Amitabh Bachchan

I look like a glutton next to Amitabh Bachchan when the superstar�s Man Friday lays out the table for our lunch. Steaming hot carrot soup is the only item on his plate. Mine�s heaped with the aromatic unit food: chhole, dal, chapatis, rice, vegetable, salad. Rather than �Eating Out�, the two of us are �Eating In� at the Film City studio in between the shooting. "I take only soup for lunch," says the confirmed vegetarian. There�s some brown bread he munches on as we discuss topics as diverse as food, films, fax messages, family ties as well as filthy SMS jokes which "I enjoy and also forward to friends", as the Big B claims.

The actor�s shooting for B.R. Chopra�s Baghban, where he and Hema Malini play parents to four ungrateful sons. Taking a cue from the film, I ask the actor about his own parents, the renowned Harivanshrai and Teji. "Both are very unwell but hate being hospitalised," he says. "So I�ve got an entire ICU put up at my house." He feels it�s only natural that he care for them now, when they need him the most. "Even today, I write letters to my dad when I�m not in Bombay, and fax them to him. I also try and speak to him on phone at least four to five times a day," he says. His mother�s always loved her daily evening drive. "She used to invariably stop by the roadside eateries and buy samosas or sip coffee on the street," he says. Just so that she does not feel the good times have ended, Bachchan ensures she goes for her drive even now. "But I tell the nurse to carry the samosas and coffee from home, in the car boot," he says.

Bachchan�s always considered discipline a chief factor to have contributed to his success. But what about the films that failed? "Every failure teaches you something. As my father says, ups and downs, success and failure are all a part of life." Just as dessert�s an important part of a meal. Bachchan doesn�t go for any calorie-rich dessert here, but some shining red pomegranates. The conversation, meanwhile, shifts to the younger generation. "They have no time, there�s no thahrav (rest) in their lives," says Bachchan. He blames it on technological advancements like the Internet and cellphones. Is he himself net-savvy? "I know enough to receive and send e-mails, save and store messages. But I can never retrieve them when I want," he laughs at himself.

He is about to pop the last spoonful of pomegranates into his mouth when I ask him for a message for the youth. The sentimental tone of our conversation returns. "What message can I give? Only this, that you owe it to your parents to take care of them in their old age. Don�t be influenced by the West where children leave their parents once they�re 18. I was going through the visitors� book of a foreign hotel recently where a honeymooning foreign couple had posted this message: �We loved the hotel and enjoyed our stay here. We�ll definitely come back some day, after our children have left us.� Foreigners have accepted that their children will not be with them for a lifetime. But we�re Indians." Food for thought from one who�s now a Grand Old Man of 60 from the Angry Young Man of yore!