Amitabh Bachchan's Official Blog

DAY 1711

Jalsa, Mumbai Dec 22/23, 2012 Sat/Sun 12:52 AM

Nargis !! In all its beauty and its elusiveness ! Pretty and beautiful and calming and with the smell of a thousand different perfumes !! They are all over the house today, enlightening the presence of their exclusive nature, in each corner, on each table, on every bed side … simply the best there ever was …

At 7 in the morning I drove down to a dubbing theatre to record some words for a CD produced by that master of song and ‘sur’, Suresh Wadkar. He records an album of songs which really are verses of prominence by that great writer, poet, philosopher, Kabir.

धीरे धीरे रे मना , धीरे सब कुछ ह़ोय ,

माली सींचे सौ घड़ा , रितु आये फल होय I

slowly dear heart and mind, slowly doth everything work …

the gardener may pour a hundred buckets of water on the tree, but the fruits shall arrive, only at the time of its season …

गुरु गोबिंद दोउ खड़े , काके लागूं पाय

बलिहारी गुरु आपकी , जो गोबिंद दियो बताय I

my Guru and my Lord both stand before me, whose feet do I first touch …?

the greatness is in you my Guru, for you were the one that told me about the Lord … !!

There is not much known about his antecedents, except that he was brought up by a Muslim Mother around the 1600 - 1700 years and his works have found mention and relevance in the scriptures of the Hindus and Sikhs, and that he is equally revered by the Muslims too. A Sufi saint, born in Uttar Pradesh, the state in the northern part of the country…

His words and verses, that were teaching lessons for us as kids, remain with us forever. They showed us the path of reason and knowledge, and its relevance …

One of the most prominent reflections of being an Indian is the knowledge and learnings of Kabir … respectfully mentioned as KabirDas …

There is a move and intent to conduct a Peace Concert in Mumbai next month. Aadesh Shrivastava who leads this concept has composed a peace anthem, where he has used the import of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and some of our prominent singers too. In the anthem he has put in some of my singing as well, and hopes that we would be able to perform this live on the day … I shall reserve my comments for this, as far as I am concerned, but it is indeed a most noble cause. He shall conduct this in Mumbai at a large Stadium and hopes for a 50-60,000 attendance !!

There have been several discussions and meetings to replicate the recital of my Father’s poems, much like the one that many Ef attended at the Theatre du Champs-Élysée, in Paris, and to take a more sophisticated version, like the one performed at my 70th here on the 11th October, to other cities and parts of the world - Middle East, Europe, UK, USA ..

I wonder if this would meet with some acceptance. The event managers feel so. I think over it …

a full house in Jalsa .. the kids and the children and the ‘little one’ … my happiest moments

night of dreams now … and pleasant sleep …