Anticipating a problem sometimes robs the beauty of surprise ! But knowing the problem and anticipating it can become a bigger surprise when the problem dissipates. The morning stress test was a bit on those lines.

All went well from the word ’start walking’ on the tread mill that measures heart reactions. Slow walk, faster, an incline, now run, slow down, meter readings on arm and chest, chest shaved of in patches to connect the leads, satisfied expressions on the Doctors face, a few words of caution, reduce the salt, walk more run less…

Out on the expressway and the traffic, struggling to get to the location on time. All over. All well. And all because the extended family prayed and wished all would go well. I have loved the confidence expressed by some on the blog on the outcome of my visit to the Hospital. Thank you. You are all sooth sayers. Predict some more.. and in favor please !!!

While I negotiated the roving meters of the medical fraternity, the son negotiated the fog laden rail tracks some hours into Jhansi. He should have reached by 3 am. He got in by 7. And after all that trouble and travel, the shoot got cancelled due to heavy fog !!

My own day was pleasant. The moves are getting generous to the body. There is a sense that eventually the song is coming into place and that we could if we tried finish ahead of schedule.

The media reacted positively to the launch. Photographs and write ups galore. Through all that jostling and shoving, it is remarkable they were even able to get some imagery. The lone wretch, boiling and cooking himself in his own stew, was the only exception. But what a joy to find myself still forming his columns. Of him having to devise and think and plan and procure continuously, information and news on me so he can gain some space in his honey dewed portals that desperately seek readership.

There was an interesting and eloquent give and take early morning from Sushmit of CNN on paparazzi. He starting by being apologetic for making an observation. I acknowledging my admiration for the media, but seeking his involvement from our side of the fence before reaching conclusions. Ending in his reverence and endorsement of my presence in their lives and not just from a Friday to a Friday, but in more general terms. Insightful.

Bhawana Somaya, the writer of ‘Bachchanalia’ spent a large portion of my drive to location on the mobile, describing her own fears and apprehensions and evaluations of the evening, which I thought were really not worthy of creating a worry in her mind. But she has been a different senior journalist. One that has not succumbed to the corruption in and around her profession. Such fears do come up. Innocently and inadvertently. Sweet.

The Salon du Cinema in Paris approaches. The retrospective on my films and the opportunity to showcase some other of Abhishek and Aishwarya’s films. We shall be together again and that prospect is more exciting than the honor itself. There is more honor at Davos this year and within a few days after the Salon. The Economic Forum recognizes my contribution to Indian Cinema and wishes to garland me in the minus temperatures of this quaint little town in Switzerland. And thereafter is the probability of New York to attend the premier of Aishwarya’s film, Pink Panther 2 and to bring in Abhishek’s birthday !!

‘Shoebite’ or now named ‘Johnny Mastana’ is back on track again. Legal issues being taken care of we are on the road again by the end of this month and a bit of February too. Hopefully by then the RGV film would have taken shape as would have ‘Pa’,the make up test for which I will need to travel to Los of Angeles.

Work work and more work. I love this profession. I love the thought of getting up in the morning and traveling to a waiting crew and camera. Of being among creativity. Of repeatedly making efforts to improve on the past. Of committing errors and correcting them. Of pushing the body into crevasses never traversed before. Of the anxiety of wondering whether it will come out right. And the satisfaction of appreciation at the end of it all. Hopefully, most of the time.

I also love the moment I am in now. Of connecting to all, here, in this medium. I look forward to the solitude that shall encompass me as I address blog. Of reading comments, of wondering their state of mind and why they wrote what they did. All just so, so fascinating !! I am blessed to have these, those with me in my life.

Thank you. You are special to me and to the world that you make around me.

You are all names. Yet names that have now imprinted themselves permanently on this canvas. Many among you write to say this blog is a habit, a daily chore, an essential. You cannot imagine what nature of commitment this draws from me. A commitment now in permanence !

With love and all that is beautiful -

Amitabh Bachchan