We had given up hope of being with Abhishek and Aishwarya in New York. The snow and excessive conditions over most of Britain yesterday brought our travel plans to a halt. The entire city of London and indeed most of the country had come to a standstill. Nothing moved – no traffic, no buses, no aircraft and hardly any people. Just the snow flakes. Drifting down almost involuntarily by the window to our room. Pretty. But kept us indoors.

The internet as a constant companion, the blog and respondents for company, Jaya and I sat through most of the day watching weather updates and films.

If today had not worked we would have headed back to Mumbai. But here we are another 2:30 hrs away from the ‘Apple’ and looking forward to meeting the kids.

The snow they say has never been so severe in Britain in the last 18 years. The Artic winds coming down from Russia has been the cause and they are likely to last some days. The TV keeps showing us visuals and interviews of people caught in the deluge ; journalists, the common man, travelers on the road. And it is fascinating to hear them. Fascinating, because they sound no different from the folks at home in India, when a heavy monsoon downpour has disrupted life in the city of Mumbai.

“There are many countries and cities in the World that experience much worse snow conditions and they are able to manage them well. But look at this. A few inches of white flakes and an entire London has come to a halt. What have the authorities been doing with all our Council taxes, if they cannot ….”

“This is England, the developed world, we’re supposed to have answers to conditions like this !”

Ha ! Sounds so familiar. Guess the world over it’s the same.

So Mumbaites.. do not despair, other parts of the world do not have answers to many of the woes that befall us and them. And yes, they all react in similar fashion.

The economic crisis looms large everywhere. It is shocking to see the show windows of all prominent stores displaying SALE signs and with percentages that range from 50 – 75% off. Stores are mainly empty. No one’s buying anything, except time.

The shoe is fast becoming the WID ( an aberration from WMD ) of the times – a Weapon of Individual Destruction. One such rubber soled model, grey and appearing somewhat forlorn, was flung at the Chinese Prime Minister in Cambridge yesterday, as he addressed an august gathering ; an obvious inspiration from the one Bush faced, sorry, ducked twice, in Iraq. British television remarked on the incident and covered it widely. The refrain however being directed more to the ‘chucker’ possessing a bad aim, since it missed the target by some distance, than the gravity of the moment.

I am a little amused that the shoe has garnered so much interest in the electronic media and the press in the West. Back home it has been quite a common phenomenon, in the settlement of disputes between aggrieved parties. Particularly among the ladies, who have never hesitated to reposition their ‘chappals’ from feet to hands in the shortest duration of time, when tempers have been frayed.

Equally, it is done away, with alacrity, at times of reverence. The visits to temples and mosques. The lighting of the traditional lamp at inaugurals. Before entering a visitor’s home….

I was deeply touched to see Mallika Sarabhai at the Crystal Award in Davos, remove her shoes, before she made her way to the stage to receive her recognition.

Our culture and tradition lives and exists through thousands of years of our country’s history, reverberating prominently through our epics.

Bharat, the younger brother of Ram, carrying back his ‘padukas’ from the forest where he had been exiled and placing them on the throne as a symbol of Ram, his elder’s hierarchal presence, till his return after 14 years, has been the strongest and most endearing moment in the guiding of our ethics.


Another hour and a half to go and I must start putting away objects ‘under the seat’ or in the ‘baggage holds above’ securely, before landing.

Thank you for being with me from the southern shores of GreenLand to the North American land mass.

Yes GreenLand. And then down from there. Long haul flights follow the curvature of the earth to minimize distance. So from London you start almost in a northerly direction, taking the curve past the tip of GreenLand and coming down over Canada from the north down to NYC.

Love and more..

Amitabh Bachchan