Mission Statement

With Mr. C. John David, State Project Officer, UNDP

Here is the mission statement that the kid wrote in regard to his trip to India:

Volunteering In The UNDP: My Mission

by Dinesh V. Kanna

My primary goal in volunteering in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) this summer is to learn about the disaster management process in Tamilnadu and to participate in some of the children-based disaster management activities there.

My parents have inculcated in me the need to serve humanity and be a good global citizen , and my curriculum at school in the International Baccalaureate Program has driven home to me the fact there are so many other issues beyond the academic world that one has to take stock of. In this regard, I would like to make a start by volunteering my time and services in the UNDP, thus putting a part of my summer vacation to good use, and what better a place to start in than the country of my birth and my home province of Tamilnadu!

I am very grateful to the officials at UNDP for granting me this unique opportunity, and I would like to assure them that I will do my very best and contribute to the maximum in all their worthy projects.

Thank you!

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!!!

Road Trips

The travel junkie in me absolutely relishes road trips of any kind. Unlike many others who find such trips tedious and a drag, I revel in them like a compulsive addict. Taking off from my familiar haunts and driving on towards areas unknown, with the long, winding ribbon of the road ahead of me and the never-before seen vistas spreading outside my window is an experience that never fails to energize me. The family and I take mini road trips of sorts whenever the opportunity arises, and I'm really thankful for these small mercies in life. They are a welcome break from the monotony of our humdrum lives, and that's what I find fascinating about them.

To be able to take off somewhere on a whim is a blessing, and more so when time doesn't dictate your schedule and you're free to go on side explorations and mini adventures from the beaten path. I hate to march to the beat of time on such occasions and childishly long to do as I please and stay for as long as I want to wherever I please. Impossible for now, but it's my dream to do so one day. I always say that if I ever won the lottery or ended up with a big windfall, my career be damned ... I would just take off to parts unknown. I would stay for weeks or a couple of months at some given place, experience the culture, see the sights, and then take off for another part and do the same all over again till I 'd travelled to the ends of the world. Wishful thinking, but perhaps it's that primordial wanderlust in me talking!

Another simple thing I enjoy about these road trips is staying at a hotel without any timetable, lolling around on the bed mindlessly switching the television channels, getting up late in the morning because there's no particular rush, sampling the food at the local eateries, stopping and moving on as I please. There's no drill sergeant barking out orders to get going, and THAT I absolutely love. One thing I hate about a planned vacation is that it's so strictly regimented, with as many places to cover in as many days, thus robbing me of the spontaneity of the entire vacation. It's GO-GO-GO because sightseeing is the first priority in such a planned vacation. That's why I prefer the impromptu road trips where I can march to my own beat and do what I (damn well) please. I have decided to explore beautiful, British Columbia this summer, and am eagerly looking forward to many more road trips in the days to come!

Happiness Is The Way!

This was something that was forwarded to me a while ago via email. I normally read and delete any kind of forwarded email, but this was one exception that prompted me to read it over and again for the profound truth of it all. Here it is:

HAPPINESS

We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we're frustrated that the kids aren't old enough, and we'll be more content when they are. After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage.

We tell ourselves our life will be complete when our spouse gets his/her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire.

The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when?

Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D'Souza who said, " For a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."

This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.

So, treasure every moment you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time ... and remember, that time waits for no one.

So, stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, untill fall, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you die, until you're born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination. Work like you don't need money. Love like you've never been hurt. And dance like no one's watching.

Poem For Recitation - II

Here's another tongue twister of a poem with a plethora of -ing verbs describing the waterfalls at Lodore! The poem by Robert Southey is a classic and I won a prize for being the first one in Grade 5 to memorize it and recite it without a single mistake!

The Cataract Of Lodore

by Robert Southey

"How does the water

Come down at Lodore?" ...

From its sources which well

In the tarn on the fell,

From its fountains

In the mountains,

Its rills and its gills,

Through moss and through brake,

It runs and it creeps

For a while, till it sleeps

In its own little lake

And thence at departing,

Awakening and starting,

It runs through the reeds,

And away it proceeds,

Through meadow and glade,

In sun and in shade,

And through the wood-shelter

Among crags in its flurry,

Helter-skelter,

Hurry-skurry.

Here it comes sparkling,

And there it lies darkling,

Now smoking and frothing

Its tumult and wrath in

Till, in this rapid race

On which it is bent,

It reaches the place

Of its deep descent.

The cataract strong

Then plunges along,

Striking and raging

As if a war waging

Its caverns and rocks among.

Rising and leaping,

Sinking and creeping,

Swelling and sweeping,

Showering and springing,

Flying and flinging,

Writhing and ringing,

Eddying and whisking,

Spouting and frisking,

Turning and twisting,

Around and around

With endless rebound.

Smiting and fighting,

A sight to delight in;

Confounding, astounding,

Dizzying and deafening the ear with its sound.

Collecting, projecting,

Receding and speeding,

And shocking and rocking,

And darting and parting,

And threading and spreading,

And whizzing and hissing,

And dripping and skipping,

And hitting and splitting,

And shining and twining,

And rattling and battling,

And shaking and quaking.

And pouring and roaring,

And waving and raving,

And tossing and crossing,

And flowing and going,

And running and stunning,

And foaming and roaming,

And dinning and spinning,

And dropping and hopping,

And working and jerking,

And guggling and struggling,

And heaving and cleaving,

And moaning and groaning;

And glittering and frittering,

And gathering and feathering,

And whitening and brightening,

And quivering and shivering,

And hurrying and skurrying,

And thundering and floundering;

Dividing and gliding and sliding,

And falling and brawling and sprawling,

And driving, and riving, and striving,

And sprinkling, and twinkling and wrinkling,

And sounding and bounding and rounding,

And bubbling and troubling and doubling,

And grumbling, and rumbling, and tumbling,

And clattering and battering and shattering;

Retreating and beating and meeting and sheeting,

Delaying and straying and playing and spraying,

Advancing and prancing and glancing and dancing,

Recoiling, turmoiling and toiling and boiling,

And gleaming and streaming and steaming and beaming,

And rushing and flushing and brushing and gushing,

And flapping and rapping and clapping and slapping,

And curling and whirling and purling and twirling,

And thumping and plumping and bumping and jumping,

And dashing and flashing and splashing and clashing,

And so never ending, but always descending,

Sounds and motions forever and ever are blending,

All at once, and all o'er, with a mighty uproar, -

And this way the water comes down at Lodore.

What an awesome poem to recite! It's a great mental workout, and once you master the lines, I guarantee it, you will not forget the lines till you're old and reclining in your easy chair, maybe 50 years from now!!!

On Psychopaths and Teen Killers

Much has been said about psychopaths and teen killers in history, but the case that has held my undivided attention in recent times is that of the Dutch teenager Joran van der Sloot who was just 17 when he caused the disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba five years ago. Natalee's body was never found, and exactly five years to the day of her disappearance, as bizarre and eerie as that sounds, on May 30, 2010, Van der Sloot brutally murdered Peruvian poker player and daughter of a politically-connected former race car driver, Stefany Flores Ramirez, in a hotel room in Peru registered under his name.Talk about bad karma returning to bite one's butt, Van der Sloot was nabbed by the Chilean police while on the run from Peru, and promptly handed over to the Peruvian authorities. Since then, he has confessed to the murder and sits in jail awaiting his trial.

I remember following the case avidly on Nancy Grace and was deeply rocked by empathy for Natalee's mother, Beth Holloway, a frantic mother desperately trying to find any information about the whereabouts of her daughter who had gone to the paradise island on spring break, only never to appear again. Joran van der Sloot was the last person Natalee was seen alive with, and though he was arrested twice in her disappearance, he was let go due to lack of evidence and because there was no substantial case of any sort without the body. The fact that his father was an influential judge in Aruba helped in keeping Joran from being locked up and convicted. Well, "murder will out one day," as the Revenge Tragedies put it, and now it's vindication time in Peru for Van der Sloot, finally. His father now dead, and the heinous murder having taken place far from Aruba, in a foreign land, there's no escape for the cold, psychopathic killer this time round.

I also recall Van der Sloot's mother proclaiming the inncocence of her 6' 3" 17 year-old, but what struck me the most was the absolute lack of remorse or empathy in the young man. Completely bereft of emotions, and devoid of guilt, as all psychopaths are, he was free to wander the streets for five years, till he struck again and preyed on another young woman he had met in a poker tournament in Peru. The reason he had so brutally murdered Stefany was that she had read an email on his laptop linking him to Natalee's disappearance, while he was out of the hotel buying bread and coffee. When she confronted him on his return, he had simply used his brute strength to break her neck and beat her to a pulp, after which he coolly sat back and sipped his coffee while she lay dead on the floor. The sub-plot to this psychopathic tragedy is that he had tried to extort $ 250,000 from Natalee's mother for information about her missing daughter, and the FBI had set up a sting to implicate him in this nefarious deal. He had been given $ 25,000 dollars as an advance, and alas, it was this money that had funded his trip to Peru, resulting in the savage killing of Stefany Flores Ramirez, before the FBI could arrest him for extortion and wire fraud.

There is no doubt in my mind that this baby-faced killer will be convicted soon, but it is very unfortunate that this young psychopath is not going to get the death penalty, as there is none in Peru, something which Joran van der Sloot so richly and rightly deserves! With all the evidence categorically mounting against him, I wonder if his mother will still be able to proclaim her child's innocence this time!

The Downside To Living Abroad

While most of us choose to immigrate to foreign lands for a life of better prospects and opportunities, the definite downside to it is being too far away from one's homecountry and being unable to travel on whim, thus missing out on births, deaths, weddings, funerals, festivals, sundry celebrations, you name it! Of course, there are other negatives like missing one's friends, families, local ethnic food, previous work, familiar hometown neighbourhoods, etc., but in my opinion, the one that sucks the most is not being there for family events like births, weddings, and funerals. A very steep price to pay when you make the move to foreign lands and then unwittingly become a victim of circumstances that decidedly prevents you from visiting home when need be!

The reason that has prompted this blog post was that my beloved niece (the first grand daughter in our family) Sasha (Chinky to us) got married yesterday to Jeevan in Bangalore, India, and I was unable to be there for the joyous occasion. The best I could manage was talk to her over the phone and then keep thinking, "Oh, by now they must all be at St. Mark's Cathedral ... now my brother must be walking his little girl down the aisle ... now he must be giving her away ... now the Bishop must be solemnizing the wedding ... now all the guests must be proceeding to The Capitol near Vidhan Soudha for the reception" ... and so on. Not adequate enough to compensate for my actually being there! Anyways, for very many reasons that can't go on a blog, I was unable to make it and that's that! But here I am, wishing our "Angel Baby" (that's what I used to call her when she was a roly-poly infant!) and her new husband all the happiness that life can bring and many, many years of togetherness and companionship!!!

Just like this wedding that I missed, I also missed my nephew Julian's wedding. Now he's the proud father of two beautiful girls, both of whom (and his wife as well) I have seen only in pictures. He is now in Australia, and I'm not sure when our whole family will be able to get together, with my sister in California, one brother in Oman, the other in England, and myself in Vancouver! I was unable to attend my mother's funeral because I had just visited her in hospital a couple of months before her death, and it was impossible for me work-wise to return once again to bid farewell to her. The same was the case when my dearest father-in-law passed away. These are times I wish I simply hadn't left home. The distance is too great, the circumstances too difficult, the practicalities too hard, and the heartache too intense! I am not even going to go into the other factors that I mentioned earlier; perhaps in yet another blogpost than this one, because there are just too many of them that I can think of. The list is too big, as I grapple with life in my new country, continents away from my homeland and loved ones!