The above… the first promo of Bigg Boss .. and I do hope that it opens and is visible. As you may notice the background is the church that I had written about in the earlier Post. There are 5 other promos, but they shall be put up as and when they are released by the channel. There may be several that may not understand the language and for their benefit I shall put down a translation ~

‘For the past 2 years I have been watching BiggBoss’
‘Every day we all sit down in front of our TV sets to see what shall transpire in the house of BiggBoss today’
‘What is this BiggBoss ? Just entertainment or is there something more to it than that ?’
‘Is this a desire to see the hidden truths of life ? Is it not a search to see what resides in the hearts of others ?
‘What after all is it ?’
‘While talking to the producers of this show, I felt that this show that runs throughout the world, must have some elements in it that is hidden in the depths of our minds !’
‘Have you not felt sometimes that had we been in this house, how we would have behaved. What we would have said, how we would have laughed and for how long we would have hidden our false faces ? Eh ?’
‘On this colorful stage of BiggBoss, we will make an attempt to understand ourselves.’
‘So.. this year we shall meet up on BiggBoss … you and I !!

Some first reactions have been very complimentary. The channel called to say that they have been inundated with calls and text messages. And Jaya sent in a message to say she liked it. Now, this is some yardstick ! Approval from the wife is crucial in most matters. All those ‘happily married’ gents will vouch on this. The first battle has been won. Now to get down to digging in the trenches and working our way across to win the war !!

A regular on the email sent me the next piece that I reproduce below. A fascinating story and one that needs to be read over and over again…

How our inner Ego sometimes misjudges a PERSON

A lady in a faded grey dress and her husband, dressed in a home-spun suit walked in timidly without an appointment into the Harvard University President’s outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn’t even deserve to be in Harvard.

“We want to see the President “the man said softly.

“He’ll be busy all day “the secretary snapped.

“We’ll wait” the lady replied.

For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away. They didn’t and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president..

“Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they’ll leave” she said to him. The President, stern faced and with dignity, strutted toward the couple.

The lady told him “We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus.”

The president wasn’t touched….He was shocked. “Madam” he said, gruffly, “we can’t put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery.”

“Oh, no,” the lady explained quickly ” We don’t want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard.”

The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, and then exclaimed, “A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard.”

For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. Maybe he could get rid of them now. The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, “Is that all it costs to start a university? Why don’t we just start our own?”

Her husband nodded. The president’s face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they established the University that bears their name: - Stanford University , a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.

Most of the time we judge people by their outer appearance , which can be misleading. And in this impression, we tend to treat people badly by thinking they can do nothing for us. Thus we tend to lose our potential good friends, employees or customers.

Remember

In our Life, we seldom get people with whom we want to share & grow our thought process. But because of our inner EGO we miss them forever.

It is you who have to decide with whom you are getting associated in day to day life.

Small people talk about others,

Average people talk about things,

Great people talk about ideas.

Do I see a hidden message in here for our dear and beloved EF. How wonderful to be in a capacity to share and grow our thought process, without allowing our ego to come in the way. There is something to learn from everyone. No one is inferior in thought and feeling. Each one of us is gifted with wisdom. Some get an opportunity to spell it out, some do not. But just because one did not get that opportunity, does it put him or her down ? Does it permit others to look at them with an attitude of superiority. No, it most certainly does not.
I feel a sense of pride in our little world of the Ef, that we have formed and nurtured and lived with for more than a year. A year ago we were all strangers that entered somewhat gingerly into the house of the ‘BiggBoss’.. ha ..ha .. well now that it is official, why not - we were apprehensive, unsure, skeptical. But look at all of us today. We have come to accept each other, be compassionate with each other, feel for each other in times of strife and stress, laugh at each other, cry with each other, but most importantly accept in no uncertain terms I think, that we are a part of this family, this extended family. Yes.. coined and instigated by me … but nothing, without your concurrence, love and support. I love all of you, without any condition. Many among you ask me that oft repeated question of how is it that I do not fail to connect with each of you every day. Let me ask you this in return. How many of you forget to feed yourself during the course of the day. Humanity has stipulated time periods for meals in our systems. No where in any part of the world, in any region, in any class or caste, is there no uniformity in our times for meals. Not connecting to you is like forgetting a meal to feed myself.

The day has mostly been one of waste, until now, when I speak to you. It is therapeutic. And may it ever remain so. As I gather my thoughts and pen them down, I almost feel the presence of my FmXt gathering around this cyber spaced fire place. The day has come to an end and all of us gather round to exchange and talk and be ourselves. We share, we comment, we agree and we disagree, but we remain together in one invisible bond.
During the early days of our blog I was visited once by the lady editor of a prominent tabloid, on my set for Aladin. It was a curtsey call to clear any misunderstanding that may have existed between them and us. We talked of several topics, but when it came to the blog there was an attitude that remained condescending for most part of the discussion. She disliked the practice of mentioning names of the media on the blog. Why ? I could never figure. They will have the liberty to mention us in all sorts of ways, we will not be permitted to mention them ? Ha ! When I defended my decision of writing about any media mistakes or faults by saying that the responses I got every day acknowledged that, she stated that the responses were from sycophantic fans and cannot be taken seriously. It was the most hurtful remark she could have made. It was like a slur towards my family and one that I never took kindly to. What of those media personnel that show sycophantic allegiance to certain stars. By what authority can they justify their actions and deride the actions of my EF !! The base of our firmament has been built with one very remarkable characteristic - the liberty and freedom of expressing ourselves in the manner we feel we should. There has been a transparency in our expression and there has been honesty. Let no one ever ever even attempt to transgress that.
I may not enjoy the kind of relationship with the media that others do. I may also be responsible for that, for, most part of my celebrity life has been spent without them. But just because I chose to behave the way I did does not give them occasion to judge quite categorically, my nature and my character. I will respect their freedom, they must respect mine. But just because you do not know, does not mean you know me wrong.

The clock beckons me. Not to come between the sheets and soft pillows, but to catch up on the US Open Tennis in New York. What a magnificent facility the Arthur Ash Stadium. I once had the honor and great privilege to be within the portals of this humungous bowl. It was wonderful to be moving around in the peace and comfort of a non entity, watching the game and the informal atmosphere that is so typical of most American sporting events, particularly at the tennis, after the rigid protocol and ceremony of the British Wimbledon.
Until… a generous Indian family spotted me and, worried that I was going to be having serious eating problems at the facility, why they thought so I cannot say, rushed up to me on the second level where I was comfortably seated among the many others and in the middle of a point being played, drew unwanted attention by loudly proclaiming the contents of their food package they were offering, much to my embarrassment. That was not enough. In their excitement they kept informing, in a pitch of their own decibel, about me being an Indian star to the other local New Yorkers sitting around me. They pulled out cameras to take photographs and tennis memorabilia to take my autograph. And all this while, Aggasi was screeching winners down the line in the court below. The security moved in and collar lifted each member of this frail Indian family straight back to Jackson Heights, leaving me looking rather uncomfortable in the presence of fellow Americans seated beside. They now had a ‘gosh I’m sitting next to a celeb’ look in their eyes as I tried desperately to hide behind my NYC peak cap and dark glasses, until … lady white American neighbor leaned across and gushed -
“Mr Vijay Amritraj, could I also ask you for an autograph !!”

The Stadium burst into loud applause. Aggasi had just won the set. People were getting up to grab a drink and a visit to the wash rooms. And ‘ABVijayAmritraj’ was the first one out of there !!

Love ya !!

Amitabh Bachchan