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| The Modern Mahatma | | |
By: Ankush Khanna
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam turns 76 on October 15. Though he is President of India, his identity is not limited to this one post that he holds. Rather, his work in the field of science and technology in the last 40 years or so, combined with his life style brings him in the league of those few men who have strived all their lives to make India a strong, powerful and self dependent nation.
The most striking feature about President Kalam is his acceptance, love and respect for various religions. Born in a middle class Tamil family in Rameswaram in 1931, he grew up to become a secularist and a true Indian. Unlike the pseudo-seculars and fanatics that our society is full of, Dr Kalam, much like Sant Kabir, imbibed the virtues of various faiths. As he writes in his autobiography, The Wings of Fire, “ I never doubted that prayers in the temple reached the same destination as the ones offered in the mosque.”
During his childhood, his usual day comprised an evening walk with a friend Jallaluddin, who later married his sister Zohara, and their first halt used to be the temple of Lord Shiva. “Circling around the temple with the same reverence as any pilgrim from a distant part of the country, we felt a flow of energy pass through us,” he writes.
The fact that Dr Kalam’s father, a deeply religious person whose day would begin at 4 am by reading namaz, never limited his thoughts to a particular religion, rather taught him the lessons of humanity and love for all faiths proves that no religion teaches violence. It is the interpretation of religion and the ambience a child gets in the early years that decide whether he would become an orthodox or a liberal human being.
As a child, Dr Kalam was fortunate enough to have secular people around him, including his family members. On one hand his grand-mother and even mother told him stories from the life of both Prophet Mohammad and verses from Gita and Mahabharat, on the other, the conversations between his father and the High Priest of Rameswaram temple, Pakshi Lakshmana Sastry had greatly influenced his attitude towards life, religion and spirituality.
Dr Kalam writes in his autobiography, “One of the finest memories of my childhood is of the two men, each in his traditional attire, discussing spiritual maters.” No doubt then, he finds reciting verses from Gita and Mahabharata as easy as reciting those from the holy Quran.
Fortunately, the lessons he learnt in the growing years remained with him all through his life. As the President of India, he not only visited sanctum sanctorum of different religions, including Golden Temple, Hindu, Jain and even Buddhist places of worship, he also missed no opportunity to teach the lessons of peaceful co-existence and brotherhood to the countrymen.
While some people were fighting in the name of religion, class, caste or for the sake of material gains and personal well being, the young Kalam was busy taking steps to make a stronger country.
In his long career spanning over four decades, he made tremendous contribution to the field of science and technology. It was he who made the dream of developing India’s first Satellite Launch Vehicle possible. The SLV-III placed the Rohini satellite into the near earth orbit in 1980. Dr Kalam was also behind the development of Agni and Prithvi missiles and therefore correctly referred to as India’s ‘Missile Man.’ He was also behind the success of Pokhran nuclear tests in 1998.
As the President of India, Dr Kalam used every forum to convey his ideas and vision of a developed India to the countrymen. At the same time he also created history not once but repeatedly, beginning with his visit to the world’s highest battlefield, Siachin, in April 2004. In February 2005, he broke the tradition by being the first head of the state to address the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament reading out from a computer screen instead of a printed text.
He created history once again in February last by becoming the first President to travel undersea. He boarded INS Sindhurakshak and undertook a three-and-half-hour underwater journey. More recently, he realised his childhood dream by undertaking a 30-minute sortie in Sukhoi-30 MKI. It would not be out of place to mention here that Dr Kalam wanted to join the Indian Air Force but could not as he finished ninth in the batch of 25 examined to select eight officers for commissioning in the IAF.
Dr Kalam’s greatness is enhanced by the fact that he has tremendous love for children. This was proved at the time of his swearing in ceremony itself where 100 children from a school run by him in Tamil Nadu were present.
He is the only President who has a lot of love for children and feels that the future of India lies in them. As the head of the state, he addressed children and youth from all over the country. In fact, till the last count, he had addressed thousands of children from all across the nation, giving them guidance, showing them the way and encouraging them to work for the development of India. He wrote ‘Ignited Minds’ only keeping children and youth in mind so that their energies can be utilised to make India a super power.
But his love for children is not one sided. Children love him as much as he loves them and the number of hits his official website (www.presidentofindia.com) gets on any single day is a proof of the fact. On the last Independence Day alone, the website registered over one crore visitors from India and abroad.
Dr Kalam has solutions to many problems that the country is in the grip of. So, whether it is terrorism or poverty, illiteracy or the lack of scientific temper, he has suggested steps which, if implemented, will do a lot of good. In fact, a whole book can be written on the basis of his speeches and suggestions on various issues.
At 75, Dr Kalam’s average daily working hours surpass 18 hours. He does not possess material wealth and has remained a bachelor, probably to remain focused towards his work that centres around the nation. In fact, his entire life is a dedication to India and thus he is a 200% Indian. No doubt then he is the modern day ‘Mahatma’.
At the time when role models are dwindling and most leaders, film stars and sportspersons are known for all the wrong reasons, this man makes for an ideal role model.
Hats off to Dr. Kalam and his nationalism.
Happy Birthday Mr. President.
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