Tuesday, February 23, 2016

A Tribute to Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam !

Prologue: Last year, on July 27, a great soul left a huge void in us and traveled towards an unknown place. This post was written to pay a tribute to Late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. Here I am publishing this piece now.

 The corridors of my school building and notice boards were brimming with the ideas, quotes and contributions of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Those were the times his ambitious 2020 plan was the talk of this nation. We had a chapter about this amazing human being in Class 9th English. My English teacher explained about Mr. Kalam's childhood and motivated us in the best way possible. Newspaper columns discussing Kalam's intentions and plan for future made us proud. More than anything else, his auto-biography 'Wings of Fire' had a strong impact on me.

Our school library had a brand new copy of 'Wings of Fire'. It took me quite some time to read this inspirational saga of one of the most influential leaders of this country. 'Wings of Fire' isn't another flashy tale of false hypes and self-appreciation. This book made an earnest effort to explain the reality and unfold the life of Mr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. I loved the poems in this auto-biography and jotted down a few on my notebook. In the coming days, I used these beautiful poems in my elocution and debate competitions. Unknowingly, I had started to admire him.


Source: Wikipedia
The struggles faced by him during his childhood didn't discourage him at all. He went on to give his best in everything he did. He had to sell newspapers to help his family. His journey from being a hard-working student to become scientist was a remarkable journey. Kalam worked in the field of aerospace and has a lot of achievements under his belt. From being a great scientist to a remarkable President, Dr. Kalam achieved great heights. His concern towards the betterment of the society and pragmatic efforts for the emancipation makes him one of the best. Simplistic attire, honest words, discipline and compassion of his are a true motivation to all of us.   

In a nation where President's post isn't considered to be too significant, Dr. Kalam set a new meaning to this post. His tenure marked a revival in the way we looked at ourselves. We had started to dream big and started considering ourselves to be the world's next knowledge super-power. The ambitious Vision 2020 was laid out by our President, Dr. Kalam. Our nation had taken this as a challenge and started working towards achieving this. The part played by Dr. Kalam in inspiring, leading and working towards the development of this country is something incredible. 

After such an amazing run as the first citizen of India, he still continued to strive hard to achieve in what he believed in.His active involvement in various educational institutes in research, motivation and guidance speaks great volumes of this intellectual person.

Dr. Kalam is not with us anymore, physically. But his dreams are with us. Let's give our best in achieving these dreams. 

God has not promised Skies always blue, Flower-strewn pathways All our life through; 
God has not promised Sun without rain, Joy without sorrow, Peace without pain.
― A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Wings of Fire


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