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| Shah Rukh: Culture link |
London, July 8: Shah Rukh Khan is to have an honorary doctorate in arts and culture conferred on him on Thursday by the University of Bedfordshire.
However, unlike other dignitaries who have to go to the university for such ceremonies, the Badshah of Bollywood is so big that the university will come to him.
The event will take place at a London hotel in front of an elite audience of 150, with the university's vice-chancellor, Professor Les Ebdon, coming suitably equipped with academic robes, cap, citation, a number of senior colleagues and possibly 20 carefully chosen students who will be instructed not to mob the Bollywood superstar.
Such an unseemly incident occurred two years ago at the Nehru Centre when the sight of the actor in the flesh was too much even for the ladies who lunch. They rushed him.
Shah Rukh, who had offered to mingle with guests over drinks, escaped into the night, leaving Monika Mohta, the director of the Nehru Centre, to fume: "I will never organise another event like this at the Nehru Centre again. And these women are meant to be the elite members of society!"
One reason why the ceremony is not taking place at the university, which has two main campuses — in Bedford and Luton — is that Bedfordshire's 19,000 students have now disbanded for summer. An estimated 1,300 are thought to be of Indian origin, with 200 coming from India.
Bedfordshire was persuaded to honour Shah Rukh by Routes 2 Roots, an NGO in India which seeks to improve relations between Asean states, especially India and Pakistan.
Its general-secretary, Rakesh Gupta, said it was hoped Shah Rukh would visit the university when the students return in autumn for the new term.
He said Routes 2 Roots wanted a suitable Indian personality to have close links with an impressive new media centre in which Bedfordshire had invested £2 million.
"We thought carefully about who could mentor the students and zeroed in on Shah Rukh," Gupta revealed. "He has done a lot for charity, including picking a few villages for electrification where they don't even know his name."
The NGO's honorary secretary, Tina Vachani, also explained to The Telegraph why Shah Rukh was an outstanding candidate. "We do feel Shah Rukh has reached out globally and touched the hearts of people all over the world."
She said there was virtue in establishing a link with a relatively new university rather than others, including Oxford and Cambridge, which were already well established. "Bedfordshire is promoting arts and culture."
She disclosed that by holding the ceremony in London, Shah Rukh had been spared what might have proved an uncomfortable journey by car. "After his operation, his knee and his shoulder are painful. He is not able to travel too much."
Bedfordshire says it "has been actively marketing its programmes in India for over 10 years. There are almost 200 Indian students studying at undergraduate, postgraduate and research levels at the University of Bedfordshire. Whilst the majority of Indian students opt to study postgraduate programmes, there is a growing demand for undergraduate study."
It adds that Bedfordshire "is currently negotiating a number of collaborative links with major partner institutions in India".
Shah Rukh has issued a statement: "I am delighted that Routes 2 Roots nominated me for the honorary doctorate in arts and culture from the Bedfordshire University and it will be my pleasure to receive it personally on 10th July in London."
By honouring Shah Rukh, Bedfordshire is able to promote itself more effectively among Indians. For his part, Shah Rukh becomes part of the small group of Bollywood actors who have received honours from British universities.
Amitabh Bachchan led the way in 2006 when he was honoured by De Montfort in Leicester. The following year, while IIFA was being held in Yorkshire, he received his second degree, this time from Leeds Metropolitan University, which also honoured Shabana Azmi and Yash Chopra.
Shortly afterwards, Leeds Met also honoured Shilpa Shetty for displaying "grace and dignity" during the reality television show Celebrity Big Brother.
According to Joy Kumar, a member of the academic staff at Leeds Met, the promised IIFA chair has not been set up but the university's links with Bollywood are continuing to grow.
"This year we are sending six of our students to Whistling Woods (Subhash Ghai's film school in Mumbai). Sixty of our students went to IIFA in Macao this year. Last year, 75 students went to IIFA in Bangkok."
She believed having more students from India and other countries in the UK helped foster greater cultural understanding. "But I would be lying if I said promoting British universities abroad was not part of their marketing."
Source: Telegraphindia
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