Punjabi boy wins kudos in New Jersey




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Sarbjit Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service


Chandigarh, September 8
The telephone of 16-year-old Punjabi boy Jayesh Kapoor does not stop ringing. Right from the Governor of New Jersey and the Mayor of New York to other bigwigs, who matter in government structure in the USA, have felicitated him for attaining the ultimate rank of Eagle Scout, which is a rare distinction for the students who enroll as Boy Scouts of America (BSA).
Jayesh, who had his early education in Chandigarh’s Ankur Nursery School and then shifted to West Windsor High School in Plainsboro, New Jersey, in the 8th standard after a brief stint in a school in Kuwait, is expecting a letter of praise from the American President, Mr George Bush. Jayesh will be honoured on October 8 at a function organised by the New Jersey state. He has requested his grandfather, Mr Roshan Lal Kapoor, and grandmother, Mrs Prem Kapoor, who live in Sector 15, to be present on that occasion as it will be a big day for him. Mrs Prem Kapoor told The Tribune that she along with her husband would be flying to the USA on September 21 to share her grandson’s moments of happiness.
To attain the rank of Eagle Scout, Jayesh has earned several merit badges and headed a service project that benefits the church, the community and his school. Over all, he has won 47 merit badges, including the Hindu Religious Dharma award. As a part of his leadership service project, Jayesh led a crew to make, assemble and place six wooden benches along the trails of the Plainsboro Preserve, a wildlife sanctuary and popular jogging destination.
“Scouting has given me a list of accomplishments and, more importantly, a myriad of memories that I know I will look back upon for the rest of my life”, says Jayesh. “I had the good fortune to learn a lot from my grandparents, who instilled the values of self-less service in line with the true karma philosophy in me in my early childhood days”.
Jayesh had earlier earned the Club Scout’s highest award, the Arrow of Light. Last July, he completed a high adventure trip to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. “It was a trip of a lifetime”, he describes it.
A plus II student in West Windsor School, Jayesh loves debates, concert choir and is an active member of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). His real passion, he says, however, lies in studying foreign affairs and international policy. His father, Mr Jeewan Jyoti, is a software engineer with New York Times and his mother, Mrs Payal Kapoor, who holds a master’s degree in law, is employed as an insurance company in the USA.
 
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