Shah Rukh Khan had heaped praises on his school teacher, the late Eric Steve D’Souza when he appeared on the talk show Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai in 2002. The superstar had called Eric the ‘guiding light’ of his life. Eric passed away in Goa on October 13 after prolonged illness. Brother Eric Steve D’Souza taught Shah Rukh at St. Columba’s School in Delhi.

During the conversation on the talk show hosted by veteran actor Farooq Shaikh, Shah Rukh said, “If there is one man in this whole wide world. I don’t have idols or anyone that I look up to, but he is the only man in the world that I really look up to. He taught us how to play football, to play hockey. I had a lot of energy and he channelised it so we didn’t become taporis, or gundas or badmaash because it’s very easy to get misled during youth. And he made sure that he gave us enough work and with great fun, he used to play the guitar for us, sing songs for us. He really is the guiding light of my life. I love him.”

He added, “I speak for all of us in the C-gang and everyone who’s educated at St Columba’s or elsewhere where he is teaching, if there is anybody else on this earth if I think [of] after my parents and look up to, it’s Brother D’Souza.”

Eric was battling Parkinson’s disease and his health was getting worse in the past few months.