The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : NRI teenager volunteers with Aid India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 15, 2007
ePaper

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

NRI teenager volunteers with Aid India

Meera Srinivasan

Sricharan Gopakumar has compiled books

— Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

Sricharan Gopakumar

CHENNAI: Sricharan Gopakumar is not your average teenager. Not just because Harry Potter does not fascinate him, but because he is sensitive to a lot of things that children his age may, perhaps, not be aware of.

For the 13-year-old, who has finished class seven in California, this vacation in India has been “very interesting.”

Sricharan has been volunteering with Aid India, a non-governmental organisation engaged in several developmental projects, especially for children. He has been writing, editing and, more importantly, learning a lot.

The books on plants and deserts compiled by him will soon reach thousands of children who do not have access to educative reading material. He was flown to the United States as a three-month-old baby from Bangalore, after his father found a job there.

A few years ago Sricharan, along with his mother, started volunteering at a homeless shelter in the U.S. “I found out that not every child is as fortunate as me or my friends.”

Later, he learnt about Aid India and got in touch with the non-governmental organisation. “I was interested in the work they do in the area of developing reading materials for children. I thought I could do a good job for children because I’m a child too,” he says.

Sricharan has compiled two books. The first book on plants covers topics such as an introduction to plants, parts of a plant, how they make their own food and how they provide food to human beings. The other book on deserts has been compiled and edited by him. Besides editing other books, Sricharan has also chosen appropriate pictures to go with the text.

He has also been visiting a few schools to which his books will be sent. “I wanted to see who I’m helping and it was amazing to be with them.”

“I have learnt a lot in this trip [spanning a little over a month]. I plan to contribute from there [the U.S.] and come here every year and do my bit. We are fortunate to grow up with literature around us. What about those who are not?” he asks.

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