Kerala girl becomes British Deputy High Commissioner for a day

Thiruvananthapuram: A Malayali girl got the opportunity to serve as the British Deputy High commissioner to Kerala and Karnataka for a day in Bengaluru.

Meenakshi Nair, hailing from Kochi, was selected through the ‘High Commissioner for a Day’ competition organised by the British High Commission in India as part of the International Day of the Girl Child on October 11.

Twenty-two year old Nair, who is pursuing a master’s degree in psychology in Thiruvananthapuram, got selected from among 140 applicants. In her entry, Nair has stressed the scope for collaborations between India and UK in fields like AI, renewable technology and digital health care.

The civil service aspirant could have a first hand feel of the duties and responsibilities of a diplomat by occupying the seat of the British Deputy High Commissioner Chandru Iyer for a day, which was on September 23.

"It was an opportunity to understand the power of collaboration, humility, and service. It also reinforced the idea that public service is not just a career, but a calling," said Nair in a statement issued by the British deputy high commission.

During the day, Nair got the opportunity to interact with top officials of the British deputy high commission, Australian consul general Hilary McGeachy and Karnataka additional chief secretary Uma Mahadevan.

As the one-day deputy high commissioner Nair could also visit the AI and Robotics Technology Garage Incubatory and Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological museum, said the statement.