After two months of gruelling training in skating and music, the children are ready for the D-Day that falls on Wednesday when the first show of `Starlight Express' will be held for the staff and students. But the perfectionist Roshan is not yet completely satisfied. "If the skating instructor had not gone for the national games, we could have done much better,'' he told Newsline. But his choreographers, who are trained by Shiamak Davar, have been here for the last one month and the students, numbering around 120 including quite a lot from the junior wing, have now become adept at dancing and acting, that too on skates. The singers, about 50, have been so well-groomed that when they sing they emerge as one voice and with music by Babush Joe Santana of Roshan's group the children can give you goose pimples.

"In fact, Starlight Express is about the aspirations and ambitions of children. If I had more time I would have written a story for them taken from their own life,'' Roshan pointed out. And that is what he did in his latest production, `Graffiti', which opened in Delhi recently and won rave reviews and tremendous response. For `Graffiti', wherein he teamed up with Shiamak, is about those last six months in one's school life. "There was a riot in front of the hall and we had a tough time handling the crowd.''

Roshan is just waiting for this venture with the children to be over to bring out his much-dreamt of pop album which is due for release in January.`Starlight Express' is the highlight of this year's Founder's Week celebrations at the school which will see a drill display on Tuesday and a rock show by the school band, The Noisemakers, on the December 20.