*The address and interaction of his Excellency Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam Sir in my college on 22-March-2013.
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"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".
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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."
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| Unique You |
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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| Criteria for achievement for youth |
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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:
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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. |
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| Distinctive profile of the nation |
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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.
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| Integrated Action for developed India |
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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.
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| Indomitable Spirit |
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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.
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| Planting of trees is the planting of ideas |
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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.
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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.
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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.
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| Happy home profile |
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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.
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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.
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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:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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| Emerging women |
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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.
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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.
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| Conclusion |
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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.
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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.
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