BHASKAR JYOTI BORAH Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was a scientist, a leader, the President of India and a Teacher. Born on ...
BHASKAR JYOTI BORAH
Dr.
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was a scientist, a leader, the President of India and a Teacher. Born on 15th October, 1931, at Rameswaram in Tamil
Nadu, Dr. Kalam is one of the most distinguished scientists of India and has
received honorary doctorates from thirty-eight universities and institutions in
India and abroad. He was awarded the country’s three highest civilian honours –
Padma Bhusan (1981), Padma Vibhushan (1990) and Bharat Ratna (1997). His most
significant works are Wings of Fire, India 2020: A Vision for the New
Millennium, Target 3 Billion and Beyond 2020: A Vision for Tomorrow’s India.
His books have been translated into many languages across the world. His books
are pearl of wisdom. His writings contain the power to transform lives. His
thoughts elevate the human mind. Being influenced by his writings, in this blog
I am going to share his three powerful messages that will empower and inspire you to transform yourself.
1.
Be
the Unique YOU:
Dr.
Kalam had met 21.5 million youth in a decade’s time. From his meetings and
interactions with the youths Kalam understood that everyone wants to become
unique. But the challenge is as Kalam said, “...the world all around you is
doing its best, day and night, to make you like everybody else.” Therefore he
appealed to the youths to fight the hardest battle and continue fighting until
the destined place is reached.
To
become like everybody else is very simple and easy but to become the unique You
is difficult and full of struggles. If you surrender your wishes and goals to
your world around, you will never reach your destined place that could make you
the unique YOU! Kalam referred to Von Braun, a very famous rocket designer, who
built Saturn V to launch the capsule with astronauts and made moon walk a
reality. Braun said in 1975, “If I am authorized, I will remove the word
impossible.”
2.
Your
True Friend:
Who
is your true friends? Is it your friends that you meet during your studies in
Schools and Colleges? Kalam said, “Your friend is Knowledge.” He said that
Knowledge can be found at home, in good books, from teachers, from an enriching
learning environment and also by coming into contact with good human beings.
On
11 August 2009, Kalam was participating in a valedictory function of the book
fair at Erode (Tamil Nadu) where he addressed the audience and appealed every
one of the participants of the book fair to allocate at least one hour reading
quality books. He narrated how book reading can enrich them and empower them to
grow as great. He also suggested all the parents to start a library in their
own home so that the children in the house can cultivate a reading habit. A
surprising event happened at the end of the meeting. Thousands and thousands of
people rushed to the bookstalls and within no time most of the books at the
book fair had been sold out.
This
single habit of reading one hour each day in your home library can transform
your life. You can virtually achieve any goal that you will set for yourself.
Knowledge not only dispels ignorance, but it also carries greatest
achievements.
3.
What
worked yesterday, will not work today:
Dr.
Kalam said that we need to constantly evaluate the changing realities of the
world around us and innovate and adapt. He mentioned the idea of ‘What worked
yesterday will not work today.’ He talked about transforming India into a
‘Digital India’. He also mentioned about potentialities of ‘Artificial
Intelligence’ in the near future in changing the world.
Some
days before, I read a book written by Mike
Pettigrew on The Most Powerful Goal
Achievement System in the World, where as a reference he has mentioned how ‘robotics’
and ‘artificial intelligence’ is going to affect every type of employment in
the world. It has become almost an urgent necessity for the people today to
learn new skills; otherwise many will find themselves as unemployed in the not
too distant future. Moreover if today’s youths do not learn the skills which will
be dominating the future, the possibilities of developing the unique You will
be less.
You
must develop your ability to learn new skills at a faster rate to cope up and
grow faster in this fast changing world to create a life you love. You need to
make excellence the foundation in your thinking and action to bring glory to
you and also to the nation. To conclude, I would like to refer to the famous
verse ‘I will fly’ by poet Jalaluddin Rumi which Dr. Kalam had quoted in his
book, Learning How to Fly:
I am born with wings
So, I am not meant for crawling,
I have wings, I will fly
References:
1.
India
2020: A Vision for the New Millennium, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and
Y.S.Rajan
2.
Learning
How to Fly, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
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