Life of B
Baba (my father) mentioned the other day 'Amitabh Bachchan is turning 80 this year!' Because I was in my own world, I nodded — more like wow what an important piece of information to know — and forgot.
And then I read about it yesterday (his actual birthday) in the newspaper. From getting my news from Twitter to transitioning back to the newspaper it's been quite a journey - more on that later. But I sat with that piece of information for a minute and looked at my now older father. Of course, it meant a lifetime of growing alongside Mr. B for him. It meant witnessing a life larger than his own unfold alongside, as he went through the motions.
For the generation that started their adult life in the 70s — like my father — seeing the rise of the angry young man called Amitabh Bachchan meant so much more. This was the generation that witnessed the unique of its kind unrest post independence, like wars, famine, and later the emergency. Lives were made and un-made for a lot of them. Dreams realized and broken. And I had this (somewhat) profound realization that witnessing peak Bachchan meant a lot more than just escapist fantasies for them.
We are big on movies at home. And my father is a huge Amit uncle fan (pls imagine me using the Bollywood preppy drawl when saying Amit uncle).
Sighting a Bachchan movie playing on TV during any holiday afternoon would be a sigh of relief. He would smile ear to ear when a Bachchan movie was playing and we kept that channel playing gently teasing him 'don't touch the remote it's Amit uncle'. He also used to be a Dev Anand fan but the 70s made him more of a Bachchan fan for life, I think. Aai who comes from a different background of appreciating arts (literature, music) also could not escape his cinema love over the years (it's a different story that — that woman can't sit through any movie peacefully). We were also pulled into this fandom early on. I have done 'पारायण's of some of the iconic 70s movies especially Don, Sholay, Anand, Guddi, Zanjeer, Deewar, ChupkeChupke, Mili, Amar Akbar Anthony! And then also the lesser known, not-so-great movies as well.
Maybe this was that generation's defiance. They stood their ground when unknowns kept striking. By the 90s when the Bachchan era was receding, Baba had found his footing in life. We were not rich but well off enough to not worry about the future that much. Of course, our icons had changed to Steffi Graf and Kalpana Chawla. The aspirations and dreams and the way to reach there had changed. We had more choices and opportunities.
When KBC started playing on TV it was such an amusing sight to watch. Both parents used to be glued. More than the QnA they would watch it for the ease and warmth Amitabh Bachchan exuded as the host. Roles have now changed. There is less anger and more gentleness. Baba plays the game on the app to someday realize that one dream of meeting Mr. Bachchan.