A young Egyptologist!

Ashwin! I thought about that boy the other day when I met his grand mother. I came to know that the bright lad is in the first year of his engineering course.
The summer of 2003, Paris.
Suma and I was on our 1st European trip. We had that amazing rail journey through the euro tunnel under the English Channel. We were met in the railway station of Paris Nord by Narayanan who was the technical attache at the Indian Embassy. We reached Paris at lunch and in the afternoon we went out to see the boulevards of Paris where the history slept. Our guide was Ashwin!
I was the least impressed by the boy who opted to be our guide and, to some extent I was disappointed with our hosts. Narayanan was a busy person and that day Sheeba was also engaged . But all my apprehensions were dispelled within a few minutes of his introduction of the great Eiffel Tower.
A sail through the placid waters of the famous river Seine which cuts the city virtually half, was exhilerating. The boat ride touched some of the important land marks of Paris. Ashwin waxed eloquently about French Revolution and the part played by Rousseau. Not to be cowed down by a boy of 12, I tried to show off a bit of history myself. But when he started his 'lecture' on Pharoahs, I learnt that my knowledge was woefully inadequate! Such was his description of the great King Tutankhamun, the Pharoah of the 18th dynasty who ruled Egypt between 1358-1340 B.C. by Ashwin that made me stand spellbound!

The only time I found him a bit fumbling was when we visited Louvre. Quite understandably, the boy wouldn't have been so well versed with the famous painters. Still, he was well informed for his age.
It just occured to me when I thought about him a couple of days ago and when I came to know that he is an engineering student, I felt he will go afar in his career. He radiates intellectual brilliance. I wish him all the very best.