Flying at approx 33,000 ft, over the northern fringe of Iran, just below the Caspian Sea … or there abouts … town of Tabriz to the left and high snow capped mountains …

Its back to Mumbai after what can be termed as a hectic and most exhilarating trip to Krakow, Poland via London. The past few days have been filled with so many exciting events that it is difficult to assimilate all of it in one single chapter.

I went back to yesterdays post before setting off for the airport and it was hard to imagine that so much had transpired in such short a time.

I have not had opportunity to read through the responses from the last writing so I am unable to decipher how the EF has responded. I do hope that it has been revealing and interesting for you. It certainly was for me.

The Captain sent a message on flight that he wished to spend some time with me and when I had been through ‘Black Swan’ on my in flight film, we met and talked. He is a member of the Ham Radio Club and had heard and read somewhere that I was one too, so he wished to exchange notes.

Yes I am a member and had become one soon after my ‘Coolie’ accident when I was in Delhi recuperating. I had attended classes privately and has also given an examination, received my identity and had become a recognized member. But time and circumstances never permitted me to pursue its activities and so I stopped operating it. Now, I am too far gone in another direction and forgotten all the training that I received, as also my ID to be operational again. But, the Captain is going to send me details of someone in Mumbai that can conduct classes for training again, just to brush up everything, so I can get rejuvenated in this form of communication as well.

Communication and the various mediums available to us these days, is a marvel of the 21^st century. Yes the speed with which we communicate has gone up exponentially, but so has the speed of invention in this direction. Within a few months your mobile becomes almost obsolete, the sound and music system needs overhauling because the technology has gone way past improvement. That high end camera bought with great aplomb is now defunct and some of the facilities available on the motorcars need a manual to understand its operations.

And worse … the best exponents of how these mechanisms work are your grandchildren ! That’s like rubbing salt into your tech wounds !

Information too is no longer dependent on that wise old man or that scholar or teacher, nor is your grammar or your spelling. The computer does it all, and with greater efficiency than any other.

Yesterday evening was spent in the room with nothing particular to do. Just sitting around and chatting with family. But soon the remote of the Tv is sought for and then all talking stops and attention is drawn to every little visual that is appearing on the box – even the adverts are paid rapt attention to. We may not like what we see, we may disagree with what is being transmitted, we may be cynical towards the content and the attitude with which it is being relayed, but watch we must, almost trance like, drawn as it were magnetically to it.

What an interesting medium television has become and how quickly it has expanded and entered not just our homes, but indeed our hearts and souls. And still the broadcasters keep finding and discovering new and fresh ways to attract the eyeballs ! And we who profess to be in the business of entertainment, acquainted as we are with the format and medium, do also fall prey to the guile and persistence of the anchor or the news or that laugh riot or competitive programming, that is constantly being upgraded to bring in fresh ideas. No matter how much we may berate the medium, no matter how much we may dislike the attitude temperament and at times their scant respect towards the sanctity of our privacy, we still acknowledge their existence, contribute to it and allow it to join us in common cause.

Its power of penetration. Its power of influence is far too great to allow it to be ignored. And so you happily join them whenever they are in need of you.

There are times when stringers need to go to great lengths to get a convincing story, a scoop, a controversy. They get rewarded for it, for it is their hard labor that brings in the news from afar.

We are now slaves of the system. Many profess that they are not, but the truth is that we are. It has now become an essential extra curricular act. When in the days gone by extra curricular acts were referred to as being those connected with an evening out for a game of badminton or table tennis. A theatre, reading a book ….

All now gone … and substituted by the box and at times, what lies on the lap and computes …

Enjoy your day or what is left of it with your own choice of contraption …

My love to you …

Amitabh Bachchan