me blessing, for
without these, there would be no
provocation to thought, to questioning,
to inquiry.
Such provocation, it is the good life, one
based upon the perpetual labour of
critical reflection, for the unexamined
life is not worth living.
With my limited natural intellect, it has
only been the highest odds that have
brought me the way that I have
travelled.
Ultimately, the point of determination
is the infinitely lengthy path of self-
determination, that leads ever before,
always prior to a determined
destination, and ever after.
For at what singular point in ones life
would it ever be good and right to
determine conclusively? It is our
perpetual determination and perpetual
self-determining that exist at one and the
same moment, and neither can be fixed:
they must be tirelessly recreated.
But from what?
It is time to talk of how Arjuna in the
Mahabharatha felt before battle; his
horror of the suffering and death ahead
that brought doubt upon him. Stultified,
he questions whether it is right to be
concerned only with ones own duty to
promote a just cause, regardless of the
consequences. In the end, in the face of
all consequences, our moral self, our
soul, is only answerable to itself.
The souls duty, its dharma,
determines all. Our dharma is to the
awakening of enlightenment.
TS Eliot translates well for us Krishnas
admonishment:
And do not think of the fruit of action.
Fare forward
Not fare well,
But fare forward, voyagers.
There, that still point must be constantly
re-discovered and new-found, ever
looked for and after, each day anew.
That is the point. There is the destination.
This is my persistent faring.
Those of all the professional news
media, we have much in common.
No wonder we sometimes dont get on,
but then again, there it is
No matter what we do, even in the best
of conscience, we are bound to offend
someone, often each other.
And so we should: there are urgently
legitimate concerns of impartiality, a
healthy suspicion of unaccountable
power, the need for greater transparency
in the public realm these things must
be respectfully acknowledged by all of us
for the sake of the health of our
democracy, and we must endeavour to
actively pursue these concerns ourselves,
even when they challenge our own
position directly, and withouthospitality.
I press the issue: it is right for the public
to suspect me, as they should of all those
privileged with wide public voice,
particularly so when they
are not democratically elected.
I am not elected, at least not in an
institutionalised sense: hence I must be
held all the more accountable for it. I
accept such harsh scrutiny and embrace
its good cause.
I only asked the public to elect me once
to the Lok Sabha, a long time ago . And
many of you will know what a disaster
that one was. Nevertheless, I envy our
political representatives one thing: they
can choose to stand down, or, be voted
out of office for good.
I cannot seem to have either.
Private by nature that I am, and diffident
at that, I would prefer a quieter life, but it
has come to pass that this is not my
prescribed dharma, my souls duty.
And you out there, Leviathan, giant,
colossus media, you arent elected
either.
Your greatest defence of authority, is
also your greatest duty: it is the
untrammelled Liberty enjoyed in a
democracy in its manifold forms
freedom of speech; freedom of colloquy,
public association, demonstration;
freedom of private conscience. I have
come to understand that the power of a
vibrant civicculture and my identity as
a citizen in this democracy is
also my greatest defence.
Among you, I can speak freely, for you
will understand my meaning, fellow
voyagers.
I shall out myself, because it is timely:
my cause is apolitical - as I reiterate
endlessly - but in a particularway. The
human being is indelibly a political
animal, and so I am: my political
convictions run as deep as any. But how
Aristotle spoke of it, he has since often
been misunderstood. When he spoke of
the human being as a political animal,
he spoke with irony: he meant that
human beings can only awaken to
meaning as a collective. That is what
makes them human.
What I insist upon, again and again,
exhaustively and strenuously, is that my
convictions are forever unaffiliated to
any particular political party. I
support all democratic political
parties, for I believe that we must be
allowed to differ infinitely. I am for
reasoned disagreement, reasoned
argument, reasoned discussion, reasoned
persuasion; its inspired transformations.
When our differences are well-harnessed,
then we will be at our most dynamic and
creative: our most civilized selves. This
is fraternity. It is the trust of
friendship.
My party is civic culture. My party is
the differences within it. My party is
questioning and inquiry. My party is my
country. My party is the largest
argumentative democracy on earth. My
party is the common good of a querulous
humanity.
My political agenda is its flourishing, as
is it yours. I am for its true self-
determination. I am for its ever-unfolding
re-creation. I am for its perpetual
awakening. And I am ever vigilant in
it.
In the private realm as much as
the public, I am one and the same. I
follow this ideal.
I believe that we can only truly find
ourselves, our dharma, the duty of our
souls, our path to enlightenment, as a
collective. I believe that we can only
perpetually renew its self-determinations
as a collective. I believe that this voyage
is the very thing that determines the
nature and course of our collective. I
believe that the overcoming that such
determination brings can thus only be
understood collectively. I cant do it on
my own.
Singular and fragmented, we are
lost; that we are brought together at our
best to inspire each other to our best
selves, this constant return to my fellow
human beings is the very source of my
awakening, strength, courage, endurance,
path.
My determination is with you, against
all the odds.
The strength I have to emerge stronger is
with you, against all the odds.
And so it is that I must return to you in
all causes. So it is that I return to you for
questioning and debate. To seek, to
understand, to revalue and assess. To
question and be questioned. And so it is
that you do and must.
Which is why we are who we are - an
integrated collective of minds, intelligent
and obtuse, sincere and critical, caring
and stubborn. But always, always in the
spirit of collective thought.
Our existence in fragmentation is a lost
cause. Our fragments must become a
whole. One whole is one strength. One
strength is sufficient to be our perennial
defense.
The strength of that defense is all that is
required to face off opposition. When I
have this on my side, do I really need
explanation ? My dharma is my
conscience in its purity. All else needs to
be finding suitable space in obscurity.
For long there have been questions to
explain and give comment on a host of
occurrences. But they all come from
sources that do not possess that basic
qualification of authority.
By what authority do they question ?
Who gave it to them ?
Why and how can they exercise authority
when they are not authority themselves ?
In a democracy, how has one institution
been given this self appointed position to
question ?
Space time and unscheduled curriculum
give me reason to contemplate and to
quote from the speech at Langkawi on
Determination.
Who would ever imagine that this is what
goes through the mind as you wait to
board a flight for Colombo, my next
destination - the official press conference
for IIFA for the year 2010 !!
Does imagination and thought have any
relevance past midnight ??
Amitabh Bachchan
Posted in: Others
DAY 727(i)

Posted on: April 19, 2010 - 1:55 am
Comments: 348
Prateeksha, Mumbai
April 18, 2010 Sun/Mon 1
: 25 AM
Back in the ranch and home after a
smooth and comfortable 5 hrs ! Its a
strange feeling as you fly over to
another country. Once the home
borders disappear in the vast speed
of the aircraft you tend to detach
yourself from what has been with
you till now and is there no more.
Similarly when you return, the
moment the aircraft flies in over
Indian territory a strange sense of
security builds up - home, my land ,
my country !! Coming in from KL
through the Straits and then large
expanses of the Bay of Bengal on to
Chennai and onward to Mumbai, the
moment you touch the Tamilnadu
boundary and cross over into Indian
terrain, a sense of safety sets in.
You are still a good hour and 45 mins
to Mumbai, but its still safe that
comes into the mind. Just an
observation. Nothing special or
pertinent to any coming events. But
just an experience which I have
been wanting to share.
And yes Beera ke dus maathe
is indeed getting quite an
appreciation from the net at least.
Thats the song words from AbhiAsh
film Ravana. Audio release on 24th
here in Mumbai.
O ! dear the need for oxygen
increases and the yawns spread
across my face and consume more
space than what my face can stretch
to.
Tomorrow night, overnight to
SriLanka and Colombo and back the
same night, after spending an entire
day, with the familia extendum.
Airports are strange places. KLIA is
no different from any airport where
the staff would immediately
recognize any celebrity, except a
few exceptions. They mob and ask
for pictures and stuff I oblige it
makes them happy. Nothing quite so
admirable as this looming scenario.
There are many in Malaysia that are
exposed to the pains of our films and
so, apart from the expatriate there
are the locals who love and admire
Hindi Cinema, and it is to them that
we make ourselves available when
required. They seem to be obsessed
with our cinema and with our
artists. One today, uniformed and
medalled, walked past me in the
crowded duty free, turned back
after expressing some recognition
and smiled - hello .. Mr ShahRukh
Khan
I am still debating in my head
whether I should take this as a
compliment or not. For the official
to find absolute dedication in his
name giving, sends me a healthy
feeling. I shall remain with it before
our electronic medium takes this
over and builds it into a storm.
Another rather expansive yawn !!
Almost thought I would never be
able to close my mouth, the way it
just kept opening wider and wider.
So along then dearies and
the dearas and your little deary
deara. My little thin deary
companion, the pillow awaits in
silence. Let us give in to them.
Good night, good landing and good
care -
Amitabh Bachchan