[Watch] SRK's inspiring speech to graduating students has life lessons for all
Shah Rukh Khan has a penchant for making good speeches. After mesmerising us all with his on-camera performance (remember his "sattar minute" monologue from Chak De! India), this time he turned real life mentor for graduating students at the Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Mumbai.
King Khan was the chief guest at the graduation ceremony of the school's 2016 batch and he didn't disappoint one bit. The Bollywood star shared anecdotes from his life to deliver an inspiring, yet, humorous and entertaining speech.
Khan shared incidents from his life before he became a film star, stories on his parents, his struggles, crushes and heartbreaks. He also shared the secret about his "rubbish poetry" and even took a dig at US presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Watch the full speech here:
Here are 10 SRK life lessons from the speech:
1. Feel free to be yourself and don't let anyone, including me, tell you who you are or what you ought to be.
2. These are the only years when you'll be allowed to make regret-free mistakes. Make them because that's how you will chance upon your dreams. When you are 50, you'll realise that the bulk of your regrets are from not having done what you wished to do.
3. All that parents try to do is to make you happy with your choices by annoying you with ours, which are your choices anyway. You just don't know it yet. So, never be angry or hold a grudge against your parents.
4. All you want to be is yourself and you're quite sure you know what that is. I'm here tonight on your side only to confirm your conviction as you set forth in the big, bad world.
5. When I was ten, my father gifted me a chess set. Now, chess is a reflection of life. The first thing it teaches you is that every move has a consequence. So, think through things not always but often enough so that your life doesn't look as uniform and black and white like a chess board.
6. Sometimes the queen looks attractive but if she gets taken by an adversary straight after you have saved her, then you might be better off saving your castle or the bald bishop instead. So don't always choose what seems most desirable if something tells you it might get you into trouble.
7. You cannot get anywhere in chess if you don't look out for the little ones - the small pawns around you. Life is like that too. If you forget the smallest of your people, or become to foolish enough to imagine that the little graces you're given are of no value, you end up nowhere. Notice the tiny things which make your existence privileged and special.
Taking your blessings for granted is the most ungracious stupidity, both in chess and in life.
8. The second gift my father gifted was an old Italian typewriter. To use it well, you needed diligence. One wrong letter and the whole exercise had to be started again. Learn how to be efficient and do it over and over again. As an adult, I've come to understand that there is nothing of more value than your capability for diligence and the ability to work hard.
Think of every job as your first one so that you have to get it right to impress everyone. At the same time, do it as your last job as if you won't get it a chance to do it ever again. Don't just work, outwork yourself and nothing can come in the way of glory.
9. Then my father gave me a camera. The most beautiful thing about it was that it didn't work. I learnt that things don't have to be functional to fulfil a need. When things are broken, the greatest creativity emanates from the fragments.
The fact that there was no actual photograph taught me the most important lesson yet: creativity is a process of the soul and doesn't need any outcome. It needs only the truth of its own expression. It comes from within and makes your world whatever you wish it to be made. So, don't be afraid of your own creativity, honour it.
10. Learn to laugh at yourself and don't take yourself seriously no matter what you become. It makes you braver and changes your perspective. Without a sense of humour, the world will be a dull, dreary place. No darkness or despair should be beyond a good, hearty laughter. Humour is the only ticket to staying young and childlike.