Shah revealed that he had sold his bicycle and run away from home soon after schooling. ``I am glad my parents found me within three months or I wouldn't have been here,'' said Shah, cautioning the students to ``never even think of emulating me''. Shah went on to graduaute from the Aligarh Muslim University before joining the Film and Television Institute of India.

Shah decided in standard IX itself to become an actor after watching Geoffry `Shakespearewallah' Kendall perform in his school, he said. He also told the students how he ``detested Hindi films but worked in themnevertheless only to make a living''. Remarked the ace actor, ``I think I'll give up acting in films altogether and concentrate purely on theatre in another five years.'' There is no dearth of talent in the country, all that was needed was for somebody to tap it, he opined.

Shah also lauded the efforts behind the exhibition, which will display over 5,000 titles as well as educational CD-roms, cassettes and educational aids for a week. Said B Mahesh, the proprietor of Paperback, his passion for books led him to this endeavour. ``People who want to buy books have to go all the way to town, so I decided to start a well-stocked place in Thane itself,'' Mahesh told Express Newsline.