beautiful things for the poor.
I first met him in Mother Teresa's Home for the Destitute and
Dying (Kalighat) where he was helping to run the men’s
section. At the same time he was also studying filmmaking in
the evenings.
Then out of the blue one day I got an email from him telling
me that he was leaving Kalighat to make a film. I thought this
was a bit strange since he loved his work there. (He had been
volunteering there fulltime for six years, working six days
a week, without any holidays or sick days. (This chapter of
his life he called his "schooling".) Then wham bam
the next thing I hear is this young, excitement machine had
only gone and turned it on Hollywood style: he had recruited
some of the most famous actors and actresses, technicians etc
in India and in no time shot and directed his first film. In
it he also plays the part of a dying destitute left for dead
in the gutter. To look the part, that is emaciated like someone
about to die of starvation, he only ate one meal a day for nearly
six months! But don't worry all you mothers out there, after
the film was made and many protests were received, he was soon
back to eating properly and is now as fit as trout!
Then a little while after the filming was completed, I got an
email from him raising the high jump bar and explaining why
he had made his film.
At Kalighat, although it was a home for the destitute and dying
and a patient would have to be near dead or in a very bad way
to gain entry to it, sixty percent of the patients would recover.
So when they were physically well, they would be given a little
money and some new clothes and then made to go back out onto
the street again. This was necessary due to the high demand
for the beds. The big problem with this was that many of the
patients were mentally disadvantaged and unable to look after
themselves on the tough streets of Kolkata. So it was a matter
of weeks before you would see these patients bought back to
Kalighat, again near dead. So in response to this need he decided
to open a very special home called 'Aamar Nijer' or 'My Own'.
It was started as a home for unloved people and this was why
he had made the film, to help pay for the home and to share
some of the lessons he had learnt from all those years working
with the people called ‘the poorest of the poor’.
Korak’s first film is called 'My Karma' and you can read
more about it and see some still shots at www.korakday.com/MyKarma.htm.
The first member of Aamar Nijer was Nitai. Nitai was a patient
at Kalighat who was mentally disadvantaged. As soon as he could,
Korak adopted him as his son and the family of Aamar Nijer was
begun. You can read more about Nitai and other family members
stories at http://www.korakday.com/Eternal.htm
and http://www.korakday.com/Introduction.htm
To give you an idea of some of the beautiful goings on at Aamar
Nijer here is Korak's story of when he decided to give Nitai
a birthday for the first time in his life.
"The family who lives upstairs had a birthday for their
youngest child and then later I showed Nitai some stills from
'My Karma' where there are some birthday shots. He started talking
about birthdays a lot. He always said he never had a birthday
in his life and he would talk about cutting cakes and putting
a needle in the balloon and then something will fall on his
head. When I would ask for his day of birth, he had no idea!
Since the day I told him that he became a part of my family
(during last year February) so we will calibrate his birthday
for the 28th of February. Try to imagine: he is the happiest
person now! He is telling everyone about his birthday and is
inviting everyone he comes in contact with. He has told my parents
(who have accepted him like another son) of all the things he
needs as gifts from them. As he is unstable in his brain, so
I do not feel this strange, but it is 'strange' for other people
to see this big man of a big age climbing up the iron-work of
the balcony and yelling at the passing aircraft. He believes
that all those friends who are family members now, who came
from different parts of the world and stayed at Aamar Nijer
- My Own Home here in Kolkata, pass every night in airplanes
and he talks with them every night and invites them also every
night. "
Like Korak says once Nitai was regarded by everyone to be nothing
more than a piece of trash in the street and now he is a much
loved family member. Magnificent! So there you have it champions,
that's what can happens when people care. Stay tuned to the
next episode when we take a peak at what's growing from some
of the seeds planted by the Green Saint in the nursery that
is the poorest slums of Kolkata. Take care,
Bye now!
Other articles in the series:
The Green Saint of Kolkata, Part
2, The Inspirational School of Hope, 29 August 2003
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