By PRABEER SIKDAR
DEHRADUN, 27 Apr 2009:
The 71-year-old Sunny Singh, President of the Guniyal Gaon based Tons Valley Education Trust (TVET), is the man, who Bollywood actors Saif Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan should be thanking for their present star status.
“I knew both the families well before their marriage,” said Sunny Singh, who now runs a Guniyal Gaon Education Centre, where 51 girls (one got married today) from rural families based in Purkul, Shigally Hill, Chandroti, Guniyal Gaon, etc., are taught basic computer skills and spoken English.
The matchmaker
According to Singh, who had his education at The Doon School, he was a neighbour of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi while in Delhi. “Being close to where Pataudi lived (Hilly Road, Delhi) we naturally became friends,” he claimed, adding that their short-lived but enduring friendship came to an end after he joined The Doon School in 1949.
“Later, destiny took me to Calcutta, where I got a job with General Electric Company as a Purchase Officer in 1964 (he retired in 1996 as Director, Administration in the same company). This is the time I met Sharmila Tagore, alias Rinku, at a party, and eventually became friends,” he recalled.
His flowing beard (a la Rabindranath Tagore) and his impeccable Bengali is a pointer to his close connection with West Bengal, where he made many friends later in his life.
Talking about his mediatory role in the marriage of Sharmila Tagore and Pataudi, he said that ‘both the families were strongly opposed to the marriage’. “Eventually, a settlement was reached between the families, as per which, the actress (then Sharmila, after the success of Kashmir Ki Kali, is said to have shifted base to Bollywood from the Bengali film industry) had to change her religion,” he added.
Singh, who then was about 25 years, had reportedly convinced Gitindranath Tagore (Sharmila’s father as well as her grandmother, who was related to Rabindranath Tagore) and Pataudi’s mother, for their wedding in 1964-65. “I still have some photographs with the Tagore family,” he said, while showing some from his album.
Doon connection
After playing a crucial role in that high profile love story, Singh, who has made Doon his home, is still bringing positive changes in the lives of his students through his Guniyal Gaon Education Centre (started in November, 2006) . “I have developed a good number of friends, who do not mind donating for a social cause,” he said, while showing boxes of clothes, sandals, sarees, etc., some of which were sent by the likes of fashion designer Ritu Kumar.
Although at Guniyal Gaon Education Centre the girls are charged Rs 50 per month (four teachers in all), their every requirement, from sandals to higher education including a good portion of their wedding expenses is taken care of by TVET.
Bride No 2
Among the invitees list sent by Singh to attend one of his students’ wedding today, Singh also invited BL Joshi, Governor of Uttarakhand. “He has been instrumental in cutting red tape to get access to broadband and electricity connection for my school,” he said, while showing a Raj Bhavan letter dated Jan 24, 09, which was addressed to Singh.
The latest student of Guniyal Gaon Education Centre (GGEC), who tied the knot today, is 21-year-old Urmila. “The boy works in a Call Centre in the city,” said Pawan, Urmila’s brother, who looked after the wedding arrangements in Shigally Gaon.
According to Singh, who blessed the young couple this afternoon along with other GGEC students, all girls on their marriage, are given household gifts as well.
“We have introduced this concept was because, during marriages in villages surrounding Guniyal Gaon, poor parents often sell their household jewellery or land or borrow money from moneylenders at huge interest rates.”
"They are like my own daughters," he reasoned.
Future plans
"In the days ahead, I want to empower more rural girls by starting vocational courses in tailoring, nursing, etc., at Guniyal. For this, I would approach the appropriate authorities for grant of land,” he told Garhwal Post.
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