WEEK 50, NEW DELHI, INDIA

Until this evening when I flew down to participate in the Penguin Annual Lecture, to Delhi at a Stadium built for the purpose of sports, I had not discovered that their intricate nature of behaviour is no different from the great publishing House that my hosts for the evening were and are and shall be ..

But of that much later …

All one can say at the moment is what is being depicted in the picture soon after the event concluded .. but it was a most rewarding experience ..

Yes, 'Never trust anyone who doesn't have a book under their arm' someone said… 'It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it' (that's Oscar Wilde of course)

'Think before you speak; read before you think'. Fran Leibowitz.

'There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them'. Joseph Brodsky.

And I like this: 'Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries.’ Anne Herbert.

Call me old-fashioned but I’m in fine company here: 'Books are no more threatened by Kindle than stairs by elevators'. Stephen Fry

We’re all too familiar with that pet-culture doggerel, canine comparisons to books when it comes to friendship; how besides a dog, a book is a man’s best friend…

Well this one’s my all-time favourite: 'Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read’. Groucho Marx.

But that’s enough now…

Too many quotes spoil a broth…

You can’t make an omelette… without breaking a few metaphors.

Namaskar, aadaab, satsriakaal. Greetings to all of you, Puffins, Pelicans, Ptarmigans, Petrels…. and all other ornithological persuasions.

I attended "Penguin Annual Lecture November 2013 in Delhi" few days ago. There is much to be written and said and shared … but for the moment the speech from Mr Amitabh Bachchan at the Annual Penguin Lecture in Delhi stole the show for me:

Here are few insights from his speech; 

"I couldn’t be more honoured to come here before you: I thank you mighty Penguin; and I thank you all.

Great luminaries have delivered the Penguin Annual Lecture before me, but clearly this year is a novel departure (no pun intended). I stand before you famous for being a foil - not for what I have done of my own authorship or been according to my own conscience. I am famous for characters, not the character; not for having my own words, but bringing someone else’s script to life. ‘A poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.’

That given, many of my characters have indeed been epic, and that’s India for you, our grand narrative of big leaders, big movements, big argument, big drama, big passion, big suffering, big overcoming. The only big the media insist that I have contributed to this great nation is a rather overly persistent B. Much to my dismay.

So please forgive me if I seem quite - speechless.

Nevertheless, I very much wish to meet this extraordinary honour bestowed upon me here with the effort it deserves. To bring something before you, worthy of the generosity of your attendance here tonight…

Obviously I can talk about the Indian film industry ad infinitum. But so can one billion other Indians - I might as well talk about cricket -

So I’ve been wondering what I have of my own to offer, that might entertain. And more ambitiously, entertain your thought, rather than merely amuse".

Such a pleasure in hearing him on stage. Marvelous.

Ok i attended a marriage ceremony in there. Its a moment in life when we make decisions that last us a lifetime .. that not just bring two people together, but entire families and families and families …

If one were to put together all the connected families at the time of a wedding we would not have to invite guests to the reception ..

The finery the tradition, the pundits and the rituals … all gone before us for centuries … yet when we meet a couple and the man says to you in introduction , ‘meet my wife’ .. it is never a correct response to say -

'err … how do you do … but could I see your marriage certificate, pictures some references … any thing .. NOOOOO … its the belief of the 'word' over the other 'word'.

Such a great deal of ritual and tradition and the etiquette of a marriage !! Why cannot we just say to each other, ‘will you marry me’ and retreat to the silence of eternity, because that is how long the response may take.

Just the trust of one word over the other is what binds and confirms marriage .. rituals and ceremony shall forever take place, may be for some divinity .. but in the end it shall always be the confirmed quality of the word given .. or so I shall wish to believe and practice .. !!

I am exhausted with the apprehension and the fear of facing the masses at the venue, but am subsequently relieved to learn that the attitude is not to you, one that brings in the warmth of the plants, the flowers, in particularly the … Nargis ..

The ‘Nargis’ has the most affectionate bearing as a flower, but sitting beside it one shall realise what its actual properties are - the softness of its colour, the gentle yet subtle whiff of its fragrance, all of it go to make it an exceptional flower … and with its gentleness I slip deeper into the abyss of my deserved dreams ..

Good night … back to morrow to Delhi and work  …

K More later..


Harish Nayak