The morrow has come, ‘aye Caesar but not gone !’ … a bit of Shakespeare in the early hours between the duvet still. Strange and a most unlikely place for it but …

Remember … those famous lines from the bards, Julius Caesar .. ‘beware the Ides (15th) of March’ .. ‘the Ides of March have come’ … ‘aye Caesar, but not gone’… as Caesar walks up the steps to the Senate where he eventually gets stabbed to death by his own trusted lieutenants Brutus and Cassius, paving the way for Mark Anthony and the evergreen ‘Friends, Romans, countrymen !! Lend me your ears.. I come to bury Caesar, not to mourn him .. the evil that men do lives after them …’

But .. death is not apt for the moment to dwell on so early in the morning. Life is better.. the sun rises, another day begins, the birds welcome it with excited twitter, the world wakes up and moves … life begins !! Much better, do you not think. There is hope and delight in the ambient surroundings. Beginnings are always so. It is the ability to keep the spirit of the beginnings in our lives till the very end that marks a satisfactory existence. An existence we know that shall be tortured and tested every instant, and so it must. For, life and existence would be so complacent without it …

There is a calm that descends upon you as you alight from the plane on to the soil at the Kamaraj Airport, Chennai in Tamilnadu. Development may have taken away some of the natural calm of the city, but it still exudes that serene calm as you drive down to your stay of residence.

That hill behind the arrival lounge, now cluttered with vegetation and structures … the hill that became the meeting ground for the Father and son at the graveyard of ‘Aakhri Raasta’. The confrontation and their diverse philosophies on the way they both looked at life. The 9 and the 6. When you look at it from your perspective it is a 9, when I look at it it is a 6. Recollect ? Shot at this very hill behind the airport. And then as you get closer to the city, the studios - Gemini and Vauhini and AVM - institutions that lived and breathed and created the greatness of not just the Film Industry of the South, but of the North as well. The systematic planning and execution of their projects, the disciplined schedules and demeanor of work, their ethics and work culture, the true Indian Studio system , if ever there was one. But now crowded and lost within massive cement jungles, their identity almost lost in the confines of overlooking and almost shrouded shadows of the commerce that exists about. The creative still flourishes, but somewhere the feel has been dented. The magic of genius still exists, but covered perhaps in an ambience that seems a little alien to me. The open grounds, the distinct settings as you drove in, sound floors lined one along the other, make up facilities and rooms for rest and change in a separate block, recording and laboratory one end, offices elegantly lined on another… it was such a delightful feel for any artist that came over to work And as I drive by today, the nostalgic memories of the many films that I had the good fortune to work in - ‘Pyar ki Kahani’, ‘Sanjog’, ‘Bombay to Goa’, ‘Inquilaab’, ‘Aakhri Raasta’, ‘Andhaa Kanoon’, ‘Shakti’, ‘Mahaan’ …. the list is endless and long. And the wonderful associations with talent of exceptional quality - MGR, and Rajnikant and Kamalhasan and such greats. The technicians and the vastly superior crew that came along - Directors, assistants, staff .. all filled with that wonderful quality that the South has been renowned for - humility and dedication to their work. ..

I think I shall stay back a little longer, just so I can savor the climate of this region. Not just the weather but the climate of en-dearness and warmth..

…….. ok rude shock .. will not be able to do that … Mumbai beckons .. there are pressing engagements and media and BiggBoss to attend to …. ahhhh … the vagaries of time !!!

And as I punch in the words an sms arrives -

‘In life you will never know what you have been missing until it arrives .. and you will never know what you have got until it is missing ..’

An indicator, almost by providence do you not think for the moment .. life’s like that only ..! Ha

Bye now and love from ..

Auro

sometimes also known as Amitabh Bachchan .. hoh ..hoh !