Dr APJ ABDUL KALAM

From Sampath's Desk:

Dr APJ ABDUL KALAM 

(15 Oct 1931 - 27 July 2015)

  

The departure of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam on 27.7.2015 marking the end of a great saga of intellectual patriotism that he lived is perhaps the beginning of another to be carried over by the present and future generations, inspired and ignited as they should be, to make India a world super-power in the not-too-distant a future. He was a blend of a scientist and a highbrow guide especially for children and youth of India kindling passion in them for innovation, creativity and invention in science and technolog. His industrious, illustrious and intellectual journey from a small coastal pilgrimage town Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu in South India to the Rashtrapathi Bhavan, New Delhi, besides being a grand succes, took his ambitions from his native environs right up to our national capital to be carried forward and fulfilled sooner or later by the youth folks of India with a route map already clearly drawn by him for the posterity to follow, achieve and excel further.

 

His life and works have immortalized him. He was the embodiment of live volcano zeal, ocean of knowledge, Tsunami of innovative ideas, icon of initiatives, symbol of simplicity and above all, the darling of humanity transcending all age groups and generations and guiding them ahead.

         

While Chacha Nehru attracted children emotionally, Kalam did it intellectually in his inimitable style of knowledge-based interactions with them. Calling a child a ‘blooming scientist’, he tried and succeeded to a great extent in inculcating an unquenchable scientific knowledge fervour, and penchant in them by asking them to ‘question the answers and not just answer the questions’. He adopted the entire children of India to transform them into an intellectual lot with wings of fire!

 

Thanks to visionaries like him, there is a lilt in the way Indians walk these days. There is a heady talk of India becoming an economic and technological Czar by 2050. He made the Vision-2020 a household name. From now on, India has to go great guns to catch up with the advanced countries as envisioned by this intellectual giant. He asked Indian youth and children to dream even while being awake and work for realizing it. For, he knew well, the dreams during sleep would go into oblivion but its effect would continue its resonance in the dreamers till they are crystalized. During his 5-year stay in the Rashtrapathi Bhavan as President, he carved a niche for himself, showed to the country what a President of the country ought to be, and got himself insulated against any political influence or other biases, a clear lesson to political leaders in general and Presidents, - present and future - in particular.

 

A staunch protagonist and proponent of indigenizing India’s military might aided by missiles operating with mind-boggling speed, he had left behind a legacy for the country to take forward and successfully realize his vision. Needless to say, he was instrumental for India launching many satellites and missiles so far.

                  

After demitting Presidential office, he resumed and pursued a life of his passion viz. spread of education, works on science and technology, and public service particularly mentoring children to mould them into responsible future generation with a determination to make strides in all fields. That till his last breath he continued to interact with students (of IIM, Shillong, Meghalaya at last) speaks volumes of his appetite for keeping himself in constant touch with today for tomorrow’s opportunities!

 

He was snatched away from our midst when he was spearheading a scientific knowledge explosion among children and youth, giving, on that fateful Monday (27.7.2015), a lecture on ‘Liveable Planet Earth’ at Shillong! The path he had paved for us and the advice and guidance he had already given to us will see us through in all our national and international endeavours. He was a prescient, clairvoyant, futurist-dreamer-cum-visionary and thinker ahead of times.  Awards, titles and laurels came to him flooding from all over the world including India's highest civilian award 'BHARAT RATNA'. Though India is missing him, his life and works will continue to inspire generations benefiting the nation to scale new peaks of achievement and glory in every field.

 

It is for India especially its youth to realize his dream of making India a super-power and super-economy sooner than later through his formula - Learning gives Creativity, Creativity leads to further Thinking, Thinking provides Knowledge, and Knowledge makes you Great!

He had written 25 books. 'Wings of Fire' ('அக்னிச் சிறகுகள்' - in Tamil) is his magnum opus.

The best tribute to him would be to fulfill his dreams and ambitions as the visionary ‘Missile Man’ of India and one of the greatest intellectual, inspiring, and envisioning giants and geniuses of our times.

 

  

R.SAMPATH