It has been 61 years since Javed Akhtar arrived at Bombay Central Station. He took to X to share the story of the 19-year-old who went on to achieve so much in Mumbai, Maharashtra, and expressed deep gratitude for it.
What's Happening
- Javed Akhtar penned a note on X as he recalled the hardships he faced when he came to Mumbai for the first time on October 4, 1964.
- He wrote, "On 4th October 1964, a 19-year-old boy had disembarked at Bombay Central Station with 27 naya paisa in his pocket. Went through homelessness, starvation and unemployment, but when I look at the total, I feel life has been too kind to me. For that, I cannot help but thank Mumbai, Maharashtra, my country and all those who looked at work kindly. Thank you, thank you so much."
Javed Akhtar On Circumstances And Destiny
Recently, Javed Akhtar appeared as a guest on NDTV's special show India Through the Eyes of Its Icons. The legendary poet and screenwriter reflected on the concepts of destiny and circumstances in a conversation with Nikunj Garg and Marya Shakil.
Is success a combination of hard work and destiny? Are legends shaped by circumstances or effort?
Javed Akhtar believes hard work and destiny are not adversaries but play very different and significant roles in achieving success. To illustrate his point, he described life as a game of rummy.
"Life, sometimes I feel, is like a game of Rummy." You may be a good player, but if you don't get a good card, what will you do? There's something like the skill of playing. Cards are like circumstances. Circumstances are not your choice, and cards are not your choice. Then, how you arrange your circumstances or your cards - that depends on your skills. And how do you guess what the possibilities are... here you can make a sequence, here you can make a turn... Because others are throwing cards that will come to you. The guesses can be more intelligent or less intelligent. Yes, there's a skill in playing. But cards are important - so are the circumstances."
Taking a cue from his words, the film veteran was asked if he believes in destiny. While his frequent collaborator Salim Khan does, Javed Akhtar said emphatically, "I don't believe in destiny at all."
Speaking to NDTV, he explained, "Circumstances are not destiny; they are random. Destiny means something is pre-written. No, nothing is pre-written. There are seven billion people on this planet - everyone is making some effort. Every person who is alive is making some effort. Seven billion patterns make a strange pattern in society. These patterns are called circumstances. They are not planned; they are random. It's like entering a big fair. Every person wants to move in a slightly different direction from the other person. Then you enter the crowd. Sometimes you will get favourable moments, sometimes you will be pushed back. But nobody wants to push you back; nobody wants to give you a way. It's happening because of the efforts of the seven billion people."
In A Nutshell
Javed Akhtar shared a heartfelt post on X as he recalled the first day he arrived in Mumbai as a 19-year-old. He expressed gratitude to the city and for everything it has given him.
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