in the days that i find myself in the company of others

8/12/2019 In the Days That I Find Myself in the Company of Others

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In the days that I find myself in thecompany of others, others that

know me, but not of me, I findthem often question me on mymechanics or my theory or myguile in facing accusation andcontroversy. Why is it that there isdisbelief and doubt in the case ofMr Bachchan, yet nothing and noone, ever brings up questions toothers - others, that at times have

had bigger reason to be accused. Many have looked upon it withquestion and many others withobvious glee. Many justify it andmany throw doubt. doubt is the father of invention,says Galileo; yet modest doubt is


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called the beacon of the wise -Shakespeare.

I cannot philosophize which one andwhat is correct.I look to the philosophy of the Vedas atsuch times. If all possibilities may exist

without excluding each other, whereinthe universe is boundlessly various, thenthe principles of order and chaos are notwhat they may necessarily seem to us inthe daily rush of our lives.

Order and chaos, strength and weakness,determination and uncertainty, successand failure: only when the living are inconflict with themselves, then can liferealise its full value .These opposites must be constantlyrevalued in questioning, for when, at


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what singular point, does one ultimatelyknow what is order, what is chaos?

How often has a seeming weakness then proved a strength, and vice versa?How many of us have found thatdetermination has best flourished in the

fertile ground of uncertainty?At what singular point in time can weever conclude what is really a success orfailure? Can we ever have the answers to this ?Chaos can be redeemed that we may notfear it as a threat to life, for in Vedicmyth, order cannot solely determine theideal state: the act of creation must

necessitate the transformation of orderinto chaos , so that we may re-form chaos anew into new order again .


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This is the essence of change in theworld. Meaning, action and consequence

can never be fixed: they must betirelessly recreated. And so it has come to pass that failurehas been one of the mostsurprising blessings of my life. If I hadnot failed I would not have come toknow sage challenge in the fury of livedevents. They would not have been searedinto me for posterity; they would have

not guided me since as faithfully. Perha ps it could be said that I haveendured through chronic reinvention ,that I conquered all odds to emerge

stronger with each passing day , but Ihave only done so due tosome spectacular disasters .


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In consequence, I have come to seecriticism, both from myself as much as

from others , as acommensurate blessing . It has provokedme to constantly reassess all that I do,

say and believe . To question. To inquirefurther.What with a life that bears such intensescrutiny of the smallest decision, it hasmade me come to truly understandthat we put our life into every act that

we do , however seemingly small orinconsequential. And as an individual, Ihave come to understand how small andinconsequential I am alone . See here, on our own, we are merefragments.So it is, that chaos, weakness, uncertaintyand failure have given me blessing , for


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without these, there would be noprovocation to thought, to questioning,

to inquiry. Such provocation, it is the good life, one

based upon the perpetual labour ofcritical reflection, for the unexaminedlife is not worth living .With my limited natural intellect, it hasonly been the highest odds that have

brought me the way that I havetravelled.

Ultimately, the point of determinationis the infinitely lengthy path of self-determination, that leads ever before,always prior to a determineddestination, and ever after. For at what singular point in ones lifewould it ever be good and right todetermine conclusively? It is our


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perpetual determination and perpetualself-determining that exist at one and the

same moment, and neither can be fixed:they must be tirelessly recreated.But from what? It is time to talk of how Arjuna in the

Mahabharatha felt before battle; hishorror of the suffering and death aheadthat brought doubt upon him. Stultified,he questions whether it is right to beconcerned only with ones own duty to

promote a just cause, regardless of theconsequences. In the end, in the face ofall consequences, our moral self, oursoul, is only answerable to itself.The souls duty, its dharma ,determines all. Our dharma is to theawakening of enlightenment.


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TS Eliot translates well for us Krishnasadmonishment:

And do not think of the fruit of action. Fare forward Not fare well, But fare forward, voyagers. There, that still point must be constantlyre-discovered and new-found, everlooked for and after, each day anew .That is the point. There is the destination.

This is my persistent faring. Those of all the professional newsmedia, we have much in common.

No wonder we sometimes dont get on, but then again, there it is No matter what we do, even in the bestof conscience, we are bound to offendsomeone, often each other.


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And so we should: there are urgentlylegitimate concerns of impartiality, a

healthy suspicion of unaccountable power, the need for greater transparencyin the public realm these things must

be respectfully acknowledged by all of usfor the sake of the health of ourdemocracy, and we must endeavour toactively pursue these concerns ourselves ,even when they challenge our own

position directly, and without hospitality.

I press the issue: it is right for the publicto suspect me, as they should of all those privileged with wide public voice, particularly so when theyare not democratically elected.

I am not elected, at least not in aninstitutionalised sense: hence I must beheld all the more accountable for it . I


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accept such harsh scrutiny and embraceits good cause.

I only asked the public to elect me onceto the Lok Sabha, a long time ago . Andmany of you will know what a disasterthat one was. Nevertheless, I envy our

political representatives one thing: theycan choose to stand down, or, be votedout of office for good.I cannot seem to have either.Private by nature that I am, and diffidentat that, I would prefer a quieter life, but ithas come to pass that this is not my

prescribed dharma, my souls duty. And you out there, Leviathan, giant,

colossus media, you arent electedeither .


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Your greatest defence of authority, isalso your greatest duty : it is the

untrammelled Liberty enjoyed in ademocracy in its manifold forms freedom of speech; freedom of colloquy,

public association, demonstration;freedom of private conscience . I havecome to understand that the power of avibrant civic culture and my identity asa citizen in this democracy isalso my greatest defence.

Among you, I can speak freely, for youwill understand my meaning, fellowvoyagers.I shall out myself, because it is timely:my cause is apolitical - as I reiterateendlessly - but in a particular way. Thehuman being is indelibly a politicalanimal , and so I am: my political


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convictions run as deep as any. But howAristotle spoke of it, he has since often

been misunderstood. When he spoke ofthe human being as a political a nimal ,he spoke with irony: he meant thathuman beings can only awaken tomeaning as a collective. That is whatmakes them human.What I insist upon, again and again,exhaustively and strenuously, is that myconvictions are forever unaffiliated to

any particular political party. Isupport all democratic politicalparties, for I believe that we must beallowed to differ infinitely. I am forreasoned disagreement, reasoned

argument, reasoned discussion, reasoned persuasion; its inspired transformations.


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When our differences are well-harnessed,then we will be at our most dynamic and

creative: our most civilized selves. Thisis fraternity. It is the trust offriendship .My party is civic culture . My party isthe differences within it. My party isquestioning and inquiry. My party is mycountry. My party is the largestargumentative democracy on earth. My

party is the common good of a querulous

humanity.My political agenda is its flourishing, asis it yours. I am for its true self-determination. I am for its ever-unfoldingre-creation. I am for its perpetualawakening. And I am ever vigilant init.


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In the private realm as much asthe public , I am one and the same. I

follow this ideal.I believe that we can only truly findourselves, our dharma, the duty of oursouls, our path to enlightenment, as acollective. I believe that we can only

perpetually renew its self-determinationsas a collective. I believe that this voyageis the very thing that determines thenature and course of our collective. I

believe that the overcoming that suchdetermination brings can thus only beunderstood collectively. I cant do it onmy own. Singular and fragmented, we arelost; that we are brought together at our

best to inspire each other to our bestselves, this constant return to my fellow


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human beings is the very source of myawakening, strength, courage, endurance,

path.My determination is with you , againstall the odds .The strength I have to emerge stronger is

with you, against all the odds . And so it is that I must return to you inall causes. So it is that I return to you forquestioning and debate. To seek, tounderstand, to revalue and assess. Toquestion and be questioned. And so it isthat you do and must.Which is why we are who we are - anintegrated collective of minds, intelligent

and obtuse, sincere and critical, caringand stubborn. But always, always in thespirit of collective thought.


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Our existence in fragmentation is a lostcause. Our fragments must become a

whole. One whole is one strength. Onestrength is sufficient to be our perennialdefense.The strength of that defense is all that isrequired to face off opposition. When Ihave this on my side, do I really needexplanation ? My dharma is myconscience in its purity. All else needs to

be finding suitable space in obscurity.

For long there have been questions toexplain and give comment on a host ofoccurrences. But they all come fromsources that do not possess that basicqualification of authority.By what authority do they question ?Who gave it to them ?


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Why and how can they exercise authoritywhen they are not authority themselves ?

In a democracy, how has one institution been given this self appointed position toquestion ?Space time and unscheduled curriculum

give me reason to contemplate and toquote from the speech at Langkawi onDetermination. Who would ever imagine that this is whatgoes through the mind as you wait to

board a flight for Colombo, my nextdestination - the official press conferencefor IIFA for the year 2010 !!Does imagination and thought have any

relevance past midnight ??Amitabh Bachchan Posted in: Others
http://bigb.bigadda.com/?cat=42http://bigb.bigadda.com/?cat=42


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DAY 727(i)

Posted on: April 19, 2010 - 1:55 amComments: 348

Prateeksha, MumbaiApril 18, 2010 Sun/Mon 1

: 25 AM Back in the ranch and home after asmooth and comfortable 5 hrs ! Its astrange feeling as you fly over toanother country. Once the home

borders disappear in the vast speedof the aircraft you tend to detachyourself from what has been withyou till now and is there no more.Similarly when you return, themoment the aircraft flies in overIndian territory a strange sense ofsecurity builds up - home, my land ,
http://bigb.bigadda.com/?p=5152http://bigb.bigadda.com/?p=5152#commentshttp://bigb.bigadda.com/?p=5152#commentshttp://tellafriend.socialtwist.com/http://tellafriend.socialtwist.com/http://tellafriend.socialtwist.com/http://bigb.bigadda.com/?p=5152#commentshttp://bigb.bigadda.com/?p=5152


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my country !! Coming in from KLthrough the Straits and then large

expanses of the Bay of Bengal on toChennai and onward to Mumbai, themoment you touch the Tamilnaduboundary and cross over into Indianterrain, a sense of safety sets in.You are still a good hour and 45 minsto Mumbai, but its still safe thatcomes into the mind. Just anobservation. Nothing special or

pertinent to any coming events. Butjust an experience which I havebeen wanting to share.And yes Beera ke dus maathe is indeed getting quite anappreciation from the net at least.Thats the song words from AbhiAsh


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There are many in Malaysia that areexposed to the pains of our films and

so, apart from the expatriate thereare the locals who love and admireHindi Cinema, and it is to them thatwe make ourselves available whenrequired. They seem to be obsessedwith our cinema and with ourartists. One today, uniformed andmedalled, walked past me in thecrowded duty free, turned back

after expressing some recognitionand smiled - hello .. M r ShahRukhKhan I am still debating in my headwhether I should take this as acompliment or not. For the officialto find absolute dedication in hisname giving, sends me a healthy


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feeling. I shall remain with it beforeour electronic medium takes this

over and builds it into a storm.Another rather expansive yawn !!Almost thought I would never beable to close my mouth, the way itjust kept opening wider and wider.So along then dearies andthe dearas and your little dearydeara. My little thin dearycompanion, the pillow awaits insilence. Let us give in to them.Good night, good landing and goodcare -Amitabh Bachchan

in the days that i find myself in the company of others

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