Myanmarese refugees are learning Hindi at a city centre, thanks to films songs

Bollywood balm for settlers

Myanmarese refugees are learning Hindi at a city centre, thanks to films songs

Few of them know about Subhash Chandra Bose. But play a Salman Khan song and they would dance like they have grown on a potent Bollywood diet.

Myanmarese refugees, who have been hounded out of their homeland by the military junta, years of a cruel life, war, misery and exploitation, are now learning the new alphabet of life, courtesy Bollywood songs.
The Young Men Christians Association (YMCA) centre in Budella, Vikaspuri houses more than 5,000 refugeesu00a0-- the highest in any other refugee centre in Delhiu00a0-- from various countries like Myanmar, Palestine, Congo, Afghanistan and some African countries like Somalia and Congo.

Homeless: Chingza Ciinu00a0had to leave her kids behind in Burma. Refugees
recognized by UNHCR in Delhi do not receive a work permit, but only a
residential permit. pics/Rajeev Tyagi

Power of Bollywood
The centre officials told MiD DAY that Bollywood songs prove an important tool to help the refugees learn Hindi so that they could run errands in India and take up jobs in the informal sector.
"World Refugee Day, that fell on Sunday, is like Diwali for the inmates here. A number of children have been rehearsing for the last several days. We are running several community programmes to help them learn Hindi and other communication tools so that they could live with dignity," said Saurabh Chauhan, administrative officer of the centre.

There are around 500- 600 students who study in classes from LKG to sixth standard at the Budella centre. The maximum number of refugees who come every year through the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) to such centers across India, especially Delhi and Chennai, the maximum are from Myanmar.

Woes unlimited
Chingza Ciin from Myanmar, the erstwhile Burma, who joined the centre recently, said: "I came from Burma two months ago all alone. My husband is dead and I have to leave my kids there. I can't go back again as I fled from a junta jail. The military forces us to work with no money and when I opposed they put me behind the bars."

She said she was fast picking up Hindi, mostly through Bollywood songs.
Ciin's compatriot Chang Phai said she crossed the border at Mizoram on foot. "I came with my husband and seven-month-old baby. The kid fell sick due to scarcity of water and food."
Phai said she has not been able to pick up any work in India so far due to language problems and which is why she was learning Hindi.

Kids tales
However, oblivious to the hard realities of life, children of the refugees in this north Delhi camp have get on with their lives dancing and celebrating their new-found independence India. An associate at the YMCA centre told MiD DAY that apart from studying in the school, the children take great interest in learning Hindi as they think it will make them understand the Bollywood songs, they admire so much.
Mention Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif and their eyes start blinking.

" Sonia dil se mila le dil, sonia dil se mila le, just chill chill, just chill chil," Haniang, 13, from Myanmar starts humming instantly when asked which is his favourite song. "Katrina Kaif," apts come the reply when MiD DAY asked about her favourite actress.
"I study in fifth standard and Hrithik Roshan, Sohail Khan and Aishwarya Rai are my favourite actors. I have watched Dhoom II thrice. And my favourite song is Aaja meri bahon mein utha ke le chalu. Tuhi toh mera dost hai," Namboy, 12, from Myanmar said.

Learning experience
"Hindi is a new language for them. We use tools such as books, charts, Hindi channels and movies. They learn faster by singing Bollywood songs," said Shivani, incharge of the centre.
For other Myanmarese families who live in the nearby West Delhi colonies, World Refugee Day observed on June 20 across the globe, have more reasons to mourn than to rejoice.

Like many asylum seekers in New Delhi, they live in over-crowded localities, struggle to earn money for basic survival, and are misunderstood by other communities. They stand out owing to their physical traits, inability to speak the local language, and religious and cultural practices.

Refugees recognized by UNHCR in Delhi do not receive a work permit, but only a residential permit. That too, the residential permit has to be renewed every six months at the FRRO. So, they can only work in the informal sector and there is intense competition for jobs.

Dec 4, 2000 Date on which the United Nations General Assembly in Resolution 55/76 decided that, from 2001, June 20 would be celebrated as World Refugee Day.

High Commissioner's message

As millions of people around the globe were marking World Refugee Day on Sunday, UNHCR chief Ant nio Guterres called on the international community to do more for the forcibly displaced.u00a0 High Commissioner made his call during a press conference in Syria - broadcast on a live video link - where he met earlier in the day with President Bashar Assad and other top leaders. Syria hosts about 1 million mainly Iraqi refugees, according to the government.
"I appeal to the international community to do more to host refugees," Guterres said just two days after the UN refugee agency announced that 100,000 Iraqi refugees have been referred for resettlement from the Middle East to third countries since 2007, a major milestone for one of the world's largest refugee populations.

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