Arun Bajapyee , 16 yr old … youngest Indian to climb Mount Everest !! Congratulations and goodness that is some feat .. pun unintended !!

Is it just me or is it with everyone. Whenever you are about to leave a city, a destination after a long holiday or stay, that is when you start discovering all the wonderful things you ought to have done. The initial few days go away in finding your feet so to say and then suddenly you find yourself in the midst of everything. You know where to go, what to do, what to see .. you know everything ! But by then it is coming close to leaving and the sadness sets in. And no matter how many coins you may have thrown into the Trevi Fountain, ensuring a return to the city, we know that it will probably be a very long time before it actually does happen.

Every street or lane that one turns into is an invitation to excess. Excessive architecture, design, ambience, style. It is beyond imagination what this city presents. And there is that perpetual question in the mind. How did they ever dream of designing something as complicated and artistic as this. The workmanship, the finesse, is simply unparalleled. And you can only sit back awe struck and bewildered at the ingenuity of human resource and capability. A week is impossible to fathom the depth of creativity that this city represents. You desire and wish all this had been with you in your earlier years, when stirred and enthused by the exuberance of youth, one may have been a better visitor. Now past the age of discovery, it is laborious to live the life of a teen, no matter how deep the inspiration to be that, the city may provoke. O ! to be able to get into those weather and time worn jeans, knapsack on the shoulders, unkempt hair and an uncouth beard untended, hat on head, trainers on feet, wandering down the countless piazzas and squares centered by intricate fountains, the future national team hopefuls in soccer, pushing and shoving a football on paved cobble stone streets. Wayside restaurants with liveried waiters in black and white, moving about in pleasant conversation, a smile and a song on their tanned faces. Crowds of young hanging about the fountain, sitting, chatting, lips and bodies meeting in amorous refrain, squeals of laughter and trains of verbose language from every corner of the universe drifting by. A distant chime from the bell tower giving but hint of the passage of time, a guitarist, a mime artist performing independently, small paper cup placed strategically in front of them for their collection for dinner. On occasion a scooter , loaded with helmeted Italian beauty, buzzes by without notice … it is a world of its own !!

The Vatican and the Sistine Chapel stunning in concept and beauty and interpretation and history and religion - an overwhelming experience ! Had brought Shweta and Abhishek in 1985 to this wonderland. And today as I walk into these facilities a sense of deep nostalgia engulfs me. Abhishek and Shweta were knee high then, mischievous and full of play. Today Abhishek is a knee above me, walking alongside with his wife and conversing with Shweta in New Delhi on her ramp walk at a prominent couture show where she was the show stopper !

We had been invited into the main hall in the Vatican, where the Pope was to give his blessings. Pope John Paul after his sermon had come by down the aisle and across the barrier to greet some of us. We were introduced as Ministers - I was an MP then - and some pictures were taken. Montina, our catholic maid, who brought up and had looked after the kids with motherly diligence, was unable to control her emotion as she received Papal blessings. And then we had climbed right up to the dome of the St Peters Basilica, Abhishek dangerously running around the peripheral railing right at the brim of the canopy, giving the security detail some anxious moments. Today, wife at hand he guides his parents through the crowds of tourists in protection almost, stopping by only to oblige that Bangladeshi, Polish, German fan for an autograph and a photograph.

Seems just like yesterday ! But its 25 years ! Goodness, I have been around for some time now haven’t I.

Time has preserved these exquisite pieces of art and history with such perseverance and care. We need to do that with our bodies as well, else all the essence of our existence fades away on a sick bed. For when we are awake and good and healthy in body and spirit, then only can we challenge the crudity that nature perforce imposes upon us. Nature will eventually succeed, but not before we can give it our best fight.

This painting above, intricate in the details of the Last Supper of Christ. Judas the only one without the celestial halo over his head. His dish of offering too, different from the offerings of fish to Jesus ! Now for the surprise ! It is not a painting ! It is a carpet !! A massive carpet almost 20′ by 15′. That is mastery !! And some of the most exquisite such carpets line an entire gallery on the way to the Sistine Chapel.

Good night my dearest FmXt. My love to you in abundance -

Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan