Heaven must be
overloaded with geniuses by now, especially in the last year or so. Writer
Sujatha left a few years ago, creating a void that may not be filled. The
triple shockers from the film industry happened next, with Balu, KB and MSV.
And now, the man who inspired a nation to make its own missiles, rockets and
even atom bombs is no more. Despite the achievements his biggest inspiration
was not in science after all. It’s in the minds of the youth of India where Dr.A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam sowed the seeds of a better India. In a country as diverse as ours
in every sense of word and its people who had given up on the very leaders they
had so emphatically voted for power, it needed a miracle man to unite them all
in self belief. And along came Kalam. How could a man, quiet, soft spoken with the most genial smile
and all of five feet five with no political background manage to do that?
As a nation, we
have witnessed for the past so many years, two faced leaders who would beg for
power and crush the very people who put them there. The problem with diversity
and large population is that, any reform that can and should happen almost
never happens. Vote bank politics has managed to divide the nation more than
what the British ever did. So how did Kalam manage to get through all these
barriers? Truth! A man who lives by the very principles he preachers is
endangered in this era. Plus, he was clear where his teaching must reach. Not
the politically brainwashed seniors and middle age men whose very ambition is
family and just that (not that I find fault in that) but it is in the
uncluttered minds of the youth is where he found the path to a better India.
Which is what made him write books, made him travel all across the country and
take up presidency when it was offered. To him it was not a seat of power or a
route for personal wealth, like how a certain lady showed later, but a chance
to reach out to more people and elevate their minds. Although for the most
part, he was nothing more than a glorious final signature, he did manage to
stamp his authority in various areas without being public about it. His legacy
as a president was not in the documents but the change he made in the minds of
people either by his speeches or by his sheer personality (Remember his refusal to shed his locks after he became president!). One look and you
know that here is a man I can believe and follow.
Although I am
deeply moved and happy for all the posts that bombarded the whole nation in
social media since last evening, I am deeply worried about what is going to
happen next. In a time where news reporting is so dramatized and everybody is
looking for the next big incident to talk about, are we going to let the memory
of this great man slip away from us like any other news? We talk about it for
two days frenetically and move on to the next Bollywood controversy. How long
before this gets boring? He told us to dream. He himself dreamt of a nation,
strong, just and powerful. Are we going to keep dreaming or we going to make
his dream and vision come alive? India 2020 is not viable anymore, not at the
rate we are travelling. But sooner, rather than later, we can all make it
happen. That is what we can do to the man who rejected the idea of family and
liaisons just so he can work on his vision. “Unlike the political leaders, we
are his heirs.” It is in what we do for our nation and humanity that will make
him rest in peace.
Writer Sujatha, who was a classmate of Dr. Kalam during his St.
Joseph’s days, recalls in his memoir “Katradum Petradum” the times he shared
with the great man. He recalls how Sujatha and his friends, apart from their
studies, would indulge in movies, dramas, cricket and stuff while he was always
about work and learning more. He also recalls an incident in the Russian
Consulate in New Delhi where Kalam was offered Vodka by the Russians. Unable to
refuse the drink as it might seem rude, he accepts the drink, secretly pours
all the drink in Sujatha’s glass and poses instead with a glass of water.
Needless to say, our writer was not himself that night! They were planning to
write books on various topics including the nation and ways to make it a
superpower. Now wouldn’t that be a masterpiece! Every time they met to discuss,
either of them would become busy with some work or the other. Now, safely
aboard in heaven and far away from the magnificent chaos that is India, you can
finish that book now Sujatha Sir. Just find a way to drop it on to us.
