Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, whom Saborini met, and Sourav Ganguly and Shahrukh Khan, whom she wants to meet

Calcutta, June 9: A diehard fan called on Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at Writers’ Buildings this afternoon.

If the roll of stars on her wanna-meet list ? Shahrukh Khan and Sourav Ganguly for example ? is anything to go by, the chief minister must have felt like a superstar when he sat for a chat with 10-year-old Saborini Saha.

Her 10 minutes with the man she had failed to meet thrice before began with a complaint. “I have come to Writers’ thrice, but the policemen didn’t let me meet you,” Saborini said.

“Where do you study? Tell me about your family,” Bhattacharjee asked. “I have parents, grandparents and 48 birds at home,” came the reply. The chief minister must have been humbled ? he was not the only one saddled with the daunting task of governance. The answer had him in splits.

“Baap re, what do you do when they all chirp together? How do you sleep? What do you feed them?” the chief minister, known to be a nature enthusiast, asked.

“Grass seeds and tulsi pata (basil leaves). In fact, my father often forgets to bring the food I ask for, but he never forgets the tulsi pata,” revealed the Gokhale Memorial student, dressed in a crisp white school uniform.

“She had come to Writers’ thrice before in the hope of catching a glimpse of the chief minister. I told her it’s not possible to meet him easily,” said Sudipto Saha, who mans the UCO Bank counter at Writers’.

Today, Saborini approached the chief minister’s driver with a letter she had penned, seeking to meet him. She was taken to the chief minister’s security personnel, who then took her to the chief minister’s confidential assistant. The girl was then ushered into Bhattacharjee’s chamber.

“I had been waiting for this day? I had seen him on television and in newspapers. But this was a wonderful experience,” gushed the girl after the meeting.

As she talked, Bhattacharjee obliged her by signing two autographs ? one in English, another in Bengali.

So, was it enough? No.

“I would love to meet more celebrities.” And who are they? “Sourav Ganguly, Shahrukh and Aishwarya Rai, in that order. I have been to Sourav’s house, but he wasn’t there,” she said.