Germany lost late in to the night/ early morning our time, and the surprise of the predictions of the Octopus Paul have brought superstition right onto the front pages. The octopus had predicted a Spanish victory and so it was. This is quite amazing and ridiculous at the same time. I mean there is this octopus in a water tank and they put two transparent boxes inside it with its lunch in them, bearing the flags of Germany and Spain and Paul the octopus goes and sits on the Spanish box and everyone takes that as a prediction of its victory and it actually comes out correct !! The Germans are wanting to eat up this octopussy with gallons of beer ! Incredible ! So 11th is the final and they must be getting ready with the Dutch and Spanish boxes again for Paulie dear to spread its tentacles on and get comfortable.

Superstition, belief, blind faith all go into the making when we are faced with an unknown situation and want to know what the result would be. Mankind is so desperate to know what is unknown - a fantastic platform for the astrological community in a world that at times stops being pragmatic, and sets itself only on star charts and their movements.

The lady journalist at the PC kept seeking the attention of the moderator to put across her question at the time of the KBC announcement. Sir, during KBC 1 you were wearing 2 blue sapphire rings and during the second you had taken one off. Now you have only one ring on your right hand. With KBC 4 would you be removing this solitary ring as well ?

Dear Maam … you are a lady, I am a man, can we not bring a ring between us !! Huge laughter ! Topic over, PC over but that lingering feeling that astrology and superstition held sway even in the minds of spectators.

Aishwarya and Abhishek marriage, and they marry her off to a tree to ward off ‘mangalik’ omen. Where on earth do they concoct such stories ! Millions of media forum clarifications later, they still seek an answer to it. They obsess over it because a juicy story suddenly lost its ground when truth prevailed. They design a story of a simple visit to a temple as being the motive for clearing Aishwarya’s bad omen. They get eminent writers to condemn this horrid act of superstition, even when they know that their facts are all wrong. Why ? Why must they waste such a large amount of news print and paper over superstition ?

The answer my friends is simple. A law exists that condemns this belief and a possible transgression towards us, would make a wonderful story. For the sake of  news value the character and life of an innocent shall be defamed forever. I got my copy guys, and I would care a damn as to what would happen to the remaining. They should have gone to Paulie octopedia … at least he would have shown his diverse talent.

The endorsement brand wagon rolls along. The photo shoot for Zen Mobile was completed at the Yash Raj Studios. This product is low on cost and very useful because of the use of its multiple features. A journalist sent me an sms for an interview on this and wondered why I would endorse a product that was not well known and not esteemed enough.

I was … well … I wish i did not have to ever compare the two families, but did we must.

It was upsetting to learn from a member of the fourth estate how discriminating a statement it was. Esteem does not belong to a select group. Everyone is in possession of esteem in their own way. It cannot be less for one and more for the other. There is equality in mankind. A person in the professional task of a journalist, is not supposed to tabulate such words. It does not behove the dignity of the member media.

The question you ask is the answer in itself. It is because the product is unknown to the market that the client deploys a celebrity as an ambassador.

The shoot results were to be here by the evening, but Dabboo Ratnani, a dear friend and pro - he took all the travel pictures that you see in ‘To be or not to BE’ - could not make it. They will be here by the morrow and we shall then let you into the world of Zen.

Sitting with RBalki is always a refreshing experience and this evening we talked of so many issues and so many film possibilities and so many stories that need to be made. He narrated 4-5 ideas and the were all fantastic. Problem is which one to start, and start first.

Ah ! Well .. to morrow is another day … maybe something will come about then.

After and during dinner with Balki, we were lead to a site on the net, where RajniKant’s details are secretly kept undisclosed. The site has some really funny anecdotes on Rajni and maybe in my future communications I shall divulge some. Aishwarya was shooting with him in Chennai in the morning and just returned, filled with wonderful stories of her interactions with ‘Rajni Uncle’.

Filled with love and affection to all.. I remain

Amitabh Bachchan