Film actress Sadhana ex-alumni!

I found this little titbit of info while searching on google. An old Times of India article dated, 29 Mar 2002.

Since the article has expired its page, a cache is available.

a link to the cache:

http://209.85.175.104/search?q=cache:8FCW5V-NybMJ:timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5183141.cms+auxilium+convent+wadala&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=18&gl=in

excerpts:

sadhana has shunned the limelight ever since she retired from films. today, she lives in santa cruz with a battery of efficient maids and her pet dog: i was born in karachi. after the india-pakistan partition in 1947, we (my parents, elder sister sarla and i) fled to india. i was only six years old. we moved from delhi to benaras to calcutta before settling down in mumbai in 1950. now i can't imagine living without the mumbai sea. my dad was a prosperous zamindar in karachi but in mumbai we had to start from scratch as we had left karachi with just a bag of clothes. we had originally thought that we would return home as soon as the rioting stopped. after a brief stay with an aunt in colaba, we moved to sion in houses built specially for refugees. nonetheless, i had a great childhood in mumbai. main apne mohalle ki dada hua karti thi, i was a tomboy. i made the best maanja and i would fly kites while a chamcha of mine would hold the firki. i loved eating golas and paani-puris. i still remember how i would purchase a pav in six paise, slice it and stuff it with alloo tikki and channa. my parents enrolled me in the fifth standard at auxilium convent, wadala. did you know, i had never been to school before this because we were constantly on the move. my mother (lali) had done a course as a montessori teacher, so she taught me at home. however, since i spoke sindhi at home i found it difficult to communicate with other kids though i could read and write beautifully in english. maybe that made me a bit of an introvert in school. i was hooked onto hindi films right from the beginning. mom would offer us a choice between seeing a film at broadway or chitra or a trip to juhu beach or hanging garden. i would opt for the hindi film, especially if it starred dev anand and nutan. every republic day, i would look forward to a ride in an illuminated tram all the way from king circle to the museum near regal cinema. tab raaste bahut khali hua karte the. those times, the 'in' car was the landmaster, an earlier version of ambassador. our pastime would be to stand in a friend's balcony and identify the cars driving past — "landmaster, fiat, look, look, imported car!" we couldn't afford to buy our own car. i sat in one and learnt to drive only when i bought my own ambassador after my debut film, love in simla. i knew it from my childhood that i would have to support my family as i was born to my parents at a late age. i attended morning college so that i could work in the second half of the day. a girls' school leaves you very unprepared for the world. aap chhui muyi se hote ho, koi ladka agar baat karta hai toh jaan nikal jaati hai. thankfully, mumbai is very supportive of people who want to work and that gave me confidence. while doing a play in jai hind college (it gave preference to sindhis but i got admission on merit), i was spotted by the producer of a sindhi film, abana, who cast me as a second heroine with sheila ramani. an advertisement of abana in screen caught sashadhar mukherjee's eye and he gave me a break with love in simla. mumbai seemed like a paradise on the premiere night of love in simla. i wore a navrattan set and two dozen gold bangles! i didn't have enough money but, can you believe it, the jeweller told me to pay him later because he realised how important my premiere night was to me. i started working at the age of 16. even in those days, there would be jam sessions every sunday morning but i never attended any. earlier, there was no one to take me and when i became a star, it just wasn't possible anymore. but i made up for it by enjoying my sunday in a special way. i'd lunch with my college friends at nanking, catch up on the latest english film at eros or regal, and then lord it up in gaylord. it's a misconception that dress designers are a recent phenomenon. bhanu athaiya designed most of my clothes and i picked up western clothes from the pompadour at taj. what i like about mumbai is the fact that people here give you space and yet rally around in your hour of need. besides, it's the only place where, even in the 60's, i could announce that i wanted a whiskey with coke without raising too many eyebrows.