apj abdul kalam campaigner for
TRANSCRIPT
APJ Abdul Kalam: Campaigner for human
empowerment to the endTeachers and schoolchildren hold a portrait
of former Indian President Kalam during a prayer ceremony in
AgartalaTeachers and schoolchildren hold a portrait of the former
Indian President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam during a prayer ceremony in
Agartala, India, July 29, 2015. Kalam, considered the father of the
countrys missile programme, died on Monday in hospital at the age
of 83, a doctor said. Popularly known as Missile Man, Kalam led the
scientific team that developed missiles able to carry Indias
nuclear warheads. He became a national folk hero after helping
oversee nuclear tests in 1998 that solidified Indias status as a
nuclear weapons state. REUTERSlogoMonday, 3 August 2015A man who
wanted his fellow citizens to work an extra-day
APJ Abdul Kalam, former President of India, scientist with a heart,
campaigner for youth empowerment through knowledge and fighter
against poverty, is no more. At the age of 84, he collapsed to his
death while delivering a lecture to students at the Indian
Institute of Management in Shillong. Just before proceeding to
Shillong, he is said to have tweeted in full spirit that he was
going to talk on a liveable planet to students there.
Being a man practising hard work, workaholism and achievement with
religious fervour, he knew what to do to elevate a poor nation to
prosperity. That is, by working more and not less. Hence, he is
reported to have said before his death: Dont declare a holiday on
my death. Instead, work an extra day, if you love me.
Target the youth and the poor
Kalam conquered the world, giving himself over to hard work,
dedication and ambition. Having been born to a poor Tamil Muslim
family in Tamil Nadu, he had to work as a child to support his
parents. Then, luck came in his way through a benefactor who
supported him to study for a college degree.
It enabled him to complete a degree in Physics at St. Josephs
College affiliated to the University of Madras.
He is said to have expressed his unhappiness about learning there
calling it a waste of time. He then got a scholarship to do a
degree in Aerospace Science at the Indian Institute of Technology,
Madras. This is the learning that paved way for him to achieve
everything that he did in his later life. He led the team of
scientists which propelled India into the missile age by developing
Indias home-produced Missile Agni.
He became the 11th President of India. After retirement, he chose
to be a campaigner for raising the status of Indians. He commenced
his campaign by targeting the youth the future and the poor the
untapped prosperity at the bottom of the pyramid.
Advocating forsustainable prosperity
Kalams philosophy is documented in two books he has published. In
Ignited Minds, published in 2002, Kalam has given his recipe for
unleashing the power within India. In a later book co-authored with
Srijan Pal Singh in 2011 under the title Target 3 Billion, Kalam
described how the rural poor throughout the world be empowered in a
project called Providing Urban-amenities in Rural Areas or
PURA.
The aim was to uplift the poor not through subsidies but through
entrepreneurship with community participation. Thus, PURA was a
project to be tried out globally by amalgamating a number of key
contributors to sustainable prosperity. They are the technology,
people, traditions, skills and entrepreneurial spirit. According to
the objectives of PURA, the societies so developed will be
financially viable (no need for outside support and protection),
socially equitable (everyone will get fair opportunities) and
eco-friendly (no damage to environment).
Child is the first scientist because he asks all kinds of
questions
Kalam went on a mission to meet the young students of India. His
objective was to interact with them face to face. By meeting them,
he sought to understand their problems and assess their
intellectuality. Ignited Minds explains the questions they posed
and how it was difficult for him to give correct answers to some of
them.
He was baffled when a student asked the question: Who was the first
scientist? It would be difficult to answer that question by going
back to history. Whoever the scientist named, it was bound to be
disputed later with better evidence. It was like a riddle posed to
him by a young mind. The question challenged him to think hard,
says Kalam. Then, he says he realised that it was the foundation of
science that he was questioning. Who is the person who starts life
with plenty of questions? The answer came to his lips
automatically, The child.
Children are the very first scientists because they question
everything. If anyone wants to make scientists out of young people,
he should allow them to question everything. The sad irony is that
questions raised by children are encouraged and tolerated. But when
the very same children raise questions as young adults, they are
suppressed, killing the scientist in them instantly. Kalam wanted
to reawaken that scientist a person who makes choices based on
evidence and not on hearsay hidden in them.
361171-360063-apj-abdul-kalam-afpFormer Indian President APJ Abdul
Kalam AFPPoverty is our enemy
In a school in Gujarat, a boy posed a very smart question to Kalam.
He asked: Who is our enemy? The answer in popular belief was a
country or a nation such as Pakistan, USA or even Sri Lanka. But
there can be a completely different approach to this question
forcing one to think out of the box.
That was also a difficult question because any answer given could
be disputed. Kalam put the question to the house to test the brains
of the students.
A solution coming from many brains will always be better than one
designed in a single mind. Poverty came the answer after some
consultation among students amazing Kalam. That meant that the
enemy was within India itself. When a large number of people 450
million in India and nearly three billion in the whole globe were
living in deprivation, why should one think of an enemy out? Fight
out the enemy within first before thinking of an enemy out. The
young brains in Gujarat have taught a valuable lesson to adults.
That includes voters in Sri Lanka today. They are being bombarded
with suggestions of unseen enemies by those who seek their consent
to rule them in the future. But the real enemy is among Sri Lankans
themselves and not in USA, India or China.
Dont sacrifice everything for spirituality but take it as the
guide
Kalams best advice to young people was as to how one should draw a
line between spirituality and materialist living. The popular
belief is that these two goals of living are in conflict with each
other. The belief says that if one pursues a spiritual life, one
should necessarily give up craving for material pleasures. In the
opposite, if one is given to materialism, one does not have
spiritualism altogether. Says Kalam in Ignited Minds: I do not
think that abundance and spirituality are mutually exclusive or it
is wrong to desire material things. For instance, while I cherish a
life with minimum of possessions, I admire abundance for it brings
along with it security and confidence, and these eventually help
preserve our freedom.
Nature too does not do anything by half measures, as you will see
if you look around you. Go to a garden. In season, there is a
profusion of flowers. Or look up. The universe stretches into
infinitude, vast beyond belief.
Kalam argues that all people, species and things are a part of a
cosmic energy where spirit and matter are perfectly in harmony.
Hence, it is wrong to feel that to desire material things is
non-spiritual or shameful. But, of course, says Kalam, following a
life of asceticism has its own benefits. Yet, it should be based on
ones own choice and not on being imposed by outsiders who have
taken the liberty of choosing on behalf of others. In this sense,
Kalam is like a libertarian economist who maintains that people
should keep the right to choose with
themselves.Untitled-1Self-realisation shouldbe the objective
But is Kalam anti-spiritualistic? No. This is his advice to the
youth and planners of education in Ignited Minds: Spirituality must
be integrated with education. Self-realisation is the focus. Each
one of us must become aware of our higher self. We are links of a
great past to a grand future. We should ignite our dormant inner
energy and let it guide our lives. The radiance of such minds
embarked on constructive endeavour will bring peace, prosperity and
bliss to this nation.
What Kalam says is compatible with what economists say about the
ultimate goal of development, namely, creating opportunities for
everyone to attain self-perfection. Economic growth that expands
the availability of material goods and services is only a vehicle
to reach that final goal. Kalams advice to the youth is that one
should keep in mind the needs of the day in material form to plan
for the final attainment in the future.
Sorry, Agni is not to attack any other nation unprovoked
In another school, students were jubilant, as were all other fellow
Indians, over Indias production of an advanced missile system under
Kalams leadership. A student who could not hide his joy, asked
Kalam whether his Agni missile was capable of reaching the US. The
implication was that, if the answer were in the affirmative, India
could bring USA to its knees.
Kalam says that he was startled by this thought. He has very
carefully phrased his answer and told the students of the true
purpose of developing Agni missile system: For us, no country is
our enemy to send Agni there. Particularly, America is our friend.
Agni symbolises our strength. It shows that India has all the
capabilities.
This answer reinforces Kalams stand that education should be
connected to spirituality. The question raised by the student is a
demonstration of how young minds have been corrupted by all those
in society: teachers, politicians, media, religious leaders and so
on. This is happening unabated throughout the globe. One has to
listen to a politician campaigning at the ongoing election in Sri
Lanka today to get the proof. Scientists who have spirituality in
their hearts produce things for the benefit of society. Yet,
politicians with their ulterior motives misuse those inventions to
serve their personal interests and corrupt the young minds to
create suitable grounds for attaining their targets.
Patriotism is beyondpolitics and religion
Is Kalam a patriot? Not in the sense patriotism is defined today in
terms of politics or religion. In politics, patriotism is the
unreserved faith and allegiance to a political dogma being
propagated by a political party.
In religion, it is the advocacy of ones religion to the exclusion
of all other faiths. Anyone who is critical of that dogma or
chooses to follow a different faith is quickly branded as
unpatriotic. If one follows that dogma or practices that religion,
he is considered one belonging to that group and worshipped as a
hero. All his weaknesses are readily overlooked. An example is that
if Bill Clinton of USA keeps a Buddhas statue in his room, he is
considered a hero by Sri Lankas Buddhists. George Bush who does not
is condemned as a person unworthy.
This type of narrowly defined extreme forms of patriotism has been
there in India even in the past. In third century BCE, Emperor
Asoka was prompted to issue an edict announcing that one who
insults other religions by praising his own does more harm to his
religion than doing good for it. This is especially important in a
multi-religious and multi-ethnic society like India or Sri Lanka.
If all other ethnic groups or religions are ridiculed, there is no
nation but different societal segments ready to fight with each
other at the very first excuse.
In Ignited Minds, Kalam has the following advice to the young and
through the young,to adults as well: There are success stories
among failures. There is hope among chaos, promise among problems.
We are one billion people with multiple faiths and ideologies. In
the absence of a national vision, cracks at the seam keep surfacing
and make us vulnerable. There is a need to reinforce this seam and
amalgamate us into one national forum. Perhaps, Kalam has given
this piece of advice not to the youth of India, but to all those in
Sri Lanka.
Knowledge is the power
Kalam has fully understood that key to develop a nation into a
respected power is the acquisition of knowledge. In Ignited Minds,
he has quoted a quotation from the ancient Tamil treatise
Thirukkural for use by the youth of India today. That quotation is
equally valid for the youth of Sri Lanka as well.
Thirukkural says: Knowledge is a weapon to ward off destruction. It
is an inner fortress which enemies cannot destroy. Knowledge is to
be acquired, according to Kalam, through education, information,
intelligence and experience. Thus, a nation should concentrate on
all the four areas of knowledge building and not only on education.
In terms of economics, it is education plus that encompasses
teaching, training, learning, research, development and marketing.
In this sense, the recently introduced Google Loon Project in Sri
Lanka will create the needed ground conditions for education plus
to take place.Untitled-2According to Kalam, knowledge has always
been the prime mover of prosperity and power. Hence, the thrust
throughout the world has been to acquire knowledge. Indias culture,
says Kalam, has been not only to develop knowledge but also to
share it with others, including those in other countries.
According to him, a nation is judged whether it is a knowledge
society by two factors: how effectively it has created knowledge
and how forcefully it has deployed knowledge.
In Kalams 2020 Vision Plan for India, knowledge has been identified
as the prime requisite to make India a prosperous nation. Of the
fivefold strategies recommended, three are directly related to
knowledge: education, information and communication technology and
the development or acquisition of critical technologies.Our
allegiance should beto mankind and not toraces or religions
Abdul Kalam had an extraordinary vision. That was to elevate India
to a great power by building the nation called Indians. In that
nation, there are no differences among faiths, races, ethnic groups
or languages. They are all converged to a single group of people
called mankind.
To realise this vision, he had one strategy. That was to reach out
to the youth and give them wisdom. That was because todays youth
would be tomorrows adults. Those adults in turn will pass that
wisdom on to their children. Thus, his vision is to be realised not
immediately but over a number of generations. Those who crave for
instant products may not value his efforts. But what he did was to
lay the foundation today. That foundation, as he boldly declared,
would bring a better tomorrow.
Youth want changes but they are like dynamite ready for
ignition
He travelled the length and breadth of India to meet students,
interact with them and understand their brains. Youth in any
society want changes to the existing system. Hence, they are easy
prey for crafty politicians, extreme religious leaders and pseudo
nationalists. They are like dynamite and could be ignited easily
destroying themselves as well as those around them.
Sri Lanka had had, to its grave costs, three such ignitions within
four decades. It is still not free from a repeat performance in the
near future. It, therefore, underscores the need for a Kalam here
in Sri Lanka.
Kalam told the youth in India as well as those elsewhere that they
could have a dream for themselves. If they work hard for that
dream, they could succeed. That success is the key to building a
great nation. That was the essential message of Ignited Minds. He
even died while delivering the youth that message. That is the
unique greatness of the man we lost last week.
(W. A. Wijewardena, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of
Sri Lanka, could be reached at [email protected] )Posted
byThavam