Ignited Minds (11 page)

I was thinking what can summarize the book aptly. I recall reading a story on the Internet about a conversation between two babies–Ego and Spirit–while in the womb.

Spirit says to Ego, ‘I know you are going to find this hard to accept, but I believe there is life after birth.’

Ego responds, ‘Don’t be foolish. Look around you. This is all there is. Why must you always be thinking about something beyond this reality? Accept your lot in life.’

Spirit quietens down for a while, but not for long. ‘Ego, now don’t get angry, but I also believe that there is a Mother.’

‘A Mother!’ Ego laughs. ‘How can you
say that? You’ve never seen a Mother, you don’t know what Mother is. Why can’t you accept that this is all there is? You are here alone with me. This is your reality.’

‘Ego,’ Spirit begs, ‘please listen. What about those constant pressures we both feel, those movements that make us so uncomfortable sometimes, the feeling that we are being squeezed in as we grow? I think we shall soon have a new life, that we shall see light.’

Ego replies, ‘You have never seen light. How do you know what it is? These pressures and darkness is what life is about.’

Spirit tries not to bother Ego again but cannot resist one last try. ‘Ego,’ she says, ‘I will not bother you again. But I do believe that after all this discomfort not only shall we see light but also experience the bliss of meeting Mother.’

Ego’s reply is, of course, that Spirit is truly mad.

What I want to tell the people of my country through this book is that they must never be content with that which has been
presented to them in the last fifty years since our independence. When I was on the verge of completing this book, somebody raised a very important point with me. While addressing 1,500 students at Presidency College, Chennai, on the theme ‘Nation Has to Have Vision’, a series of questions came from the students on national development, political leadership, science and technology’s contribution, education and the learning process and so on. After the session, coming out of the auditorium, a visibly happy gathering of students was trying to reach me to shake hands. While I was manoeuvring to leave, suddenly one young student pushed through the crowd and thrust a crumpled paper in my hand. I put it in my pocket and read it in the car. My mind got elevated with the power of the message from T. Saravanan doing M.Phil Zoology at Presidency College. I would like to share it with all of you.

The letter read:

‘Dear Sir
‘The full power of a banyan tree is equal
to the power in the seeds of the tree. In a way both of us, you and me, are the same. But we exhibit our talents in different forms. A few of the seeds directly flourish as banyan trees and many seeds die. Sometimes, the seeds, due to certain circumstances and environmental conditions, get damaged and become part of the soil as manure, making the next generation stronger and more powerful, thus exhibiting its aim of achieving greater heights.

‘You have worked for the country and helped many scientists, engineers and knowledge workers. Can you tell me how you ensured that their abilities were not wasted or their growth was not stunted prematurely as some of the seed? In this service, what is the percentage of success you can claim?’

My reply the same day said:

‘Dear Saravanan,
‘I have read and re-read your powerful message and question many times. I spent twenty years in ISRO and twenty years in DRDO making rockets, launch vehicles and
missiles. I have seen many successes and also a few failures. I have worked with many scientists, engineers and technicians as united teams to achieve goals in a short time. The combined power of the team has seen those successes and learnt from the failures. I could see some of my team members excelling me in knowledge and deed. This gave me immense happiness.’

Saravanan’s message gives all of us a tremendous responsibility. Leaders must ensure that the younger generation is better than them and not subject them to circumstances that will stunt their growth. Above all, protection of the young from failures in scientific developments and constant encouragement are essential to ensure that scientists, technologists or those working in any field grow and work for the nation.

I would like to conclude this book with an answer to one last question, asked of me on Id. The question was: What prayer did you say on this occasion?

I replied, apart from praying for the
health and happiness of my teachers, friends and relatives, I said this prayer:

‘O Almighty, create thoughts and actions in the minds of the people of my nation so that they live united.

Help all religious leaders of my country give strength to the people to combat the forces of division.

Embed the thought “Nation is bigger than the Individual” in the minds of the leaders and people.

O God bless my people to work and transform the country into a prosperous nation soon.’

I have conveyed the message overleaf to nearly 40,000 school children in Chennai, Porbandar, Rajkot, Jamshedpur,Bhubaneshwar, Dindigul, Abu Road, Anand, Udaipur and many other places so far. I hope to reach 100,000 young minds before August 2003. When thousands recite this, I see the developed India.

As a young citizen of India,
armed with technology, knowledge and love for my nation,
I realize, small aim is a crime.

I will work and sweat for a great vision,
the vision of transforming India into a developed nation
powered by economic strength with value system.

I am one of the citizens of a billion,
only the vision will ignite the billion souls.
It has entered into me,
the ignited soul compared to any resource,
is the most powerful resource
on the earth, above the earth and under the earth.

I will keep the lamp of knowledge burning
to achieve the vision—Developed India.

1.
Wings of Fire: An Autobiography
, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam with Arun Tiwari. Universities Press (India) Pvt. Ltd., 1999.

2.
India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium
, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Y.S. Rajan. Viking, 1998.

3.
Man the Unknown,
Alexis Carrel.

4.
Thirukkural
, Thiruvalluvar.

5.
Light from Many Lamps,
Lillian Eichler Watson. Fireside, 1988.

6.
Chandra: A Biography of S. Chandrasekhar,
Kameshwar C. Wali. University of Chicago Press, 1992.

7.
The Horse That Flew,
Chidanand Rajghatta. HarperCollins India, 2001.

8.
Empires of the Mind,
Denis Waitley. Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 1995.

9.
An Unfinished Dream,
Dr Verghese Kurien. Tata McGraw Hill, 1997.

10.
Manifest Your Destiny,
Dr Wayne W. Dyer. HarperCollins, 1997.

11.
Consilience,
Edward O. Wilson. Vintage Books, 1999.

12.
India as Knowledge Superpower,
Task Force Report to Planning Commission, 2001.

13.
Technology Vision 2020
, TIFAC Task Force Reports, 1996.

14. ‘A New Knowledge Society’, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, 2000.

15. Report on ‘Rurbanization’, Prof. P.V. Indiresan, 2000.

I have listed some of the books that were useful to me in the writing of this book. I would like to mention three books whose ideas I found specially relevant to my theme. They were
Chandra: A Biography of S. Chandrasekhar
by Kameshwar C. Wali, Penguin Books;
Empires of the Mind
by Denis Waitley, Nicholas Brealey Publishing; and
Manifest Your Destiny
by Dr Wayne W. Dyer, HarperCollins. Some of Dr Dyer’s ideas on individual achievement I found useful in addressing the theme of a nation’s awakening to its potential. The other books that I consulted are listed in the references.

Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 110 017, India
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd)
Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)
Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd)
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, Block D, Rosebank Office Park, 181 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parktown North, Gauteng 2193, South Africa

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

First published in Viking by Penguin Books India 2002
Published in Penguin Books 2003

Copyright © A.P.J. Abdul Kalam 2002

Cover Photograph by Gurinder Osan/indiapicture

All rights reserved

ISBN: 978-01-4302-982-3

This digital edition published in 2012.
e-ISBN: 978-81-8475-849-8

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser and without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recordingor otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above-mentioned publisher of this book.