The cronicle of events in the life of Dr. Abdul Kalam describes that he, after having cleared examinations of physics and engineering successfully, cherished a desire to fly high in the blue sky and, for this, had also applied for the post of pilot. In order to fulfil his dream of flying, he chose to apply for the post of pilot in the Air Force and also for a job at the Directorate of Technical Development and Production DTD&P (Air) and received interview calls from both the places. That was a time when candidates had to go to Dehradun for recruitment as commissioned officers for the post of pilot.
Dr. Kalam was young and full of vital energy; something which is required most for making headway in the life of any person. At the same time he was fully aware of his responsibilities towards his family. It wasn’t that he had only an ambition and enthusiasm for flying, he also was capable of doing it.
He took a train to the north. During his transit period he was watching intently the countryside slipping past through the window of the compartment and enjoying every bit of Nature, the memories of historical events and the verdant fields full of crops. His heart was filled with an unassailable joy to see the beautiful scenes of the mountain ranges of the Shivaliks after having faced the interview at Delhi and having reached Dehradun.
He had reached the scheduled place on the scheduled date to face the interview. Undoubtedly the competition was tough. During the interview the emphasis was more on personality than on technical calibre and ability. Only nine out of the twenty-five candidates were selected. But only eight officers were to be selected for commissioning in the Air Force, whereas Dr. Kalam’s position was ninth in the list. It is difficult to say whether it was fortunate or unfortunate for Dr. Kalam, but the hard fact was that he had to face disappointment. He was acquainted with the melancholy truth of failure and was thoroughly dejected. A young man of a middle class family has to shoulder almost every responsibility that is required for the betterment of the family. But there also is a saying—‘Man proposes, God disposes’. And the next moment he snapped out of the melancholy and, leaving everything to his destiny, Dr. Abdul Kalam began moving towards Rishikesh, viewing the beautiful mountain ranges of the Shivaliks.
The winding path snaking towards Rishikesh, the beauty of nature and trekking, covering a distance of fifty miles, took Dr. Abdul Kalam to Rishikesh, keeping him engaged in his thoughts for future prospects of life.
Naturally Dr. Abdul Kalam was tired and exhausted as he had walked all the way to Rishikesh. He bathed in the Ganges—the Ganges which Maharaja Bhagirath had brought down to earth from the matted hair of Lord Shiva after having led a life of austerity to a great extent. He enjoyed his bath thoroughly.
Walking on the side of the Ganges, Dr. Abdul Kalam proceeded step by step towards the Ashram of Swami Sivananda, who was a world renowned Yogi, a great philosopher, an accomplished spiritualist, a scholar and an ascetic in whom Dr. Kalam had great faith. It is a reality that a God-fearing man in true sense, who observes Namaz, has respect for each and every religion, community and their traditional beliefs. In the same manner, a person who is a Hindu in true sense, is also equally respectful towards all religions. And, at the same time, their behaviour with the elevated souls of all religions is full of reverence. Since Dr. Abdul Kalam was born in Rameswaram—a place of eternal virtues and which has always given birth to virtuous souls—it was very natural for him to be born with such qualities.
The most reverend Swami Sivananda was a spiritual incarnation and had great command over many languages of the world. He has written many very valuable books in English in addition to the books that he has written in Hindi and Sanskrit languages. His knowledege of the Geeta was immeasurable. He was a great philosopher and had tremendous knowledge of the Vedas, Vedanta, Upanishads and many other ancient scriptures. He had a stout body which revealed his attractive personality and shined like the rays of the sun. His broad forehead and long ears were symbolic of greatness. His sweet smile always spoke of his kind-heartedness to the visitors who came to offer their services to him.Who would not consider himself fortunate to have arrived at the doors of an Ashram which is placid, clean and inspiring; and here, Dr. Kalam had arrived hurt by his failure, but with a desire to receive didactic preachings and to get a message for his future. He had heard and read about Swami Sivananda beforehand and so he was already greatly impressed by him.
Dr. Kalam was greatly pleased to learn that Swami Ji was easily accessible. He met Swami Ji and was extended a warm welcome. This was such an experience for Dr. Kalam that his heart was filled with undisturbed tranquility. He considered himself fortunate to have had his Darshan. Dr. Kalam poured out his anguish and was consoled in a nectarous voice by Swami Ji. Swami Ji said—Look, whatever has happened is good; your future course of events will also be good for you. Why worry then!
Swami Ji was an elevated soul. he knew everything about Dr. Kalam the moment he saw him. He knew why Dr. Kalam was so sad-stricken. Dr. Kalam realized that in the Ashram of Swami Sivananda there was no discrimination between Hindus and Muslims.
‘A devotee is a devotee afterall’—was what Swami Ji believed in.
‘You have a bright future. Very bright future! There is great possibility of great achievements in your life. You have a definite path. You are destined to rise very high. Keep advancing!’ assured Swami Ji, ‘You were not destined to become a pilot, and so, you were not selected. Your fate will give you something special.’
With the essence of spiritual opening and the blessings of Swami Sivananda, Dr. Abdul Kalam returned rowing his boat through the vortex of worries and storms of thoughts in his mind regarding his future; and it was very natural that the pages of the book of his memories of his academic life and family circumstances began opening. He began remembering the circumstances that he had to undergo when he had to proceed to Madras from Rameswaram for his further education—the circumstances of poverty and financial distress; and how each moment of his life had fallen heavily on him owing to disappointment on many fronts.
Thus, facing all the circumstantial hurricanes of his life, Dr. Abdul Kalam continued to advance on the path of success; his determination based, perhaps, on the doctrine of ‘Charaiveti’ propounded by the world renowned philosopher and dauntless preacher, Swamy Vivekananda. That preaching, in the form of a message for awakening the general mass, is thus—
‘Rise! Wake up! Open your eyes! What will you achieve by joining one disability with the other? Do not allow your infirmity to bring distress in your life. Rather you should become strong. You talk of wicked souls and demons, but the truth is that we ourselves are the greatest demons. Power and prosperity are synonymous with our lives. Death is nothing but a form of our weaknesses. Shun refuge of weakness and fear, and aspire for power of vitality, even if you have to go to hell for that purpose. It is only the brave who attain salvation. It is only they who have a right to live. Cowardliness and bondage have no existence. These are only imaginary phenomena. Remember only one thing and that is that you will halt only after bringing an end to such things. There is no alternative either. Face the truth instead of lying in the clutches of fear and blind faiths. Where one will look at the other and listen to the other, there will rise the feeling of being two and thus cause fear. Fear is in the roots of all distresses and plights. But where there is context of one only, there will not be fear. And so, fear not! Rise, advance, and do not halt until you have reached your goal.’
Towards the past
Recently the Finance Minister of America, Mr. Paul, had come to India (Delhi) to participate in the meeting organized for industrial development. He expressed his wish to visit the important historical places of India. He was taken to the tomb of Shahanshah Humayun. This tomb, situated in Delhi, is a great archaeological heritage of the Mughal period. The widow of Shahanshah Humayun built this tomb in the memory of her husband with extraordinary perception and sincerity. The Finance Minister of America was greatly surprised to see the tomb, its architecture, and the materials used for its construction. He said—‘Four hundred years ago the Americans were living in very ordinary houses made of wood and were looking forward to and contemplating the probabilities of future development and, in India, such grand buildings were being constructed during that period.’ His surprise was not without reason. Mr. Paul added—‘With the changing circumstances and time it is required of India to change its industrial policy and bring reform to economical progress and development so that it could attract global attention for making investments in the country.’
If we peep into the past of our country we shall find that during the Indus Valley civilization, a majority of the population of our country lived in rural areas, and their main enterprise was agriculture. The archaeological surveys reveal that the Harappans (Harappa—locality West Pakistan in Indus Valley, N.E. of Multan; centre of prehistoric civilization) worked very hard to grow varieties of wheat, barley, Tilhan (seeds from which oil is extracted), and peas and beans. Residues of grains of rice and husk have been found in utensils made of clay during the archaeological survey of the Indus Valley.
This is time when we must stop and think and find out as to why our country, which was so developed in the past, is lagging behind that of those developed countries which were once covered in darkness. In order to get a reply to this question and in order to proceed on the path of progress and development, the governmental bodies and the youth of India, on whose shoulders the burden of responsibility of developing this country lies, have to follow the ideals of Dr. Abdul Kalam, so that India may, once again, attain the status of the mentor of the entire world.
