Evolution Of A Responsible And Happy Citizen

*The address and interaction of his Excellency Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam Sir in my college on 22-March-2013. "She drives ignorance away. She welcomes the bliss of life."   I am delighted to address and interact with the students of Nagarathnamma Meda Kasturiranga Rashtreeya Vidyalaya College for Women (NMKRV), Bangalore on the occasion of its 4th Decennial Year. celebrations. 40 years of service in the field of education, what does it mean? Earth rotates on its own axis, day and night comes, when earth rotates around the Sun, it takes 365 days. NMKRV College for Women, being in Earth had orbited around the Sun 40 times. My Congratulations to the management, Faculty and staff of NMKRV College for Women. Friends, today I would like to share few thoughts on the topic "Evolution of responsible and happy citizens".

Friends, it is said, "History has proven that those who dare to imagine the impossible are the ones who break all human limitations. In every field of human endeavor, whether science, medicine, sports, the arts, or technology, the names of the people who imagined the impossible and achieved are engraved in our history. By breaking the limits of their imagination, they changed the world."

Unique You Dear friends, Look up, what do you see, the light, the electric bulbs. Immediately, our thoughts go to the inventor Thomas Alva Edison, for his unique contribution towards the invention of electric bulb and his electrical lighting system. When you hear the sound of aero plane going over your house, whom do you think of? Wright Brothers proved that man could fly of course at heavy risk and cost. Whom does the telephone remind you of? Of course, Alexander Graham Bell.

When everybody considered a sea travel as an experience or a voyage, a unique person questioned during his sea travel from United Kingdom to India. He was pondering on why the horizon where the sky and sea meet looks blue? His research resulted in the phenomena of scattering of light. Of course, Sir CV Raman was awarded Nobel Prize. Do you know an Indian Mathematician who did not have formal higher education but had inexhaustible spirit and love for mathematics which took him to contribute to the treasure houses of mathematical research - some of which are still under serious study and engaging all-available world mathematicians' efforts to establish formal proof? He was a unique Indian genius who could melt the heart of the most hardened and outstanding Cambridge mathematician Prof G H Hardy. In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that it was Prof. Hardy who discovered a great mathematician for the world. This mathematician was Of-course Srinivasa Ramanujan for whom every number was a divine manifestation.

Do you know about a great human being with a spirit of service, who also won a Nobel Prize for her contributions? She said and practiced, "Give, give and give, until it hurts". She is Mother Teresa. Friends, there was a great scientific lady who is known for discovering radiation. She won not one, but two Nobel prizes, one for physics and another for chemistry. Who is she? She is Madam Curie. Madam Curie discovered radium and she was doing research on the effect of radiation on human system. The same radiation which she discovered, affected her and she sacrificed her life for removing the pain of human life.

Friends, I have, so far, met 15 million youth in a decade?s time. I learnt, "every youth wants to be unique, that is, YOU! But the world all around you, is doing its best, day and night, to make you just "everybody else". In the home, dear young fellows you are asked by your parents to be like neighours children for scoring good marks. When you go to school, your teachers say "why not you become like the first five rankers in the class". Wherever you go, they are saying "you have to somebody else or everybody else". Now dear young friends, how many of you would like to be unique yourself. The challenge, my young friends, is that you have to fight the hardest battle, which any human being can ever imagine to fight; and never stop fighting until you arrive at your destined place, that is, a UNIQUE YOU! Friends what will be your tools to fight this battle.

Criteria for achievement for youth How does achievement come? There are four proven steps; having an aim in life before 20 years of age, acquiring knowledge continuously, hard work towards the aim and perseverance to defeat the problem and succeed. Now you know, how the unique personalities got evolved and also you realize how to transform yourself into unique you. And above all, what you need a will power and confidence, that you can achieve great deeds. In this connection let me recall famous verses of 13th century Persian Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi:

I will Fly and fly - "I am born with potential. - I am born with goodness and trust. - I am born with ideas and dreams. - I am born with greatness. - I am born with confidence. - I am born with wings. - So, I am not meant for crawling, - I have wings, I will fly - I will fly and fly" My message to you, young friends, is that education gives you wings to fly. Achievement comes out of fire in our sub-conscious mind that "I will win". So, each one of you assembled here and elsewhere, will have "Wings of Fire". The Wing of Fire will indeed lead to knowledge which will make you to fly as a Doctor, or an Engineer, or a scientist, or a teacher, or a political leader, or a bureaucrat or a diplomat or anything you want to be. Since, I am in the midst of you, I would like to present my visualization of what type of India you would be in after your educational endeavors.

Distinctive profile of the nation 1. A Nation where the rural and urban divide has reduced to a thin line. 2. A Nation where there is an equitable distribution and adequate access to energy and quality water. 3. A Nation where agriculture, industry and service sector work together in symphony. 4. A Nation where education with value system is not denied to any meritorious candidates because of societal or economic discrimination. 5. A Nation which is the best destination for the most talented scholars, scientists, and investors. 6. A Nation where the best of health care is available to all. 7. A Nation where the governance is responsive, transparent and corruption free. 8. A Nation where poverty has been totally eradicated, illiteracy removed and crimes against women and children are absent and none in the society feels alienated. 9. A Nation that is prosperous, healthy, secure, devoid of terrorism, peaceful and happy and continues with a sustainable growth path. 10. A Nation that is one of the best places to live in and is proud of its leadership.

Integrated Action for developed India To achieve the distinctive profile of India, we have the mission of transforming India into a developed nation. We have identified five areas where India has a core competence for integrated action: (1) Agriculture and food processing (2) Education and Healthcare (3) Information and Communication Technology (4) Infrastructure: Reliable and Quality Electric power, Surface transport and Infrastructure for all parts of the country and (5) Self reliance in critical technologies. These five areas are closely inter-related and progressing in a coordinated way, leading to food, economic and national security. I would suggest each one of you to select an important task pertaining to any of the 10 pillars which I have described based on your interest and core-competence. This will make you a partner in national development. Now let me discuss with you about the life of women leaders who have created history due to their quality of leadership in their domain of work.

Indomitable Spirit Sometime back, I was reading a book called "Everyday Greatness". I would like to share one event which demonstrates the power of leadership with compassion. Let me narrate the details of experience which happened in Mexico. A riot was raging in La Mesa Prison in Mexico. Twenty five hundred prisoners were packed into a compound, which had been built for only six hundred. They angrily hurled broken bottles at the police who fired back with machine guns. Then came a startling sight. A tiny five feet two inches, sixty three year old woman, calmly got into the crowd, with outstretched hands, in a simple gesture of peace. Ignoring the shower of bullets, she stood quietly and asked everyone to stop. Incredibly everyone did. No one else in the world, but Sister Antonia could have done this. Why did the people listen to her? All because of her decades of service to the prisoners by her choice. She sacrificed all her life for the sake of prisoners lived in the midst of murderers, thieves and drug lords all of whom she called her sons. She attended their needs round the clock, procured antibiotics, distributed eyeglasses, washed bodies for the burial and counseled the suicidal. This selfless act of love and compassion generated the respect among the prisoners to control themselves and urged them to do what she wanted them to do. What a great message for humanity? We have seen a leader with compassion is there for even prisoners, but we need leaders with compassion for the voiceless people of millions in the nation and the world.

Planting of trees is the planting of ideas Friends during my Presidency, I met a great a lady Prof Vangari Mathai in Rashtrapati Bhavan honouring her for a great contribution in the green environment. After discussion with Prof Wangari Mathai unfurred life in front of me. Prof Wangari Maathai, who has a passion for environment and bio-diversity and is contributing to the sustainable development and growth of planet Earth. Wangari Muta Maathai was born in Nyeri, Kenya (Africa) in 1940. She was the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree and to become chair of the Department of Veterinary Anatomy and an Associate Professor. Wangari Maathai was active in the National Council of Women of Kenya and was its Chairman in 1981-87, where she introduced the idea of planting trees with the people and continued to develop it into a broad-based, grassroots organization whose main focus is the planting of trees with women groups in order to conserve the environment and improve their quality of life. Through the Green Belt Movement that Prof Maathai has evolved innovatively a movement with 600 community networks across Kenya and branches in 20 countries resulting in the plantation of 31 million trees. She and the Green Belt Movement have received numerous awards, most notably The 2004 Nobel Peace Prize.

Prof Maathai gives a new meaning to the important act of planting a tree by extending it to the whole life, when she says, "the planting of trees is the planting of idea." She highlights the qualities of patience, persistence and commitment in planning and realizing a future, which is what we learn when we plant trees and wait for them to yield fruits for the next generation. She believes that no matter how dark the cloud, there is always a thin, silver lining, and that is what we must look for. The silver lining will come, if not to us then to the next generation or the generation after that. And may be with that generation, the lining will no longer be thin. India values Prof Maathai?s involvement and contribution in furthering the relationship between India and Kenya and had the privilege of honouring her with the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding for the year 2005. She concludes her Nobel Lecture on December 10, 2004 like this: quote, "As I conclude I reflect on my childhood experience when I would visit a stream next to our home to fetch water for my mother. I would drink water straight from the stream? I saw thousands of tadpoles: black, energetic and wriggling through the clear water against the background of the brown earth. This is the world I inherited from my parents". Prof. Maathai would like all of us to preserve this inheritance.

Friends, I was thinking the national dynamics, particularly in our way of life and situation at home and the thinking of the youth and the experienced in the midst of many education systems and the law of the land. We may have many and many Laws. But, based on my study, evolution of a happy home will result into beauty of character in all the members of the family. Hence, I would like to share a few thoughts on Happy Home.

Happy home profile A beautiful home (we have 200 million homes in India) emanates from four dimensions. One comes from spiritual home, second comes from mother?s happiness, third comes from transparency of the home and the fourth comes from providing a clean and green environment. This combination of four traits indeed brings out happy home. Let us study, how we can achieve that.

Spiritual Home: Friends, let us look at a small family home with father, mother, a son and a daughter, or two sons or two daughters. In this home, both parents earn. I visualize in this little home, a small home library with at least ten great books and in this home parents have to inculcate reading habit among their children by reading books during breakfast or during dinner. The whole family should be together atleast at one meal so that they communicate and discuss freely. When they are all together on the eating place, the mother or the father takes a book from the home library narrates a story of ethical and moral values where the children participate in the discussion and offer their comments. Such a reading habit triggers the child to read the book in detail and collect more information on such stories which put into practice in their day-to-day life. Some children may also go to the school and discuss such instances with other children which can benefit a larger community. This is how the seeding of reading habits can be inculcated among the young minds. In addition, I visualize a little prayer room where every morning or night the whole family, including children prays and offer their thanks to the Almighty for receiving blessings.

This family get-together becomes a store-house of knowledge with ethical values and systems for the children over a period of time and such children are always engaged in carrying out their responsibilities in a spirit of excellence which comes out of dedication and self-esteem of being the best in whatever they do. Let us study the second dimension of the family. Mother Smile Mission: Whenever I meet the young at various places, be it school, or college or University, I give them a mission. The mission is how to evolve a happy home. I ask them to take a oath, as follows:

From today onwards, I will make my mother happy. If my mother is happy, my home is happy. If my home is happy, the society will be happy. If societies are happy, State will be happy. If State is happy, the nation will be happy.

A transparent home: Friends as I said, we belong to a society of 200 million families. Every family has four members; father, mother, two daughters or two sons or one son and one daughter. There is a crying need in the nation to develop a transparent society, a corruption free society. Dear young members, I have a mission for the youth of the nation, that is the daughter or son of the family. Friends, every one of you assembled here will know, after all corruption emanates from a few homes. It is estimated, 30% of our Indian homes are corrupt. That means approx 60 million houses may be corrupt. In a corrupt home, imagine, son or daughter can sense it and persuade the father not to become a victim of corruption using their love and affection. My conscience says, compared to any law against corruption, definitely this movement of the youth against corruption, will be extremely effective.

Green Home Mission: friends, today there is a constant climate change in the universe. Deforestation, industrialization and transportation emitted carbon-di-oxide has caused hole in the ozone layer, leading to increased heating of the planet earth. This is the major cause of flood and draught. If the youth of the nation decide, they can definitely change the situation. Every Indian must take an oath that he will plant and nurture atleast one tree. One fully grown tree absorbs 20 kgs carbon-di-oxide and emits 14 kgs of oxygen. During our life time, if we plant 10 trees and nurture them, we will have over 10 billion trees. These 10 billion trees can definitely contain the climate change problem. Green home means, not only the planting of trees but keeping the house and environment clean. In addition to the four virtues what I just mentioned, I believe, joint families play an important role in enriching a happy home.

Emerging women When I am with the students attending this seminar, I would like to share with you the thought process of the great poet Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathiyar on this occasion who in 1910 composed the poem envisioning women of India. உதய கன்னி நிமிர்ந்த நன்னடை நேர்கொண்ட பார்வையும் நிலத்தில் யார்க்கும் அஞ்சாத நெறிகளும் திமிர்ந்த ஞானச் செருக்கும் இருப்பதால் செம்மை மாதர் திறம்புவ தில்லையாம், அமிழ்ந்து பேரிருளாம் அறியாமையில் அவல மெய்திக் கலையின்றி வாழ்வதை உமிழ்ந்து தள்ளுதல் பெண்ணற மாகுமாம் உதய கன்னி யுரைப்பது கேட்டிரோ This beautiful poem brings out the profile of emerging women. Emerging Women She walks with raised head, With her eyes looking straight, She has her principles, Unafraid of anybody! She has a lofty And knowledge based pride, Such cultured women, Don't falter from the chosen path. She drives ignorance away. She welcomes the bliss of life. With learned mind, This is the Dharma Of emerging woman.

The dream of the poet, I am sure, will become a reality of life for the students. When the child is empowered by the parents, at various phases of growth, the child transforms into a responsible citizen. When the teacher is empowered with knowledge and experience, good young human beings with value systems take shape. When individual or a team is empowered with technology, transformation to higher potential for achievement is assured. When the leader of any institution empowers his or her people, leaders are born who can change the nation in multiple areas. When the women are empowered, society with harmony in the home is assured. When the political leaders of the nation empower the people through visionary policies, the prosperity of the nation is certain. I am confident that this seminar will come out with the suggestion on how to empower the women embedding with these kinds of qualities among the students. Dear friends, this thought has indeed influenced my conscience and I would suggest that the education system must develop this faith among our youth and the youth to practice this faith in all their actions.

Conclusion Friends, finally I would like to ask you, what would you like to be remembered for? You have to evolve yourself and shape your life. You should write it on a page. That page may be a very important page in the book of human history. And you will be remembered for creating that one page in the history of the nation - whether that page is the page of invention, the page of innovation or the page of discovery or the page of creating societal change or a page of removing the poverty or the page of finding new technologies in energy or astronomy. I will be happy if you could write this page and mail it to me (apj@abdulkalam.com). With these words, I inaugurate the 4th Decennial celebrations of NMKRV College for Women and my best wishes to the students, Faculty and staff members in their mission of transforming the role of women to create a happy family and happy society. May God bless you.

Oath for the Students 1. I will bring a change in the life of 100 women in education, employment or healthcare. 2. I will promote courage and self reliance, particularly among women. 3. I will work continuously to remove gender discrimination and crime against women and children. 4. I will promote righteousness in the heart that will blossom the beauty in the character among citizens. 5. I will light the lamp of knowledge in the nation and ensure that it remains lit forever. 6. Wherever I am, I will always be remembered by my thought, word and action as a student or alumni of NMKRV College for Women. 7. My National Flag flies in my heart and I will bring glory to my nation.

By  Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam www.abdulkalam.com