Rite Of Passage

Greeting Mr. C. Kamaraj, IAS, Madurai District Collector

Dinesh making a point to the District Collector

When I started this blog last summer, the kid categorically told me that I was not allowed to brag about him on my blog. Though there have been many occasions and reasons to do so, I have managed to keep him off the radar, that is, until now. I am now inclined to turn a deaf ear to his request, or command rather, mainly to talk about an inevitable rite of passage that every young person goes through, and thus incidentally brag a little about my son. Every rite of passage that he has gone through has thrilled me no end, but the latest is one where my 14 year-old has travelled halfway across the globe, by himself, for an ennobling cause that I as a parent can be proud of. I am reminded of the medieval Moroccan scholar Ibn Battuta who ventured far from his home to undertake the haj at the age of 21 and went on to travel extensively through the lands of every Muslim ruler of his time. And I have a very strong understanding of how his mother must have felt when she had to let her precious son go on adventures unknown in the 14th century!


Well, my son is volunteering his time and services in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in India. At the tender age of 14, he has bravely crossed the seas to participate in the Disaster Relief Management projects of the UNDP. What an honour, privilege, and unique opportunity to be able to spend his summer vacation in such a worthy cause! The husband and I are extremely proud of his abilities and accomplishments, and we hope this will be a "life" experience for him that enriches his mind and ennobles his soul. If his compassion for humanity increases even a little, and his empathy for those suffering deepens by even just a little bit after this trip, then we have no other expectations to beat those! If the values we have tried to teach him as a child have taken root and result in fruition, we have nothing more to ask for as parents.


Letting him go on his own was the most difficult thing we have ever done as parents. After he had gone for his security check, we came out of the airport and sat in the car, parked under the trees next to the fence from across the runway. We sat for an hour and a half, waiting for the British Airways 747 jet to taxi down the runway and take off. And when it did, it was difficult to digest the fact that there was our baby inside the plane, careening down the runway and taking off to a destination (albeit our homeland) thousands of miles away, far away from us, and all by himself. I simply bawled my heart out and then I realized what a true rite of passage indeed it was for him!


Well, his journey was safe and he has gotten down to brass tacks already. He is being mentored by Mr. John David, State Project Officer of the UNDP, and is being chaperoned by two UNDP workers, Mr. Ravi and Ms. Vanitha. He is documenting every single day of his trip - his meeting with senior government officials, United Nations officers, workers, and the like. He has already met Mr. Sundaradevan, IAS, Commissioner of Revenue Administration, and Mr. Karthik, IAS, Officer on Special Duty/ Relief and Recovery, both of whom are high-ranking officials of the Indian Administrative Service and were gracious enough to talk to the "Student Intern" from Canada and encourage him in his ventures in India. He has also met Dr. Ramanan, Director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, Indian Meteorological Department, who answered all of Dinesh's questions and explained to him about the whole process of weather forecasting and cyclone warnings. On Day 2, in Madurai, Dinesh has met the City Health Officer and the City Fire Officer, who have interacted with him and told him about their work in disaster management. He is now getting ready to meet the Madurai District Collector and the District Health Officer. What an unbelievable opportunity for a child his age!

My son has gone well-prepared, having done a lot of research about disaster management. He is set to make a speech on the role of children in disaster management, do a PowerPoint presentation on the role of the disabled in disaster management, has already done a flow chart on the sequence of functions in disaster mangement, and written out his mission statement, but what excites him the most is the PowerPoint presentation he is going to do before school children (Grades 8 to 12), on the role of children in the disaster preparedness process, with the District Collector presiding over the function. He is very enthusiastic, excited, and upbeat about his month of voluntary work thereafter, raising awareness among children about disasters and involving them in the preparedness process of disaster management.


Now tell me, isn't that an awesome experience for a 14 year old, and don't I have bragging rights as a proud Mom? We are extraordinarily proud of our little boy, and who knows, he left Vancouver as a boy, but after going through this rite of passage, he might very well return to us a man!!!