(From left) Salim Shekh, Manish Chowdhury and Sikha Patra discuss the storyboard of a short on Salim. Picture by Sudeshna Banerjee
Sikha Patra and Salim Shekh, two teenagers from an Ultadanga colony feted around the world for being agents of change, have got a call-up from South Africa to share how they have taken on the onus of community development on their young shoulders.
The 17-year-olds, who led a fight for potable water at Rishi Aurobinda Colony, are being accompanied by 19-year-old Manish Chowdhury from Nazrul Pally, a colony opposite Technopolis in Sector V.
Sikha and Salim, described by The New York Times as "spitfires" with "a surprising knack for talking points", have spoken at Said Business School, Oxford, walked the red carpet at premiere shows across the US, been interviewed by Melinda Gates in Seattle and addressed a UN global vaccine meet in Abu Dhabi.
The duo had starred in The Revolutionary Optimists, the award-winning Stanford University-produced documentary that showcased the visionary work of the Salt Lake-based NGO Prayasam in slums and brickfields, and made the colony kids familiar faces in the development circuit. As reported earlier in Metro, the film shows how the two, then 11-year-olds, had led the fight for potable water supply in their area empowered by Prayasam chief Amlan Ganguly's efforts to turn disadvantaged children into change-makers.
"Joel Bolnick, co-founder and secretariat manager of Slum Dwellers International (SDI) saw the film and called Nicole Newnham, the co-director, to say that he wanted to show in South Africa how our model works. He also wants to share their experiences of after-school programmes with us," Ganguly, a lawyer-turned-development worker, said before flying out with the three youngsters for Cape Town, where the The Revolutionary Optimists and three shorts prepared by the teenagers would be screened during a weeklong youth exchange programme.
The SDI is a network of community-based organisations of the urban poor in 33 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Manish may be new to the world stage but is no less of an inspiration in his colony. The leader of the Prayasam team in Nazrul Pally, he is a budding mechanical engineer from Techno India College of Technology and the first in his family to cross high school.
His father is on the ground staff at Nicco Park and has staked his life's savings to put his son in college. Manish ran a drawing school at home and works part time. "Under his leadership, Nazrul Pally has bagged half the awards at Pranaam, our annual award show for community development that pits the areas we work in against each other," Ganguly said.
Hectic preparations for the trip were afoot before the trip. "We are making three five-minute films for screening there," Salim said. Two are based on him and Sikha. Acting their roles are younger kids who have signed up with the NGO after school classes.
"Our children are experienced actors as we regularly stage street plays. They have also learnt the use of video camera and editing software from representatives of Adobe who donated the software some years ago," Ganguly said.
Such has been the quality of their work and so innovative the makeshift shooting equipment they have created that Adobe Youth Foundation has decided to sponsor the Grassroots Film Studio that will soon start at the NGO. "Salim and Manish are experts in editing and Sikha wants to be a documentary filmmaker," Ganguly said.
For the South Africa trip, Ganguly had taught the younger lot how to create a storyboard and selected the best two out of the 18 entries. The short on Sikha's life, for instance, has been directed by and is on the basis of the story board created by 16-year-old Sangita Bose from the slums of Santinagar, in Chingrihata.
Monalisa Mondal, a 15-year-old from Mahishbathan, is playing the younger Sikha's role. "I talked at length with Sikhadi to understand why she joined Prayasam and how she managed to convince her parents to let her do so," Sangita said. The third film was shot by Manish on their work in Nazrul Pally.
In course of the youth exchange programme, the trio have plans to teach kalaripayattu, a Keralian martial art they had picked up from a resource person who had earlier visited Prayasam, to the others and put up a zumba dance to the song Jai Ho. "An American (intern) didi had taught us zumba. We performed to this song at our award show," says Sikha.
In turn, they will learn boxing and water surfing from the South Africans. "These are part of their after-school programmes (called Future Champs and Waves of Change) which have yielded positive results in under-resourced and vulnerable communities," Ganguly said.
Both colonies were abuzz with news of the African trip. "'So you are going to the jungles?' is all we are being asked. Many think we are going where Chander Pahar was shot. We are having to tell people that Africa has cities too," laughed Manish, who took tips from Salim and Sikha. "He is asking us how people spend time on long flights and how to handle questions at the press conference. Another concern is food," said Sikha.
Salim, who till recently was working 10pm to 5am on alternate nights as a green cop to earn Rs 2,500, and Sikha, who takes tuitions to fund her educational expenses, will appear for the Higher Secondary exams in March but for now an African summer beckons.