The ladies have gone to bed early. Its ‘Karvachauth’ tomorrow, the day they shall pray for the long and prosperous life of their husbands. They will be up by 4 am for the ‘Sargi’, when decked in all their fineries they shall have specially cooked food and then fast the entire day, till they see the moon at night. The men shall be sent to various vantage points by the evening, to try and spot the moon so the ordeal that their wives have been through, eases. The moon is not seen by the ladies directly. They will see it through a sieve. The sieve that sifts the flour before it is moistened and baked to make our ‘roti’. ‘Divas’ made of the ‘ata’, or the moistened flour shall be thrown over the shoulder as they put their backs to the moon, a small prayer will follow, they shall touch the husbands feet and finally will be fed by his hands ; generally an Indian sweet meat. During the day there will be a narration of the reasons why the fast is held and the mythological stories shall be backed by the playing of specially recorded songs for the moment, if the group of ladies that collect at a common house, are not accustomed to singing it themselves. For most of the day, the wives shall remain dressed in bridal clothing. Those that are not married, often follow this routine in order that they may get good husbands.

Indian culture and custom are so endearing and warming to the heart. I guess every culture has something in it that stands out, that brings joy and happiness with it, else it would not be called culture or tradition. How wonderfully our forefathers and their forefathers thought about these customs and how wonderfully generation after generation has followed it through with belief and resolve. What are we in this generation believing in ? What is our resolve ? And what are we leaving behind for those that will come after us in the generations to come. Our teachings and our scriptures are elements that have been foremost in the efforts made to carry forward. Customs and rites have been through the years, classical music in India because it is not written has passed from one master to the pupil, as have dance forms. This tradition of passing on, of teaching and educating the next generation has to some extent protected these old and valued crafts. But what exactly are we leaving behind other than this.

I am not a musician, nor an art form. My craft is one that cannot be left behind as an example to follow - cinema craft is best maintained when individuality and personal interpretation are given its due position. What then must I strive to leave behind for those that I am directly responsible for bringing into this world. I must endeavor to drop for them temperament and value, etiquette and manner, good judgement and discipline. I must leave them with hope and confidence, with truth and commitment, but above all I must leave them with honor and justice and a precondition to remain human.

There were some interviews today - by MidDay and its editor level Abhijeet Majumdar. Almost all the questions were challenging my modesty, as was being repeatedly expressed to me. There is a desire to assess who and what I am and how, and most importantly why. But how does one expect an individual to be able to do that. I find that trait bordering on the irrelevant. Why would I want to expound on what my behavioral pattern depicts to an entire universe. I find it pompous. I find it discomforting. Let someone else analyze me, or decipher what they feel I am or represent. That I will not and cannot stop, but talking about my analysis myself is for me an exercise in futility.

Mr Prannoy Roy of NDTV does one for his channel via satellite. I wonder why he wishes to put me on his show. There is no special reason or occasion. Yes the cause of the channel for the protection of tigers is most pertinent and immediate. From a 100,000 to just a 1000 tigers left in India is indeed alarming and we are trying to structure what we can jointly do to further the cause of protecting them. In its furtherance, he informs me that I would have to comply with either of the three wishes - a roar, a joke, a song. I roar, it was the easiest to do.

And I wonder how that would affect the dwindling population of this magnificent cat !!

The cat has many intimate connotations with several members of our fraternity on the blog. Rochelle and Daisy M, come immediately to mind and I am certain they shall be loving the idea of a ‘cat’ mention on post.

I am tempted to mention it again. Its time for a long catnap !!

Good night !

Amitabh Bachchan