When Shah Rukh Khan got 4 life lessons from his dad through chessboard, broken camera and typewriter

Shah Rukh Khan had once opened up about the simple yet valuable life lessons he received from his father, late Taj Mohammed Khan. The actor was 15 when he lost his father.

Speaking at Maulana Azad National Urdu University in 2016, Shah Rukh Khan revealed that his father taught him important life lessons with the help of a chessboard, a broken camera and a typewriter.

The actor had said his father would gift him old precious things on his birthday since he would not have money on the occasion and share messages that Shah Rukh held on for life.

“The first old thing he gifted me was a chess set. He used to play chess with the head priest of a Hanuman mandir. He told me that I could learn a lot about life through chess. First and foremost being cooperation and teamwork. Second, in life when you have to go forward at times you do have to take a step backward too. Third being that small person the so-called pawns should be respected. No one is small. Everyone is useful. And the last thing was sometimes the things that we love the most like the queen in chess sometimes has to be sacrificed,” Shah Rukh explained, as reported by Indian Express.

His second important lesson was given through a typewriter. “When you type something wrong on a typewriter, if you write something erroneously, it becomes difficult to remove it. So you have to be very diligent and very careful,” he said, adding that when he began typing in college, he realised that practice makes one perfect. “Whatever you do in life, do it diligently. Do it in a way so that there are no mistakes. Do it thinking that this is your first and last chance and you will never get a chance to do it again,” he added.

Shah Rukh’s third lesson came with an old camera. The actor confessed the camera never worked. “I could see from the viewfinder but couldn’t click pictures. It taught me an important lesson. Our creativity or hobby cannot always become our work. Very few people are fortunate to make it their job to me. But whatever our creativity is, be it poetry, painting, singing or dancing, it is not necessary that the world should accept it,” Shah Rukh explained.

“Like the camera I had, it couldn’t click but whatever one saw through it was beautiful. Similarly, you should hone your creativity for yourself and it doesn’t matter whether the world accepts it or not. Because in life when you are alone or depressed at that time it is your creativity who becomes your best friend whether the world likes it or not,” he added. His final lesson from his father was to have a sense of humour. The actor said that it was ‘essential’ to have a good sense of humour and ‘child-like innocence’.

Also read: ‘Shah Rukh Khan gave me ₹300′: Priyamani of The Family Man recalls working with him on Chennai Express

Today, Shah Rukh is a father of three children. The actor has two sons, Aryan and AbRam, and a daughter Suhana. On the occasion of Father’s Day this year, Shah Rukh took to his social media handles and wished fans. He said, “Happy Fathers Day to all fathers. Here’s wishing all parents the most beautiful moments and memories with their ‘lil naughty munchkins’.”