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| Sunday, 05 March 2006 |
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UNICEF celebrity Mahesh Bhatt's sojourn in Colombo : Making something out of nothing by Aditha Dissanayake "Stand up for what is right, even if you are standing alone" says a plaque on the wall of a classroom where around thirty girls from all parts of the country are having a lesson on the intricacies of machine embroidery at the Samata Sarana Centre, on Aluthmawatha Road, Mutwal recently. Though the saying on the wall is entirely coincidental no other would have better expressed the life and times of the UNICEF celebrity who was taken around the premises to show how UNICEF through Samata Sarana is helping the deprived children, teenagers and elders of the city of Colombo to lead normal, happy and healthy lives, last Tuesday. Mahesh Bhatt, the controversial director of over fifty Hindi films is one who is ready to stand for what he believes is right even if this means standing alone. He says he is happy to be called an extremist, an extremist when it comes to culture, politics and even religion and does not care about what people say about him, that is that he visits temples to get a high from the status. Today, however, all these issues are of minor importance. Today the focus is on children. About a hundred of them are seated on the sand at the courtyard of Samata Sarana, waiting to welcome the visitor. "All those who love me raise their hands" says Sister Berny. Every hand goes up. "Then, will you promise to be good?" "Yeeeees" come the answer. But its hard to sit cross-legged on the ground while the sun is shining outside when all you want to do is chase a butterfly or play hopscotch. So they wriggle. Tell each other riddles and when the teachers say "shhh, no talking" stare glumly ahead with their chins on their hands wondering when the ordeal will end. Is this the best way to "promote education for all children" as the communique issued by UNICEF with regard to Bhatt's visit says? The organizers had obviously over looked the delays caused by the traffic on the roads of Colombo and so, the guests arrive considerably behind schedule. Bhatt, who grins broadly at the children, nevertheless declines to get closer when asked to do so. He blows kisses at them and the children learning fast, blows back a hundred kisses at "Bhatt Mahattaya". Short speeches are made in which the children are asked if they know where the U.S.A. is, and told that the father of one of the UNICEF officers is from Burma, etc. Eavesdropping on Sister Berny's explanations to Bhatt, one learns that the Centre is for the 'poorest of the poor', "Most of the children here are from the North of Colombo who, if not for us would be involved in selling drugs or sewing gunny bags. When they come to us they have nits even on their foreheads. We give them a place to stay, plenty of food and medicine." says Sister Berny. Upstairs in a classroom where thirty girls from all over the country, are having a lesson in sewing, Bhatt tries to have a conversation with a past pupil who is now an instructor at the Centre. He speaks in English, while a UNICEF officer translates the questions into Sinhala to a girl who speaks only Tamil. Muddle ensues muddle. Gushing over the work the girls had created within the short period of their residential course one officer says they have 'made something out of nothing'. She could well have used the same words to describe Bhatt's visit as a "Special Envoy" to Sri Lanka to "promote education for all children and corporate social responsibility in the private sector". "Making something out of nothing". |
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