Once upon a time an old man spread rumours that his neighbour was a thief. As a result, the young man was arrested. Days later the young man was proven innocent. After been released he sued the old man for wrongly accusing him.

In court the old man told the Judge: ‘They were just comments, didn’t harm anyone..’



The judge, before passing sentence on the case, told the old man: ‘Write all the things you said about him on a piece of paper. Cut them up and on the way home, throw the pieces of paper out. Tomorrow, come back to hear the sentence.’



The next day, the judge told the old man: ‘Before receiving the sentence, you will have to go out and gather all the pieces of paper that you threw out yesterday.’



The old man said: ‘I can’t do that! The wind spread them and I won’t know where to find them.’



The judge then replied: ‘The same way, simple comments may destroy the honour of a man to such an extent that one is not able to fix it.



If you can’t speak well of someone, rather don’t say anything.



‘Let’s all be masters of our mouths, so that we won’t be slaves of our words.’

Another lazy day. It is getting contagious. But the joy of being close to the family is supreme. Also one gets sufficient time to be able to go through the comments from EF.. and that is no less supreme. There is affection and concern in them, yes. But they are also educative. Many among you give opinion and direct us all to matters that at times others are unaware of. You also correct me and tell me when I go wrong. That is all part of sharing and building relationships. Relationships that need the attention directed to us all through that little story above.

We lost a great maestro in Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, the sarod genius. The jugal bandi between him and Pt Ravi Shankar was a treat for all lovers of Indian classical music. I have had the great privilege of watching them play in concert on several occasions and it was magic every time. The sarod has been a most sonorous instrument for me personally and I am sure for most other lovers of classic music. It has a unique tone and sound quality, one that touches the heart immediately. It is also a most difficult instrument to play. It does not have the struts or those metal bridges across the length of the strings which form an indicator for the notes, as does the sitar or many other string instruments. So, getting to the right note is left to the experience and skill of the player. How they are able to slide their fingers to come to the correct point of a note without any kind of guide, is amazing. Indian classical music, as most of you may know is not written, unlike western classical. The duo of Ravi Shankar on sitar and Ali Akbar Khan on sarod, with Allah Rakha on tabla has been the ultimate ensemble in Indian classical fare. To be in their presence live, an even greater joy.

During my days in Kolkata, then Calcutta, the annual music festival at Ballygunge, a prominent locality in the city, was a must attend activity for all of us like minded youngsters. That entire fortnight, of the very best in the country, played to live audiences, packed to capacity in open air massive shamiyanas, or tent like enclosures, open from the sides and covered from the top.

We were executives in firms starting off our lives as independent individuals with our first jobs earning meagre salaries - Rs 500 a month, 300 of which went in housing and breakfast. The pricing of the tickets at these festivals of music were too exorbitant for our wallets. So we would hang around within the area satisfied with the sound that would come through because of the audio speaker systems. The program went on through out the night and at times there were ticket holders that would leave early. We would accost them outside and ask them for their ticket foils and find our way in, making some lame excuse to the gate keepers. Often we would get caught and thrown out. But I think just our perseverance and our love of hearing these greats, would melt the gate keepers and they would allow us in. The audience inside the pandal, was huge. At times between 50,000- 100,000 and not all necessarily seated. Our aim would be first to get standing space and then through our guile to move up closer to the seating and occupy the chairs, constantly on the look out for vacant ones ahead of us so we could get closer to the stage. An exercise I must say that took us most of the night. But invariably we would succeed. And I am not sure what was a greater joy among the others; joy of being close to the artists, or the joy of being seated in prime seats !

But whatever it was the experience year after year was simply unforgettable. Bengal has always had a very rich and intense interest in culture; music , literature, dance, theatre. And almost every home having a very strong discipline towards these entities. Every individual therefore that entered the haloed portals of these festivals were all connoisseurs of great classical art forms and playing in front of such a learned audience was, for the artists, a great joy yes, but also a great test of their capabilities.

I have found, in my very limited travel and experience of the country that similar traits towards classical forms exist also in several other parts of India. They all value and educate the young in one or the other discipline, particularly so in Southern India in the states of Tamilnadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and in the state of Maharashtra. Though it must be said that because of our huge diversity every region is rich in its art form - in its music, its language and other prominent creative art forms. And all or most of them are handicrafts. Each region skilled in either the way they weave their cloth or use their hands in making the most outstanding complex artifacts.

It was a great desire of mine at some stage to be able to get into a car and to drive around the entire country with my children and expose them to the rich heritage that we possess and that remains unknown to so many millions of us. The sheer magnitude of the variety that exists, would be a revelation to most of the world. Who knows, I may still be able to find that time.

And now to more current affairs. Pakistan has won the World Cup T20 in a most excellent display of skill on the cricket field. A well planned and mature game from them, executed with finesse and finality. Congratulations to them !! Poetic or divine justice has prevailed too as I had commented yesterday. Quite remarkable their achievement !! Down and excluded due to extraneous circumstances, they have fought their way back in the true spirit of the game !!

The day draws to a close. Summer in the western hemisphere is always a little different. Its coming on to 8 PM and the sun still brings daylight through the windows and into the streets of London. Further north in Europe and the Russian regions, there will soon be moments of daylight through out the day. The ‘White Nights’ of St Petersburgh, erstwhile Stalingrad, lasting over a whole week are a fascinating experience for those that live there. No one sleeps for the entire week, everyone out on the streets, singing and dancing throughout. I was once fortunate to have been in St Petersburgh during that time. What an atmosphere and what an experience ! A very proud and happy people. St Petersburgh - one of the most fascinating and beautiful cities in the world !!

‘Tis time to withdraw now, to meet again in the ‘morrow.. with love and hope and goodwill…

Amitabh Bachchan