The Coming Of Age Of Karthikeya

As an amateur ham operator and a relief volunteer, Karthikeya wasn't unfamiliar with rescue operations. Upon landing, he trekked along with a relief convoy to get a sense of the havoc and chalk out a plan of action. Tribals had fled villages in fear and were now scattered across the forest. Air-dropped rations had burst on hitting the trees and never reached the villagers.

Karthikeya trekked from settlement to settlement seeking out survivors, delivering basic first aid and what little food he could carry with him. But what he really wanted to do was build a helipad: "This was necessary to bring in the rations. Malaria had broken out. The wells were contaminated. Sheds made of leaves and branches offered little shelter from the heavy rain. Nightly tremors reminded us that the earth was not yet asleep." Villagers who were on the brink of starvation and were subsisting on a wild fruit called kewry were in no mood for any physical activity. Patience and persistence were the key and Karthikeya had plenty of both. Finally, the village elders agreed to send 200 young men. "That done, we radioed the base and choppers flew in with rations. But 1,800 hungry people can eat a lot. Soon the rations were over. The next morning, Colonel Bisht of the army and I led villagers to create a trail by hacking through the jungle to the nearest village. Rations could then be brought by trucks," recounts Karthikeya.

It was during this operation that Karthikeya befriended Philip, a young villager around his age, who had lost his wife and younger son to the tsunami. His older son, 5, was suffering from high fever and desperately needed medicines. The trail that they were hacking was not just a road to Philip. It was a lifeline for his child.

All along, what intrigued Karthikeya the most was the question: 'If you are not a government official, are you from an NGO or the army? Why are you here?' "I told them I was an Indian just wanting to help. All too often, we look at the government or other institutions before we act. What we forget is we can make a difference as individuals. We are capable of effecting change," says Karthikeya.

For this young man, courage during a tragedy isn't about pointing fingers at a non-responsive government or crying slogans. It is about plunging right ahead and acting on ideas which so many of us have but never have the gumption to implement.