Thank God for little mercies ! The connection finally works !! BigAdda was down most of the day - they had ‘issues’ they said. In the film world these days the modern generation normally uses that vocabulary when they come out of a premiere or trial of a film which is not necessarily of their liking and make the most diplomatic remark by saying that they had ‘issues’ with the film. Its like being in the United Nations fighting for a seat on the UN Security Council, or a debate on world affairs in the ’situation room’ at the White House !! We have issues gentleman ! And we cannot comply !!

It has been lashing wind and rain the entire day, which is good for the catchment areas in the city - the ‘great’ lakes that bring us our water. The levels that had been alarmingly down, are up and the 30% water cut that was been advocated, has perhaps been pushed back another week or more hopefully. We are so dependent on our Monsoons !!

Perhaps South of Maharashtra, down to the tip of India, is now in some comfort as far as rains and their intensity is concerned, but elsewhere there are grave conditions. A colleague in my office came out with a heart wrenching story of how in certain parts of the country a tanker of water had cost the region 46 bottles of blood. Like, people were donating blood to be able to buy their water !! Seems most incongruous, but he narrated it with some authority and I do hope he was wrong. In another region of Rajasthan he said they were collecting their share of water in a vessel and locking it up in a trunk, for fear of it being pilfered !! Not a very pretty picture of the situation. Though I am certain there are large areas of ’story telling’ in these episodes.

A wonderful and talented co artist passed away today - the veteran stage and film actor, Nilu Phule. I had worked with him in my film ‘Coolie’. A seasoned thespian with a distinguished face and voice, who had played some historic roles in his career. I have found most Marathi actors and artists that have played a significant role in Hindi films to have had their beginnings on Marathi stage. Accomplished and most versatile, they have moulded into the film firmament with great ease, but have never forgotten their early years and invariably either go back to the theater or simultaneously work at both facilities - a most daunting task. I have been inundated with sms’s from the fourth estate to give comment on Nilu Phule and his presence along with me in the film we did together, but I have abstained purely because my association with him had been so limited that I would not have been able to do justice in paying an apt tribute to his talent and personality. I will say this though. He was a most down to earth, humble human, a quality quite rare when you equate it with the talent that he possessed.

I have had occasion to glance through some of the comments that have been coming across from the EF for the past few days and have been so tempted to respond to them, but my condition and the vagaries of the server kept me tied down. Some of the pieces are pure literature in their writing and representation and full of such valid argument that I would wish to put them up as my post in the days to come, just so, many others that may have skipped reading them, could be enlightened.

My constant flow of advice and quotes via the mobile coerces me to copy some down for our readers -

“Memories are very confusing.. they make you laugh when you remember the time you cried together !! But make you cry when you remember the time you laughed together !!

“We deceive ourselves when we fancy that only weakness needs support. Strength needs it far more.”

“A man was walking on a shaking bridge. He prayed for help.. he saw God on the other side of the bridge and asked God to come near, but God did’nt come. Man got angry. With great difficulty he crossed to the other side and saw God holding the broken bridge ! Trust HIM. HIS ways are amazing !!”

“The moment you think of giving up, think of a reason why you held so long.. Do or die is an old saying … do it before you die is the new one..!!”

“Small minds talk about things. Average minds talk about business. Great minds talk about growth. But.. champions never talk .. they just perform and the world talks !!”

Did you know that India was the second largest fruit and vegetable producer in the world and that its agri activities make up for 17% of its GDP ! Hmm ..

And that American Schools are laying a lot of interest for their students to learn Hindi as one of the alternate languages ! Hmmm .. again !!

The poll results of yesterday propagate that I should mostly remain in Mumbai and watch the metros go by. Err .. the latest development plans of the city have one going just above Prateeksha’s head. Guess my premonition was not too wrong !!

My business colleague in my office predicts that TV shall soon become passe and that the next generation of development would be the 3G S mobile service. From movies to the latest news and happenings around the world, on your hand set !

Guess that does not make watching metros go by such a bad thing after all - it could all be on the 3G mobile !!

Namaskaar .. meri hardik shubh kamanayein and dher sara pyaar … !!

( just following Amrikan School curriculum !)

Amitabh Bachchan