Calcutta: First came the annual Murali Harmony Cup, five years ago, and now Muttiah Muralidharan's Foundation of Goodness (FoG) has started the first Village Heartbeat Empowerment Centre in Jaffna, Sri Lanka's premier city in the North, which bore the brunt of the civil war which held centre stage for decades.

Till 2009, Jaffna would make headlines which wouldn't really be of the pleasant kind. However, times have changed and the areas once controlled by the outlawed LTTE are back/returning to the national mainstream.

Murali, of course, is doing his bit aided by donors who don't ask questions and a dedicated associate in Kushil Gunasekera.

Gunasekera, in fact, is the co-founder of FoG.

Delighted with the opening of an Empowerment Centre in the North, Murali (the most successful bowler in Test cricket) told The Telegraph: "I'm delighted at being able to help the rural communities via FoG...

"Being able to extend opportunities to the disadvantaged and giving them the chance to excel in life fills me with gladness...

"We'd already opened six Empowerment Centres, so the effort is to try and make a difference in as many lives as possible...

"That, indeed, drives us."

The Empowerment Centre in Jaffna is actually on its outskirts and the property which houses it has been donated by a UK-based Sri Lankan.

According to Gunasekera, the property would at different times in the long-drawn out civil war, be occupied either by the LTTE or the Sri Lanka Army.

Perhaps, even by the Indian Peace Keeping Force, which was sent by Rajiv Gandhi, a decision which led to his assassination soon after he'd left the Prime Minister's chair.

So, the property has seen plenty of action.

"The property had been damaged and had to be restored by FoG... But, yes, it has a history possibly because of its strategic location," Gunasekera said, speaking to this Reporter on Saturday.

Generally, the Empowerment Centres provide children of rural areas access to learning English, computers, sports facilities and access to developing livelihood-generating skills.

Barring the sports facilities, everything is under one roof.

It's an interesting model, most suitable for the Third World.

Well, jumbo kudos to Murali, who has used his name to change the lives of thousands. Also, this service to society started not yesterday but in 1999, when FoG took wings.

As for the Murali Harmony Cup, it's the legend's initiative at helping in reconciliation. The best players from the tournament, both from the North and the South, are selected for a Unity Team which gets exposure overseas.

Murali is a proud Tamil, but Sri Lanka is "more important than the community."

No wonder Murali, now 44, is quite different from others who too have tasted enormous success.