Dr. Kalam on the upliftment of Indian society :-Apprehending the Master Visionary P-2

We had halted our previous blog with this question - How did Dr. Kalam shift his ever-fixed focus from Science and Technology to serving society?

We had aimed to go through Dr. Kalam's views on Indian youth, nation-building and social upliftment of India. In the previous blog we had seen the first phase of Dr. Kalam's life, that is, being a maestro in the field of Science and Technology in Space and Defense Research. Later on, as we discussed, he went on to be the 11th President of India.

We will now proceed our journey to apprehend the master visionary in the field of serving this nation and working for its upliftment.

Dr. Kalam's book, Wings of Fire, covers in detail all the aspects of his life from being a child till all he had achieved in his scientific career at ISRO and DRDL. To trace the links of his transition from being a scientist to a social server, we need to connect some dots of raw data.

The book Wings of Fire was published in 1999. Dr. Kalam became India's President in 2002. We can clearly see that Dr. Kalam's inclination towards public service has blossomed around this very period. Moreover, on the ending few pages of Wings of Fire, Dr. Kalam writes,

"On 15 October (1991), I turned sixty. I looked forward to retirement and planned to open a school for the less privileged children. My friend, Prof. P Rama Rao, who was heading the Department of Science and Technology in the Government of India, even struck up a partner ship with me to establish what he called the Rao-Kalam school. We were unanimous in our opinion that carrying out certain missions and reaching certain milestones, however important they may be or however impressive they might appear to be, is not all there is to life. But we had to postpone our plan as neither of us was relieved from our post by the Government of India."

He then further writes,

"It was during this period that I decided to put down my memoirs and express my observations and opinions on certain issues."

"The biggest problem Indian youth faced, I felt, was a lack of clarity of vision, a lack of direction. It was then that I decided to write about the circumstances and people who made me what I am today."

It is here that we get Dr. Kalam's awe-inspiring insights on the condition of Indian youth and his own deep down anguish about it.

"It has been my observation that most Indians suffer unnecessary misery all their lives because they do not know how to manage their emotions. They are paralysed by some sort of a psychological inertia. Phrases like the next best alternative', 'the only feasible option or solution', and 'till things take a turn for the better' are commonplace in our business conversations. Why not write about the deep-rooted character traits which manifest themselves in such widespread, self-defeatist thought patterns and negative behaviour? I have worked with many people and organizations and have had to deal with people who were so full of their own limitations that they had no other way to prove their self-worth than by intimidating me. Why not write about the victimization which is a hallmark of the tragedy of Indian science and technology? And about the pathways to organizational success? Let the latent fire in the heart of every Indian acquire wings, and the glory of this great country light up the sky."

At this point of time, Dr. Kalam had already headed numerous national level space projects related to missiles, launch vehicles and what not. As a project director he had managed hundreds of scientists; uniting them, using the best of each one of them, to make a harmonious, successful team out of it. Somewhere around here he might have thought to do something for the people of India apart from his tremendous contribution in the field of science.

Dr. Kalam is widely known for his India 2020  vision which he had shared in his book "India 2020". He is also known for his unbounded love for students.

 His love for students, finds best voice when he said, "Dream, Dream, Dream, Dreams transform into thoughts. And thoughts result in action." He had famously said that teachers are the builders of society and the society can be built only when the students are made proficient in their subjects. He further added that they have to provide a vision for life to the students and also inculcate the fundamentals of values which they should practice in years to come. He dedicated his most life to education.

Furthermore, the entire nation respected him for his humility. We had already seen in our previous blog his qualities of devotion to work, simplicity and sincerity.

What followed next was a very obvious thing. Kalam was elected as the 11th president of India in 2002 with the support of both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the then-opposition Indian National Congress. Widely referred to as the "People's President".

During his tenure as President of India, Kalam made it a priority to meet as many young people as possible one-to-one. He met almost a record-breaking target of 500,000 during his five-year term. When he left office in 2007, he was conferred a loving title of “Kalam Chacha” because he would receive hundreds of emails a day from young people inspired by his encouragement to “dream, dream, dream!” He is reported to have replied in person to nearly all of them.

He returned to his civilian life of education, writing and public service after a single term.

Even his signing off from this world was majestic. While delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong, Kalam collapsed and died from an apparent cardiac arrest on 27 July 2015, aged 83.

He was truly a martyr, earning the honour of dying fighting in the battlefield. Behold such a dedicated character! We bow down to thee.

Here it ends, our series, of trying to decode that wonderful soul.

Thanks,

Daksh Parekh.