The people behind " Make a Wish Foundation"

kolkata: dream merchants with a difference, a new breed of santa clauses? call them what you will - the calcutta chapter of " make a wish foundation"-- a global movement started in 1980 in phoenix arizona (usa), is committed like its 100 plus counterparts elsewhere in the world to help terminally ill children to realise their fondest dreams. the local founder, puneet bagrodia, is a young engineer, himself a victim of leukaemia in 1992.maw ,calcutta has since 1999, met the wishes of 240 terminally ill children aged between two and a half years and 18 years, and targets 500 per year within the next three years. the 'wishes' range from sitting in a oc's chair in a police station or in an aeroplane cockpit to spending a day with indian skipper sourav ganguly or the big b (amitabh bachchan). hritik roshan is predictably is in the highest demand bracket. "we believe in the concept of "wish enhancement"- that is adding value to a child's wishes," says bagrodia. "we want to make it a special event for the child and his/her family. puneet feels that a wish fulfilled changes the life a child dramatically- the child's ability to fight the disease changes manifold, and the outlook to life changes dramatically. in some cases the child lives longer than the doctor could imagine possible. sanghamitra chowdhury , the chief co-ordinator of maw , insists that her own life has changed after joining the cause. " visiting the children in the hospitals makes me feel alive and helps me forget my worries. to see the pure unbridled joy in the eyes of a terminally ill child is a truly spiritual experience. there was this little girl who asked for a special wish, " didi can you take away this disease?- i had no answer to that. namrata negreche, an executive volunteer, finds that the affected children often ask for no more than toy or a book. "when i see how much joy such small things give these children - i realise how blessed we are." for koyeli dasgupta the smile on a child's face makes it worthwhile. sutapa biswas says " the happiness from within" from a wish fulfilled changes a child's entire outlook towards it's ailment. dipali ghosh a student volunteer talks of her special bond with six year old nelson a thalassemic child- who has changed from an indrawn child to a child with a renewed zest for life. "we can have no control over the length of a child's life. but we can, for a brief time, control the quality," says the foundation. obviously the motivators are themselves getting motivated, and the alchemy of love is changing them as well as their wards.