THE PLEDGE: If you need something done, you can count on me, World
July 28, 2009: Some years ago, an uncle of mine who was in the business of producing TV serials told me and my wife — young couple with stars in our eyes — “If you want to do something in the world of television, just ask! Aawaz do, hum saath hain!” Taking his word at face value. we made a couple of trips to his office at Filmcity, and were quite disappointed to see that he didn’t really mean to help us at all. Which brings me to the question of what family ties are all about. I believe that being family means that we all have an unspoken contract of aawaz do hum saath hain! By this, I mean that we have a confidence that our father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife, son, daughter will “be there for us when we need them,” whatever that means. Everybody interprets the when-we-need-them clause in whatever way it suits them. I think very few interpret it honestly and deeply. Most people mean it as, “If you are ill, I will definitel...