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Malaysian NRI, Shanker
was just a month away from his 24th birthday when he died in WTC attack September 12 2003 WASHINGTON: A Fulbright fellowship has been established in the name of a Malaysian of Indian origin who perished in the World Trade Centre terrorist attack in New York two years ago. Vijayashanker Paramsothy, popularly known as Shanker, was, by all accounts, a young man in love: he loved living in New York City; he loved rooting for "his" British soccer team, Manchester United; he loved photography; and he loved making friends from all over the world. But all that love of life was snuffed out when, on September 11, 2001, terrorists attacked the World Trade Center while he was at work on the 103rd floor of the South Tower. Paramsothy, an exceptional student with a promising career, came to the US in 1996. Within five years, he obtained both a bachelor's and master's degree from the College of Insurance in New York and at the time of his death was working as a financial analyst for Aon Risk Consultants, Inc. According to colleagues who survived the attack, Shanker was able to reach the 56th floor of his building after the first plane exploded. Once the second plane crashed into the North Tower, however, his supervisor became too injured to move. Shanker urged his colleagues to continue their evacuation, but he decided to stay on the 56th floor to assist his supervisor. Both Shanker and his supervisor perished when the tower collapsed. Shanker was just a month away from his 24th birthday when he died. He was one of three Malaysians who died in the terrorist attack; altogether, 2,801 people died when the World Trade Centre's towers collapsed after the terrorists attack. To his parents, Sivapakiam Paramsothy and Navaratnam Pathmawathy, Shanker was their only child. The US Department of State and the Fulbright Commission in Kuala Lumpur decided to establish a new annual scholarship in Shanker's name that would allow more Malaysians to pursue higher education in the US. When his parents heard of the plan, they recognised that encouraging cross-cultural understanding was a fitting way to memorialise their son -- and that such understanding should be reciprocal. On the second anniversary of his death, Shanker's parents pledged support for a reciprocal fellowship to send one additional American Fulbright student a year to study in Malaysia. In recognition of their son's age at the time of his death, they pledged $23,000 a year for the next 23 years, for a total of more than $500,000. "This scholarship will commence in 2004, and we hope it will eventually reach beyond 2027," Paramsothy said at a State Department ceremony that announced the fellowship. At a ceremony Thursday night, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) Patricia Harrison thanked Shanker's parents for their donation, establishing the Fulbright-Vijayashanker Memorial Exchange Fellowship. She said Shanker "exemplified the spirit of the Fulbright Programme in his academic ability, his professional promise, his intellectual curiosity, and his interest in mutual understanding". The American-recipient side of the Fulbright-Vijayashanker Memorial Exchange Fellowship will begin in 2004 IANS |
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