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Date: Monday, 28-January-2008

There was excitement all over Divine Child High School, a convent school in Andheri East, a place which is now a symbol of progress, a place which was just a cluster of villages once, a sleepy little suburb far away from the world.

 

Divine Child High School, was the mission of a group of nuns who believe that India could make progress only if its girls too were given the them kind of education boys received (it was one of the first schools run by nuns and only for girls) The school which was just a little tin - shed when it was started is a sprawling school with thousands of girls studying in it It had completed fifty years, it was making hectic preparations for a grand celebration on January 26, Republic Day which also marked its golden jubilee year

The day dawned, the school was ready to celebrate when the big splash of news came for them Madhuri Dixit had been honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India. This Madhuri Dixit was the same girl who took her first steps, from the kindergarten (KG) to the S.S.C., the final year all at the same school. The news added all the existing excitement to the celebration at the school The news of her being honoured had worked wonders for the whole gathering that evening on the same ground where Madhuri played many years ago Some of them remembered Madhuri as the pretty girl who was a brilliant all-rounder, good in study, good at sports, good at elocution competition and very good in dancing and acting Lillian, Thomas who studied with her, a mother of too who worked with the Holy Sprit Hospital nearby remembered all their growing up days and how the nun and teachers always said she was a girl with a bright future, she remembered how Madhuri had not changed even when she was a big star and how she made it a point to meet her when ever she was shooting at the Hospitals which was a favorite shooting site for film makers.

 

There were old workers and attendants who were still alive and whose eyes brightened up when they were reminded of a little girl called Madhuri Dixit "Bahut achhi ladkai thi, Bahut khoobsurat thi aur bahut hoshiyaar bhi thi", Geetabai now in her eighties said and there were tears of joy in her old eyes some of the other teachers, bent and old with millions of wrinkles on their faces, remembered her as a bright girl who always stood first in every kind of competition Some of the others who were part of the growth of the school and all that was a part of it remembered Madhuri as the girl who always brought honour to the school In one of the oldest buildings near the school was "Krishna Niwas" where Madhuri lived from her birth on May 15 1996 till she became a superstar and was forced to lived the place, there were just two families who still lived there where 'baby' lived with her family in a flat for which her father paid just Rupees Hundred as a monthly rent Outside on the road there was 'Choice Center' a shop which was Madhuri's favourite haunt when ever she wanted to buy something for herself The name was still the same, generations had changed but they all knew that Madhuri was one of their regular customers when it came to buying pencils, pens, ribbons, hair pins and compass boxes There was Pinky Talkies which was once known as Usha Talkies where Madhuri's parents took her to see only those films which they approved of I visited some places where they have their annual Ganesh Utsavs where Madhuri used to dance to popular songs from Hindi films I visited Parle College (now known as Sathaye College) where Madhuri studied with the ambitions to become a microbiologist I visited the nearby Shiv Sagar hotel which had just become popular, leading to a chain of hotel, one of which in Juhu was the favourite of Mrs. Teji Bachchan, mother of Amitabh Bachchan, a hotel Madhuri and her Sister visited whenever they had some extra money to have their favourite 'Pav Bhaji' which was a dish just growing popular then.

 

I met Govind Moonis, a writer who still lives in the same building, one very close to were Madhuri family lived, the man who saw the sparks in Madhuri and asked the Dixits if they would be interested in allowing Madhuri to try her luck in films, they said yes after some thinking, he tried and the result was Madhuri's first film 'Abodh'.

 

I met Sudarshan Rattan who gave her the first brake in a small film called 'Maanav Hatya' which he had completed, he had always had complaints about her but the Padma Shri had brought a big bright smile on his face.

 

I met Mr. P. K. Gupta who was the manager at Rajshree when Madhuri was selected and who is still the manager who has seen hundreds of young men and women pass his table, he was over joyed for what had happened to Madhuri.

 

I met so many others who had known Madhuri as a little girl, bright and growing brighter all the time and they were all so happy for her And more than all of them, I felt I was happy because I had seen her what around in her school uniform, seen her going to college, seen her struggling to make it as an actress and finally making it as the number one actress of the industries.

 

I will always remember the Republic Day of 2008 because it was a day when a girl from almost no where proved that she too could be Padma Shri Madhuri Dixit one day, what a pleasant journey it has been for this girl who has always spread so much sweetness and light.