It was in October 2020, when Wroclaw, a city in Poland, had a square named after Dr Harivansh Rai Bachchan, a poet par excellence and Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan’s father. Sharing the news Bachchan had tweeted, “The City Council of the City of Wroclaw, Poland has decided to name a Square after my Father. There could not have been a more apt blessing on Dushhera than this. A moment of extreme pride for the family, for the Indian community in Wroclaw and India. Jai Hind (sic).”
The association between Poland and the Bachchans is nothing new, for it goes way back. In July 2020, students of the University of Wroclaw had paid homage to the Hindi poet by reciting his popular poem ‘Madhushala’. In 2019, Amitabh Bachchan visited Poland where his father was honoured at one of the oldest churches of the country.
The city has been named as the UNESCO City of Literature. Hundreds of dwarf-like statues decorate streets and squares of this beautiful city. And one of most important and famous among them is the one which commemorates Dr Harivansh Rai Bachchan. His miniature statue adorns the center point of the city, sitting quietly just at the main Square of the Old Town, erected on December 2019, by the superstar himself.
Now, Wroclaw’s Grand Orchestra of Christmas Charity (GOCC) Foundation decided that Dr Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s commemorative dwarf in Wroclaw will form the centrepiece of the fundraising efforts as its central symbol in promoting the event.
The GOCC (WOSP) is the greatest charity event in the Polish calendar, and it has as its focus the health and well-being of the most disadvantaged in our society (originally, it was for children, then children and elderly). It is a serious fundraising effort based on fun and involvement. Most of the activities in the fundraising effort are carried out by an army of local volunteers.
The City of Wroclaw offered to help as much as possible and due to the QR Code on the famous dwarf commemorating Dr Harivansh Rai Bachchan it will be visible all around the world, thereby aiding easier worldwide donations. The fundraiser, known as The Grand Finale, will be held on January 30, 2022.
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