One Of A Kind Devi

One evening, I and my friends were playing cricket on the ground. This ground was was adjacent to Boney Kapoor's house in Bandra. New ground was developed after breaking the illegally constructed portion of Boney's home. They happily extended their balcony and built their home studio there. Oh my, it was settled after so much fighting over the case with the Chief Minister of Maharashtra also involved. Justice was served and the extended portion was broken down.

It was all for good. But unfortunately for Boney and Sridevi, their office balcony window was facing this open land which was open to the public for use.

I and my friends stayed nearby and Mumbai being Mumbai, what with lack of a place to play around, this ground was our new haven. We started using this area to play cricket.

One evening, during our intense cricket match, the leather ball was hit hard for a whopping six, out of the ground andddddd.......yes, into Sridevi's home. The ball smashed into the window pane and went right into their office. Sridevi and her assistant were busy listening and finalizing the script for their next movie, English Vinglish.

Ha, ha, ha,.....na, na, na....we were like "O my God, ab kya karen?" 

As we, the young 10yr olds were in the midst of our team discussion, we heard a voice booming, "Arre, kaun hai re tum log? Samajhte kya ho? Idhar khelene ko kisna boka re? Dhek, kya kiya tum logon ne? Abhi Madam Ko aagaya gussa."

We pleaded with Sridevi's watchman to please return our ball to us so we could continue our game. And what a surprise, he wanted to punish us for the same.

We tried to convince him, "Aree Bhaiyya, hum to ground me hi khel rahe the. Yahan nahin to aur kahan khelenge?"

The guard asked us if we had seen the movie, Mr.India. "Of course, we replied. Who wouldn't have seen such a nice movie?"

"Good, so must also be remembering that Sridevi refused to return the ball on the movie," said the guard. "So, don't expect your ball back. I fact gice me your father's number. We shall raise a complaint against you naughty boys and take compensation for the loss incurred."

Now, we were a bit terrified. What would our parents say?

Just then, another guard came rushing and told the first one that Sridevi Madam has called all of us kids to her home. She wanted to speak to us. But we thought she would punish us and were skeptical to go. But all the same, we were excited as could meet a filmstar, that too at her home. Till now, we had only seen her in movies and now we had the chance to actually meet her. 

Gingerly, we followed the guards to Sridevi's home. "Wow! What a beautiful place," we exclaimed. We were so enamored by the beauty of the home. 

Though we weren't sure Sridevi would return our ball, we decide to ask her for it. 

We were made to sit in the grand living room. Then, surprisingly, we were served yummy delicious snacks and drinks. Wow, vada pao, bhel puri, pastries, and cakes along with so many colorful juices to choose from. Sridevi then entered the living room with her manager. 

We all took to our feet at her sight. My, she was so simple to look at and like the movies, she acted in. 

She welcomed us all very nicely and also served us herself. Then, she chit-chatted with us. 

We told her we were sorry for the broken glass. Surprisingly, she burst out laughing. Sridevi asked all of us our names and promise to invite us to the premiere of her next movie.

Gingerly, I asked her if we could have our ball back. Smilingly, she answered in the affirmative and returned our ball to us. 

We promised her that we would be careful from then on.

Sridevi asked us not to worry about it. She said she had planned to change the glasses of the windows to the unbreakable laminated one the next day so she could enjoy the sights outside and we could also continue playing with no worries.

How surprised and shocked we were to know she wasn't like the one in the Mr.India movie. 

We thanked her profusely and returned to our game.

What a lovely personality Sridevi was!!!