CHENNAI: Looking at the cheeky, talkative 11-year-old that Anand is today, it is difficult to imagine him not having had a ‘regular’ childhood. Dressed smartly in a new tailor-made suit, this is a far cry from the hand-me-down rags that he so proudly wore whilst rag-picking at the infamous Kodungaiyur dumpyard, two years ago. “Do I look all right?” asks the son of a deceased rag-picker hesitantly, as he gets used to his new ‘Western’ attire.While Anand’s poignant tale of how he was rescued from the dumpyard and has been successfully rehabilitated by NGO MCCSS in Perambur, was reported by City Express last year, it is a point of pride that he has been invited to share his tale at the Global Opportunities Conference, hosted by the Appalachian State University in North Carolina, USA. “It is a really big thing for him and for us at MCCSS,” says a jubilant Isabel Richardson, Executive Secretary of the organisation. This is the reason why the boy has been forced into “warm” clothes befitting an international conference. When word spread that he needed travelling clothes and a suitcase, people came forward to help the boy till his checklist was complete.When Isabel visited the varsity last year, she spoke about the rehabilitation project for children who thrived off the filth in the dumpyard. As a result, she was invited to be the keynote speaker with the condition that Anand, one of the project’s success stories would come along to tell his tale. “I happily agreed,” she recalls. But then the hassles began — for someone who was devoid of everything from a birth certificate to formal education, getting a passport was near impossible. “We had to trace his mother after his father died and managed to get her to attest to his birth date. Somehow things fell through,” she adds.Having remained optimistic through the visa interviews and the multiple briefings, Anand seems a little sad that his other friends and brother (rescued from the dumpyard and are now in a ‘bridge school’) cannot come with him. He cheers up though when he sees his photo and name posted on the Conference website, “That’s me,” he points happily. Is he looking forward to the flight, a foreign country or the experience? “Everything,” he says thoughtfully and adds, “I just hope I can bring a sari back for my mother!”Mayor overwhelmed by boy's spiritWhen Chennai Mayor Saidai S Duraisamy first heard about Anand, he was apparently moved. After having met the boy at a programme on Sunday evening, he invited him to his office at the Ripon Building on Monday afternoon, to wish him luck before he set off to America on Monday night.
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