Want my children to study at Yale: Shah Rukh Khan

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan says he had always wanted to study in an institution like Yale and hopes one day his children will come to study at the prestigious US university.

Khan was visiting the Connecticut-based Ivy League institution yesterday as a Chubb fellow, one of the highest honours bestowed by Yale and whose previous recipients have included presidents and Nobel prize winners.

“I have always wanted to study at an institution like Yale. This is such a great opportunity that I wish my parents were alive to see that I have got the Chubb fellowship,” Khan told reporters here before addressing over 1000 students, faculty and members of the Indian community in a 30-minute lecture.

Khan, 46, said he hopes one day his children would study at Yale adding that hopefully they will be good enough to come to the university.

Describing receiving the fellowship as a “humbling” experience, Khan said he is still “numb” by the fact that he has been given the honour. “I have not got over it. I still do not know what I have done to deserve this,” he said.

The Bollywood actor said he would like to tell the students at Yale and across the world that they should relentlessly pursue what they feel will make them happy.

“If you like something just keep on doing it as you never know when you will again get an opportunity to do what you truly love,” he added.

Khan said there is a perception in India that those who work in the creative field like him will not be able to add to society. “I am not being cynical but back home in India people do not really believe that film actors or people in the creative arts really will be able to add to society. I end up being just a part and parcel of media gossip and nonsense which I don't understand at all,” he added.

Detained at airport

Khan was detained at a New York airport for over two hours by immigration officials after arriving from India in a private plane with Nita Ambani, to address students at Yale University.

While Nita, wife of Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, and the rest of their group were cleared immediately, Khan was stopped and was given immigration clearance only after about two hours, sources told PTI.

He arrived for the press meet three hours behind schedule and his hour-long lecture started at about 6 pm, instead of the scheduled 4 pm..

“Whenever I start feeling too arrogant about myself I always take a trip to America. The immigration guys kicked the star out of stardom,” Khan said with some sarcasm while addressing the students. Khan, dressed in a chic black suit, thanked Ambani for getting him to the US. Ambani's daughter Isha is a student at Yale and is also president of the South Asian Society at the university.

The university said about 1700 people, including students, parents and faculty, attended the lecture. Students had waited for hours in the cold weather and rain to see Khan and hear his lecture.

As part of the fellowship, he also attended a reception and dinner at the Timothy Dwight College, the Yale residential College that administers the fellowship. The actor too did not disappoint his fans and after the lecture, he danced to Chamak Challo and recited a dialogue from his movie Don.

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