“The Bonsoir Diaries” by Kumar de Silva is a cocktail of chapters, bursting at their seams with pithy asides, a trail of faux pas, and tit-bits from behind the scenes, marinated with anecdotes and drizzled with nostalgia, revealing everything you never saw on your favourite television show…from the ‘80s through the ‘90s into 2000.
As Bonsoir grew and our viewers increased rapidly over the years, we felt the need for a mascot. The extract from Jacques Offenbach’s “French Cancan” was our theme music and instantly became identifiable as Bonsoir. However, we also needed a mascot to represent the programme.
There were basic requirements. It had to be Franco – Sri Lankan and had to embrace both cultures. We agreed that in as much as the Eiffel Tower was hacked, it would also be lost on the Sri Lankan psyche. So began the brain storming among the team and our friends at the French Embassy.
The Cultural Counsellor at that time was Claude Berengier. His wife Aline was a very creative and artistic woman. We invited her to join us in our quest for a suitable mascot. Lengthy discussions and many deliberations followed until one day…voilà…she came up with a design.
It was an elephant with a “pottu” on its forehead to accentuate its Asian feel. It wore the colours of the French tricolore (national flag) – blue and white and red. We were all unanimous in our acceptance of the new mascot.
There was, however, also cause for parallel concern. Our mascot was an elephant – the UNP (United National Party) mascot! The poor fellow sported the colours of the Government of the time, making it a political mélange of sorts. Fortunately this didn’t seem to perturb politicians from both sides of the divide and so we carried on.
Aline Berengier’s blue, white, and red elephant was an instant hit. It was to give “Bonsoir” renewed vigour and a fresh lease of life. Over the years our little elephant adorned a large variety of Bonsoir merchandise such as t-shirts, caps, umbrellas, postcards, greeting cards, key tags, diaries, coasters, and stickers. We’ve printed about 10,000 calendars with the Bonsoir elephant logo each December and dispatched them to viewers all over the country.
The best advertisement was the Bonsoir t-shirt with the large mascot on its back. I remember my aunt and uncle, Sriani and Daya de Silva, sporting our t-shirts during their daily evening jogs around Independence Square. As they ran round and round the “Father of the Nation” and the magnificent hall behind him, so did the Bonsoir elephant. This took place on a d-a-i-l-y basis over many, many years and the visibility we harvested via the duo was magnificent to say the least.
Aunt Sriani worked at the Business Centre of the Ceylon Intercontinental Hotel at that time, and, given her effusive personality, had a plethora of friends and acquaintances. Visibility this took on a greater dimension.
During the rainy season, it was the large Bonsoir umbrella, adorned with the elephant, which was a hit advertisement for the programme. This umbrella went shopping, it went along the pavements of Guildford Crescent to the Lionel Wendt and along the pavements of Flower Road to the Ladies’ College hall, it walked along the pavements of Kandy and around the lake…it was seen in the Galle town and at the Central Bus Stand, it was in Matara, Kurunegala, Girandurukotte, and Dehiattakandiya. It went all over.
I’ve heard of a saying that “imitation is the best form of flattery”. And so a popular clothing store at that time thought it fit to use our mascot and market Bonsoir sweatshirts. This was, however, short-lived.
I’m still in touch with the creator of “le petit elephant bonsoir”, Madame Berengier who lives in Paris to this day. She is delighted that her little elephant now lives on in “The Bonsoir Diaries” and now has her copy of this book, which she treasures.
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication.
