Three Little girls who are powerful women today - Ali Peter John

I have lost count of the number of little girls I have seen growing up before my eyes and who now dazzle my eyes with the way they have taken their places as women who matter, not only to their parents and friends, but also to the world around them and the world as a whole- ALI PETER JOHN

"One of the first little girls I saw was the only daughter of Jeetendra" Ali Peter John

One of the first little girls I saw was the only daughter of Jeetendra. His wife, daughter and son Tushar who were hardly ten had come to see their father in Hyderabad because he was so busy that he lived in the city which he had accepted as his "karmabhoomi".

I was talking to Jeetendra who I used to meet very often those days because he had literally taken the industry from Bombay to Hyderabad and I had to go to Hyderabad almost every weekend because there was always a new film being started or I was invited to witness one of his shootings.

One afternoon, Jeetendra was sitting with his little daughter and was looking a little worried.

"Tushar ki mujhe koi fikar nahi hai, yeh kuch na kuch kar lega , Mujhe bahut fikar hoti hai Ekta ki" Jitendra

He then started talking about his daughter and said ," Yeh jo Tushar hai iski mujhe koi fikar nahi hai, yeh kuch na kuch kar lega , lekin iss moti ka main kya karoon? Mujhe bahut fikar hoti hai iske baare mein jab main sochta hoon."

The years passed, Jeetendra's "raj" in Hyderabad had come to an end and he returned to Bombay which was not willing to give him the same kind of work that he used to be given before he left for Hyderabad and founded his own empire there.

And he was astounded when he came to know that the same daughter he was worried about had together with her mother Shobha started a company called Balaji Telefilms and were making a number of serials.

He was pleasantly shocked when that same daughter who gave him some sleepless nights told him that she together with her mother had started their own company

He would not have to do anything on the creative side but only come to the office in the afternoon , sign some cheques and go home at six.

Jeetendra couldn't and still cannot believe that the girl he had spoken about in Hyderabad was Ekta Kapoor now and who had been awarded the Padmashri which he couldn't even dream of in the sixty years of his career.

"I used to see another little girl going to school from Cliff Towers where I used to go to meet my friend Subhash Ghai" Ali Peter John

I used to sometimes bump into her in the lift and see her dressed in her school uniform. She was not the noisy and boisterous kind of school girl, but very quiet and dignified for her age.

I lost touch with her for a long time and was taken by one big surprise when I realized that the same girl I used to see in that lift was now Meghna Ghai, the President of Whistling Woods International who was taking the kind of decisions very few women are given the opportunity to take and I found that she had the ability to run a film school, of course with the guidance of her father, the showman Subhash Ghai.

"I was having breakfast with Anil Kapoor one morning when I saw a girl in her school uniform going to school with her school bag around her shoulder" Ali Peter John

I had asked Anil who that girl was and he very shyly had told me that she was his daughter Sonam.

I asked Anil in which class Sonam was studying and he looked very shy and sheepish and had mumbled and crinkled his small eyes and said , " Mujhe pata nahi, woh Sunita ka department hai".

I had heard that the girl has grown up fast and Sonam proved it right

I saw a girl working as an assistant of Sanjay Leela Bhansali and I asked Sanjay who the girl was and he said "Anil Kapoor's daughter, Sonam".

And within the next one year Sonam Kapoor made her debut with Ranbir Kapoor who was also an assistant of Bhansali as the leading lady of "Saawariya."

Within no time she was among the leading actresses, a woman known for her fashion statements and her intellectual and controversial talk.

She is now married and it is to be seen what steps she will take now. In the meanwhile her father, Anil is 65 now is still as young as he was when I saw him that morning in his house with his daughter.

I don't know how many more little girls I will see grow up now , but I hope I see many more girls who will grow up to be women who will shape the future.

I have just seen a pretty little girl and I don't predict, but I know that she will storm the world sweetly one day soon. And her name is Aarti. I challenge you to look out for this girl in the very near future.