Another Sunday has gone by and I have not been able to meet the fans in the evening. Being in town and not meeting them is a sacrilege, but other commitments have kept me away and they have been impossible to do away with. First it was KBC recordings and today it was as I said yesterday -Koffee with Karan and a banter with Shweta.

I think it went off well. Shweta looked gorgeous in red and did a splendid job - she won the rapid fire round and a Louis V trolley bag and another ladies bag of some eminent Italian maker. I won a hamper with several goodies in it, most of which I have left eating … sad !

All in all it was a fun interview … some very pesky questions asked, cleverly camouflaged .. but all to be taken in a spirit of fun and light heartedness. The only moment of reckoning coming in the end when they played the AV made for me - a most humble and emotional moment - tingling skin and wet and numb eyes !!

It was the little bites on Tv of individuals expressing themselves about what they thought about me, and it all became so moving and emotional that I could not but help feel the swell in the eyes. Found it difficult to speak soon after.

The love of the people of this country has been boundless and of a nature that has been astounding. I shall never be able to assuage why this attention and love has come my way and I shall of course never never be able to repay this love laden debt on my shoulders.

Thank you the people of this nation and of other nations that have given me so much. My return on this investment has been minimal compared to what I have received. But with each passing day I have endeavored to attempt a repayment and I shall continue with this effort, knowing fully well that I shall never be able to give back the amount I have received !

I must admit that the last couple of days have been filled with an outburst of emotion - uncontrollable and undefined. It has just been happening. Perhaps the storage of what needs to be said and spoken out has now been frozen within and never had occasion to emerge. What remains stored, they say within can burst open at times without asking. I wonder then if this repeated and sudden expression of emotion, is cause for it.

The fear though has always been that at times the sudden ness of this outburst could well have been a desire to please rather than one of being affected. The honesty of the moment getting destroyed would hurt any being and I hope that we never ever have to face such situations.

I have been asking on Twitter what you were doing when you were 13 ! And there have been astonished answers to this. Why the question ? For what the reason ? ‘I have been in class 9′ said one and the other something similar. But the fact is that way back in 1935 when the country was under British colonial rule, a small little village near Chittagong, then East Bengal, now in BanglaDesh was preparing to take on the might of its rulers through a revolution against them for the independence of their country. And those that enlisted to fight were children aged 13 and a little above under the guidance and inspiration of their teacher Surya ( pronounced Surjo ) Sen - Master ji !

‘Khelein humji jaan Se’ is the film that is up for release on the 3rd of December, directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar and it is with a deep sense of embarrassment that I admit that I did know anything about this event in our history for the struggle that eventually gave us our independence. And when I have been asking what it was that inspires such nationalists to get up take a stand and fight, I have had not very adequate answers. Teenagers of today spend time and energy in a different form. But teenagers of those times spent their time in fighting the oppressor, so we could all live in and breathe the fresh air of freedom and independence. Sacrifice meant all and everything to them. Devotion and dedication to the country and its cause and its people was prime and above all else. What did go through their young minds when they would enroll themselves for a cause which they knew could mean the end of their lives. They braved the times and the circumstances. They succeeded in giving us a country free from foreign presence. They gave us our national and patriotic spirit - a flag, a song, a meaning. And we do not even know their names. We do not even have relevant data on them, or desire to honor them and keep them as inspirations in all that the country goes through. Nothing !

But thank you Ashutosh for bringing us closer to history and bringing us closer to the reality of a freedom struggle. Young minds, young hopes and desires, young ideals.

We need to sit down and contemplate .. on what we were doing when we were 13. It would be an interesting comparison with the youth of today, their ambitions and plans for the future and what they felt, if they did at all, with those that fought so we could live in peace !

There was a will then ! I would like to believe there is a will even now ! What is desired is for both the wills to meet and strengthen and straighten out all that has been demolished and destroyed, either then or now !!

The national anthem, the call for Mother Earth, have all been instrumental in bringing an entire foreign power on its knees. There was a victory then and there shall be a victory even now, but our values have to be under consideration. When values shall fall in line, all else will too. That is a given. We need to keep them upright and strong and not allow the enemy ever to disturb or cast aspersions on our integrity and strength of character.

Let us remember forever the sacrifices made at 13 and enlighten them that faced struggle to pursue and remain steadfast in their quest for the unknown. Or wisely, the quest of the known, in order that we may bind together to fight as one unit, away from caste, creed, religion, race and color for a cause that shall bring succor and benefit in all walks of life to those of us that may have perhaps - as they say - missed the bus !!

Late nights are inspirational - only for those that build missions …

My mission tonight is to say good night !!

And love,

Amitabh Bachchan