7 LIFE RULES OF SRK

7 LIFE RULES OF SRK


1.Work hard to the limits and then push yourself a little more. You'll get great results.

2.Accept pain as an essential part of your life. And let your mind rule over your body. You'll be stronger that way even when you are tired or injured.

3.There is a fallible quality even in the greatest ones. Everyone fails once in a while, be it King Khan or Ronaldinho.

4.Be nice to God and do all the right things. He will do right things for you too.

5.Don't laugh at people or situations in which people are in trouble.

6.There's nothing positive about rumours. Think positively. Be an impractical optimist.

7.Just be yourself, always.

This is the last part of the SRK exclusive I found in Men's Health, a newly launched magazine in India. It's all about his back problem, in fact the first time I am reading so much detail about it. My admiration for SRK is so much more now, knowing what he's been through and how he copes with the present. It's very touching.

THE PAIN

My back and my hand were hurting a little too much. Though since I had injured myself while shooting for Shakti, I thought it was something that would go away. However when the pain persisted and my fingers went numb, I decided to get Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) done.

THE DIAGNOSIS

I was advised to undergo immediate surgery, else face probable paralysis. It was too sudden and too major. I needed a second opinion. I spoke to a doctor in London. I read and tried to understand the mechanisms of the spine from the doctors before I opted for surgery.

I learnt that the jelly-like disc which acted like a shock absorber between the vertebrae was squeezed out and was pressing on nerves that come out of the spinal cord. This could have cut the nerves leaving me paralysed like Christopher Reeves. There are times when in the natural course the gel dries up and falls off like a scab. As the impingement stops people feel better and account it to the treatment they opted for. But it did not happen in my case.

THE TOLL

My doctor, Prof Crockhardt, believes in alternate therapy. He suggested that with a change of lifestyle I could survive without surgery – less travel, restricted working hours and more relaxation. I was advised to take hot water baths, read poetry and relax. I curbed my work and rested a lot. I waited for eight months but my muscle was wasting – I was becoming thinner. I realised that the pain wa unbearable. Being a believer in science and surgery, I opted for it though I would not recommend it to anyone. My muscle is still not back to normal.

THE PATHS

I have tried every possible alternate medicine – ayurveda, homeopathy, acupressure, acupuncture, Chinese herbal medication, manipulation in Singapore, yoga etc. But nothing worked for me. I don't have the patience nor is my lifestyle suited for that though they might work perfectly well for someone else. I don't want to sound bleak but I have learnt that nothing works when your disc is prolapsed. Today if anybody says 'I could have cured him', I'll have trouble believing him.

THE PRESENT

Pain still persists. The moment I stop working out, the pain surfaces. Travel aggravates the ache. I consult top physiotherapists, Dr. ali irani and Dr. Mosaraf Ali (Prince charles' physician). I have a physiotherapist at my call all the time. A doctor always accompanies me to shoots, who looks after me after an action scene. Now there is a new jelly-like insertion which was being tested when I was operated upon. However I am not ready for another surgery unless another disc gives way. I face that danger since titanium is a very hard metal and can cause harm to the neighbouring discs.

THE FUTURE

Age and health are inevitably going to bring in a change of lifestyle. There could be a time when I will not be able to move at all but I am not scared.You give to get some and I have got a lot. So I can't start worrying about it now, nor can I turn the clock back. So far, I am okay.

(Men's Health magazine)

TAKE IT FROM ME

MENTAL STRENGTH MATTERS MORE THAN THE PHYSICAL

Work hard till you hit the wall. ShahRukh Khan asks you to keep pushing ahead in life. Because that's how you get great results.

Monisha Pratap-Shah


He ran a restaurant in New Delhi. He tried learning filmmaking and quit. And he was voted the sexiest man in Asia. Shahrukh Khan is all that and more. King Khan's spell has bound millions of moviegoers around the world for 16 years. Despite a major back surgery his spirited ways get you charged – on screen and in life.

Men's Health meets Khan, currently the highest paid actor in India, to get a little deeper into the man and his life. The eternal charmer spills out some candid insights as he dives into his own hidden selves.

ON BEING AT THE PEAK

Peak is a very subjective term. Work always excites me. I have been lucky for the past 15 years and just want to try and maintain doing good work. But nothing excites me more than being with my kids. For me such notions of positions exist in the corporate world and not in the creative field. I don't believe in such number games. I am not trying to be pompous, but I have been doing my job well though the reasons for it have changed over the years. Earlier I was new and I had to prove myself. I had to earn a living. There were times when I had to work hard to make things work. Now with so many expectations from me I have to make sure that I do my job even more carefully. I don't waste my time focussing on number games. I concentrate on work. If I had to give myself a name, it would not be King Khan but Emperor Khan (laughs). Jokes apart, yes, I do think I'm highly overrated. I believe there is a fallible quality even in the greatest ones. Everyone fails once in a while, be it King Khan or Ronaldinho. You know, I don't compete with anybody. I compete with the work I have. My struggle is with the creative aspect that I am going to personify. It's up to me to raise my level of work to do justice to a notion or idea that the writer has presented.

ON FEARS AND SUPERSTITIONS
I have this fear that somebody will cut off my arms. Perhaps that's why, I don't like anyone touching me under the arms. It makes me feel a bit odd. This fear has been there since childhood. Maybe it's psychological. Maybe it's from my past birth. Well, no big deal really. I'm not fixated on any particular superstitions. But my partners Aziz and Juhi believe in divine blessings. So my office ensures that before release all my films are taken to Ajmer and to Sai Baba. I just pray to Allah. I pray all the time. Not only when I'm supposed to pray. I also pray when I don't need to. Well, I am superstitious about God – I believe you have to be nice to Him and do all the right things.


ON HIS QUIRKS, TEARS AND LAUGHTER
For one, I don't take phone calls. I am a totally 'anti-phone' guy. I carry one as it's become such an integral part of life. See , I have lived in this house for 10 years now but I honestly don't know where the phones are nor do I know my residence numbers. I have never called from a landline or called to a landline.

I thoroughly enjoy stand-up comic acts. I enjoy watching Steve martin, Carlin and Peter Russells. They are very funny. But I don't laugh at people or situations. And the last time I cried was at Yash Johar's death.

ON PSYCHE AND SWEATING

I think positively. I am totally an impractical optimist, both as an actor and a person. I don't calculate or manipulate. I have taken some really stupid decisions. Fortunately, Allah has made sure they turned out right.

I don't like rumours. Even if I hear something I keep it to myself. I don't like to talk about somebody's affairs.

I was always into sports. I used to play a lot of soccer. And I really miss a 0 minute game out in the open, which I can't play anymore. I will be playing hockey in my forthcoming film but it's different now. It hurts, you know.

I apply mind over body. It's not that you have to have energy to do something energetic. It's the other way around. I have realised that if you start an energetic activity even when you are tired, the energy from that activity gears you up.

ON HIS PERFORMANCE
Frankly, I watch my performance only during the technical trial. I don't watch my film to see what I have done wrong. I have a very strange way of working. I feel I have done no wrong during the shot. As soon as I'm through with the shot, I feel I have done no right. Probably, that's what keeps me ticking.

ON WALKING UP AMID CLAPS
Oh, it's a very deeply emotional moment. Those moments I walk up to accept an award. It puts me in a mixed feeling of being both overwhelmed and humbled.. the pressure of performance also mounts. Yes, it's a very strange moment. Not really describable.

ON HIS BELOVED ONES
My mother is my hero. None else. I am not easily awed by anyone.

I've been with Gauri for 20 years now. I guess it must have followed a track, a pattern. First it was physical attraction. Then a fact that I could talk to her. And perhaps it also helped that she could be my friend and an extension of my family. Finally, of course, the fact I realised that I could not live without her.

One can list a lot of material things, which I can't live without, but my work and family are what really matter to me. The time I have with my kids is something I just cannot live without.

My dictum is work hard to the limits and then push yourself a little more. I hope that is one legacy my kids would take from me.

My wife and children are my best critics. They are very honest with me. My children are very young, so probably they are more forthright. It's a loving disapproval where they are not going to disown me or destroy me for not doing something well. I think, as they grow older they will be a good source of criticism as it will help me change with times.

ON HIS STYLE QUOTIENT
I have been called a style icon and a stylised actor. But frankly, I don't think I am very stylish. I am very easy going. I dress very casually. It's always jeans and a T-shirt. There is no special effort from my part to make a style statement. It's just how I am.

No,Gauri doesn't buy me anything. Among us, we don't have any clothes-talk at all. I think wives dressing up their husbands is silly. It's very un-macho.

ON HIS TAKE ON LIFE
One of the lines from the cover of India Today remains with me till today. It was called the TINA factor for Mr. Rajiv Gandhi – TINA is "There Is No Alternative'. I feel there is no TINA to hard work….

ON TOYS
I just bought a DV cam. I am waiting for Playstation 3 to arrive in the market. And my greatest extravaganza is my house. It's really very expensive.

Thnks for sharing ..nice to learn all these info on SRK 👏

who cares! 😕 😆




hehehe kidding, thanx for the article!

I suddenly feel really sad...a big applause goes sraight from my heart...he's truly one in billion 👏 👏 👏 ...I'll always treasure all his advice 😳

HeHe...ya he is so honest...Thankz for the article...!!