Some days ago while surfing through the TV channels I listened to the final part of an interview with Shri Amitabh Bachchan on NDTV. The interview had a reference to Shri Amitabh’s blog site and I decided to check it out.
Almost immediately I recalled some lines from his esteemed father’s autobiography, which I present from memory. “Whenever Amitabh decides to write his autobiography I am sure that it will be better than mine.” And considering that Shri Harivanshraiji’s autobiography is one of the best works that I have read, this was an awesome prediction. And Shri Amitabh’s blog suggests that his father’s prediction was not unfounded. Times have changed and so has the medium, but in essence a blog is an autobiography, or it can become one if continued for long enough.
I was delving into Shri Harivanshraiji’s poetry long before his son entered films and to me he will always remain the first Bachchan. The best part of Shri Amitabh’s blog, at least as far as I am concerned, is that it is garnished with references from his father’s works. And this gives me an opportunity to relive all those wonderful moments I had reading Shri Harivanshraiji’s works.
I must confess that I was saddened by some of the vituperative reactions the blog has drawn. Dissent is not only fine but also welcome. Bigotry though unwelcome can be tolerated. But abuse has no place in civil society. And it is a dicey decision for moderators to judge who has crossed the line because freedom of expression is equally important. Hence the best way out is self-regulation, in blogs as in all creative endeavours.
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