By Narendra Modi
Prime Minister of India
BHARAT has lost a Ratna, but the light from this jewel
will guide us towards APJ Abdul Kalam's dream-destination: India as a knowledge
superpower, in the first rank of nations. Our scientist-President -and one who
was genuinely loved and admired across the masses - never measured success by
material possessions. For him, the counterpoint to poverty was the wealth of
knowledge, in both its scientific and spiritual manifestations. As a hero of
our defence programme, he shifted horizons; and as a seer of the spirit, he
sought to liberate doctrine from the narrow confines of partisan tension to the
transcendental space of harmony.
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| PM Modi pays homage to Kalam at Rameshwaram - PIB Photo |
Every great life is a prism, and we bathe in those rays
that find their way to us. His profound idealism was secure because it rested
on a foundation of realism. Every child of deprivation is a realist. Poverty
does not encourage illusions. Poverty is
a terrible inheritance; a child can be defeated even before he or she has begun
to dream. But Kalamji refused to be defeated by circumstances. As a boy, he had
to support his studies by earning money as a newspaper vendor; today, page
after page of the same newspapers are filled with his obituary notices. He said
that he would not be presumptuous enough to say that his life could be a role
model for anybody; but if some poor child living in an obscure and
underprivileged social setting found some solace in the way his destiny had
been shaped, it could perhaps help such children liberate themselves from the
bondage of illusory backwardness and helplessness. He is my marg darshak, as
well as that of every such child.
His character, commitment and inspirational vision shine
through his life. He was unencumbered by ego; flattery left him cold. He was
equally at ease before an audience of suave, globe-trotting ministers and a
class of young students. The first thing that struck one about him was that,
uniquely, he combined the honesty of a child with the energy of a teenager and
the maturity of an adult. He took little from the world, and gave all he could
to society. A man of deep faith, he epitomised the three great virtues of our
civilization: dama, self-restraint; dana, sacrifice; and daya, compassion.
But this persona was powered by the fire of endeavour.
His vision for the nation was anchored in freedom, development and strength.
Given our history, freedom had a political context of course; but it also
included freedom of the mind and expansion of intellectual space. He wanted
India to leap out of the under-developed trough, and eliminate the curse of
poverty through inclusive economic growth. Wisely, he suggested that
politicians spend only 30% of their time on politics, and 70% on development; a
suggestion which he often followed up by calling in MPs from a state and
discussing the socio-economic issues of their region with them. The third
pillar, strength, was not born of aggression, but of understanding. An insecure
nation will rarely discover the route to prosperity. Strength commands respect. His contributions
in our nuclear and space achievements have given India the muscle to be
confident of her place in the region and the world.
His memory is best honoured by the creation of new
institutions that nurture science and technology, and enable us to find a
beneficial equation with the awesome power of nature.
Too often, greed makes us
predators of our environment. Kalamji saw poetry in a tree, and energy that
could be harnessed in water, wind and sun. We should learn to look at our world
through his eyes, and with the same missionary zeal.
Human beings can shape their lives through will,
persistence, ability and sheer courage. But we have not been given the right to
script where we are born, or how and when we die. However, if Kalamji had been
offered an option, this is how he would perhaps have chosen to say goodbye: on
his feet, and in front of a classroom of his beloved students. As a bachelor,
he was childless. But that is wrong. He was a father to every Indian child,
teaching, cajoling, urging, exciting, clearing darkness wherever he found it
with the radiance of his vision and the passion of his involvement. He saw the
future, and showed the way. As I entered the room where his body lay in state,
I noticed the painting at the entrance that depicted a few lines from an
inspirational book he wrote for children, Ignited Minds. The good that he did
will not be interred with his bones, because his children will preserve his
memory through their lives and work, and gift it to their children. (From
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