New Delhi: The British High Commissioner Sir James Bevan feels her cute smile will light up the hallowed Centre Court at SW 19 as well as bring luck to the nation’s big hope Andy Murray, but 11-year-old Pinki is blissfully oblivious of any such expectations.
Pinki, who underwent a successful cleft repair surgery, which was later captured in the Oscar-winning documentary Smile Pinki, has been bestowed with the honour of flipping the coin before the start of the men’s singles final at the Wimbledon.
“Mujhe Wimbledon nahin maloon hai, lekin wahan coin ucchalne ja rahi hoon (I have never heard of Wimbledon but I know I’m going there to toss a coin),” a beaming Pinki said during a send-off organised by the British High Commission in association with charity organization ‘Smile Train’.
But talk to her about the giant ‘London Eye’, the grin widens. “Waisa gol, gol ghumne wala jhoola mere school mein hai, chhota wala. (We have a ‘jhoola’ in our school, a small one).”
“I like English, Hindi, Mathematics, drawing and sports also. But, I want to become a teacher when I grow up,” said Pinki, who wore a lovely red and black polka dotted dress.
“She is going to see London and I cannot think of a better place right now than the Centre Court at Wimbledon where she’ll flip the coin. All people smile in the same language and I think Pinki’s smile will light up London,” Bevan said.
“But, more than that I think Pinki’s smile will also bring luck for us. As in the last sixty-odd years no Englishman has won the professional gentlemen’s singles title but this year Pinki might just bring luck for us,” Bevan added.
“It’s a privilege to help a charity that endeavours to put smile back on people’s faces. And, as Pinki goes out from here, she’ll go out as the ambassador for all the cleft lip patients around the world apart from seeing and learning about a new country. She likes English language and sports and she’ll enjoy and learn about England and its sporting culture through Wimbledon and through glimpses of the Olympics we’d hosted last year,” he added.
The 11-year-old who hails from a small village in Mirzapur district in Uttar Pradesh was one of the patients of Smile Train, the world’s largest cleft lip and palate non-profit organisation headquartered in New York, which has been chose this year as the charity partner for Wimbledon.
“As per the itinerary, Pinki will also visit the Thornton’s chocolate factory in Derbyshire. And, on July 7 before the toss, she’ll be taken on a Wimbledon’s history tour, the old galleries and the museum located there before moving out for sightseeing the next day to Buckingham Palace and Big Ben,,” Mamta Carroll, Director, Smile Train, stated. (PTI)