Flushed with the passion of life, relieved of the passion of the medical, involved with the passion of theatre and exhilarated with the passion of victory for the common woman, I come to an end of another day …

It was under the ‘tube’ again for an MRI. Certain readings on the blood test were a bit erratic and so off with all the magnetic stuff from the body and into the tunnel of electronic buzz. And after several ‘hold your breath please’ and ‘you may breathe normally now’s’, they finally concluded that all was clear. A sigh of relief, a quick exit and before they could summon me again I was within the folds of a meal - they having starved me for the entire day from last night to get the dye inside the body intravenously to line the liver, which as you all know suffers after my 1982 episode.

Actually its that little abrasion on my lower stomach which started all this. I have no idea how it came about, but there it was - three distinct injuries at the lower belly and right on the scar of the first two surgeries during the 1982 Coolie accident. It was probably something that I was wearing during KBC and which due to its positioning where a belt comes in had wounded or plucked or something like that. And since that part of my stomach is insensitive to feel - it having been sliced open by a good 6-7 inches on three occasions, I never felt what was going on there. It apparently picked up some infection due to the sweat or the clothing and became ugly. On showing it to my doctor, the first action was a blood test and then intricate dressings and a course of anti-biotics. It was during the tests for the blood that a particular reading was not very encouraging, with regard to my liver and so the MRI. As you all know by now my liver has been damaged due to an impure transfusion during the time when I received 60 bottles of blood in 1982 to save my life ! Hence the tube, hence this intricate explanation and hence the desire to move away from it as soon as possible !

Rahat Taslim, a married small town housewife from Giriddih, Jharkhand as you all may have known by now, won the one crore at KBC. A simple woman, a muslim from an unknown village, still under the social and conservative norms of the ‘purdah’, came out from her house stitching activities that earned her 2000-3000 rupees in order to run the house and made a crore of rupees. She never in her life had opened even a bank account, because of their meagre earnings, had never seen the lakhs that came to her in the form of the zero’s on her cheque and had never ever imagined that she would get to the hot seat at KBC. But she did. Her husband was away working in Cochin in Kerala and she took the initiative to apply first to KBC and then when the selection process started, to take the initiative of travelling on her own by bus and train and perhaps her first plane ride ever, to get to Mumbai and the HotSeat. She played like a master, knew most of the answers till she reached the 50 lakh mark and then cracked the million dollar question. Never once did she flinch or express any fear of what she was getting into, once she reached the high numbers, was confident from the word go and her fate and luck never left her side ! What a fantastic moment for the game. What a fantastic moment for women in our country - that given an opportunity, they had the ability to shine like never before. And that the heart of India resides in that little village  or town which we know nothing about ! Well done Rahat, you have become a part of a very important and historic moment not just for the game of KBC, but for the country as well. More, country.

Medical and KBC aside the day was not over. At an open air facility of the Andheri Sports club, a large group of dramatis personae put up the life history of that great symbol of Maharashtrian pride, Shivaji Maharaj. The sets were massive the artists large in number and the horses and elephants that kept coming in and out during the performance were truly inspiring. There is so much to learn from our own history and culture. There is so much to give knowledge of to our children through these efforts. There is such a commitment of the artists that play that all the collections shall be donated to charity - a Baba Amte Charity, looking after the villages and small town needs of the people. Baba Amte that great social worker who has devoted his life and time to the well fare of the down trodden. Music dance drama all put together in a fascinating tale brought to life by a group of artists that do not stay in Mumbai, but assemble from different villages and small towns near by, to be a part of this venture.

And as I look back on an interesting day, I look forward to the ending involvements on KBC from tomorrow. There are, apart from the regular games to be recorded, a few incentive driven and celebrity driven moments to be accommodated in the show. And so with that in anticipation I beg leave …

You are left in love and in deep involvement, as always …

Love

Amitabh Bachchan