Just imagine a life where your kid was friends with a celebrity's kid. And we are not just talking about any celebrity, but Bollywood's very own badshah, Shah Rukh Khan.
The perks could be unimaginable! You might get to hang out with them, attend their fancy parties, and have your pictures splashed across newspapers and even attend IPL for free. What life!
But when US-based journalist, Preeti Singh, got her daughter admitted to the same school as Aryan Khan, Gauri and Shah Rukh Khan's famously handsome son, she saw the opposite. She witnessed the 'normal' parenting style of the star couple and saw first-hand how committed they were towards raising their children.
Singh wrote this open letter for a popular website and has narrated her side of the story. Clearly, there is more to stardom than just money, it is also about family!
Read on.
Last week, my Facebook timeline lit up with pictures and videos of the graduation ceremony of my daughter's erstwhile class in Mumbai. When I saw the chief guest, I smiled. It had to be him. Shah Rukh Khan. No one deserved it more because he and his family were at the centre of our little universe in that school, and we were his "Jabra fans".
A photo posted by Gauri Khan (@gaurikhan) on
But first, a flashback to 2003.
"Look, Shah Rukh Khan's wife is here. That means Aryan is going to be our kids' classmate," commented an excited father as we took the conducted tour through the new school our five-year-olds were joining. I had been gushing over the clean bathrooms - with toilet paper, soap, paper towels and an attendant. As someone who went to schools with toilets so dirty that I have suffered from digestive problems ever since, I was thrilled that my children would be spared the agony.
I turned to see Gauri Khan. Of course I knew her face; as SRK's wife, she was almost as famous and frequently photographed as her Bollywood husband. As a Dilliwala (as I called myself then), there was a certain possessive pride about SRK... the Delhi boy who came to Mumbai and conquered it. In her dark glasses, Gauri stood alone with her son, until she met some other Bollywood friends and started chatting. Covertly and overtly, all of us watched Gauri. How she talked, what she wore and if she looked arrogant or friendly. No one, including me, dared to walk up to her to make introductions, like we had been doing with the other parents. It could be a very public snub.
I didn't know it then, but the next decade that my children attended school with SRK's children would be eventful. Not only because the school was exceptionally good. Or that the library, bright classrooms, cheerful artworks, and yes, the clean bathrooms made the school a happy place to be. Not only because the school ensured safety of our kids at all times, and the teachers were dedicated and worked harder than anyone I ever knew.
The pixie dust that made everything look even better, shinier was SRK.
Continue to read about what happened when Singh's daughter received a personal invitation to Aryan's birthday.
In that school, there were many celebrity parents - other Bollywood stars, legendary sportspersons, super-rich business families and top professionals, but SRK was SRK - the first among equals. While SRK and Gauri had no clue who I and dozens of other parents were, their pixie dust changed our lives. Some mothers lost weight to dress up like Gauri, some planned their holidays or bought holiday homes close to the Khans, and others did everything in their power to get their kids to be friends with the Khan kids. And the outside world thought we were royalty too, and best friends with the Khans.
One afternoon my daughter came back with a birthday card from SRK's son. The party was at Mannat (SRK's house on Bandstand), and I called on the number provided. Gauri answered the phone. She was sweet, polite, and told me to drop the child at 4.30pm and have her picked up by 7.30pm. Yes, I could send a maid along. That afternoon my phone pinged non-stop. Who was going to the party? One mother said, "My child will cry if I let her go alone. So I will have to go." Another's driver was going to be on leave that day and she was driving him all the way from Cuffe Parade, so she would have to attend the party. Yet another would go because her son was Aryan's bestie.
A photo posted by Gauri Khan (@gaurikhan) on
I had learned my lesson. I assume Gauri told every parent the same thing, making it clear that only kids were invited,because the mothers hung out at the Cafe Coffee Day on Bandstand while their children attended the party that evening. And many of these were townie mothers, who thought anything beyond Prabhadevi was Oh So Far.
Soon enough, boys and girls did what they do at that age. They refused to hang out with each other. A whole new stream of gossip opened up among the girls' mothers - the boys' parents felt the Khan pressure. While the boys played and made friends, parents began to group up. The fight was subtle and full-fledged. Who would be Aryan's best friend? Who did he share confidences with? Who was doing the class project with him? Who would be invited for a sleepover, and later for the IPL matches? Mothers complained that others kept secrets from them, not revealing details of play dates and sleepovers because they wanted Aryan all alone with their sons.
Clearly the Khan's are like any other parents like us!
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