Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, the beloved former President of India, is no more between us. His mortal body passed away on Monday, July 27, 2015.
Dr Kalam has been described in several ways, the most popular being “the people’s president” and “the missile man“. He was one of the finest citizens and for all his qualities and contributions, he was conferred the highest civilian honour the “Bharat Ratna” in 1997. Not to mention, this was just one of the several awards that he went on to receive.
But awards don’t make a man. His greatness lies somewhere else.
Despite his stature, he was an extremely simple man, in his speech and living. He truly cared for people. He loved children and students and used to find opportunities to interact with them. No wonder he was last seen standing to deliver a speech to a group of students. His book “Ignited Minds” was to serve the same purpose, to get young Indians to think big, to contribute to the development of the country and the world. It is a must read.
To know who he really was, you must read the moving tribute written by his personal aide, Srijan Pal Singh. You can read it here.
A friend mentioned that we are truly fortunate to have lived in Dr A P J Abdul Kalam’s lifetime. That is so true. As students, he was someone we looked upto. When we talked about him, he was always referred to respectfully. His books were shared between us with high recommendations.
Yet in all this something really distinct strikes me about him.
I am in love with this poem called “If” by Rudyard Kipling. And I see Dr Kalam as the epitome, someone who lived it to the core.
If you have read If before, I believe you will agree. If you haven’t, here it is for you.
A tribute to one of the finest human beings and a true citizen.
If
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build’em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
His life reflected every single word of this masterpiece. And I am sure he would have loved to send the same message to you and me too.
Srijan Pal Singh, his aide, concludes his post with, “You gave me dreams, you showed me dreams need to be impossible, for anything else is a compromise to my own ability. The man is gone, the mission lives on. Long live Kalam.”
I would like to disagree. I feel he is going to come back on his “Wings of Fire” and take his mission forward.