Ignited Minds (3 page)

The third stage can be the participation in India’s mission to become a nuclear- weapon state with a great partnership between the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and DRDO with the support of the armed forces. This was a mission well accomplished.

However, when children ask me, ‘What has given you happiness in your life in the last forty years?’ I say I get happiness when heart patients carry KR coronary stent in their arteries and when the physically handicapped children fitted with the lightweight Floor Reaction Orthosis (FRO) callipers find their difficulties eased somewhat. Both of these came as spin-offs from missile technologies.

During this stage, I held the position of Chairman of the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) under the Department of Science and Technology, for nearly two tenures (about eight years). This period saw the creation of Technology Vision 2020 based on the work of task teams consisting of 500 experts in all
who had available to them inputs from 5,000 scientists and technologists from different fields. Later, the Technology Vision document and the national security aspects got integrated and the India Millennium Missions (IMM 2020) emerged. When I took over as Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, in November 1999, the task was to do detailing and evolve a working plan for IMM 2020. It is indeed a roadmap for transforming India into a developed country–the Second Vision of the Nation. Certain experimental work on education, agriculture and also development of a number of villages in an integrated way is currently progressing. A Cabinet paper on the subject has been moved for approval of the government. During this third stage, it was building technological strength with institutional partnership, adapting technology to societal needs and formulating the vision for the Nation that occupied me.

The helicopter mishap of 30 September 2001 made me realize that the time to jettison the third stage had arrived. This thought
was further reinforced on 2 October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, when I visited Mata Amritanandamayi’s Ashram at Kollam in Kerala. She emphasized the need to integrate spirituality with education to create a new generation of leaders and entrepreneurs. On 12 October 2001, three days before I would complete my seventy orbits around the sun, I formally wrote to the Prime Minister about my decision to retire and requested to be relieved in a month’s time. He relented this time and I prevailed.

Meanwhile I keep visiting schools. During my visits to many states, particularly two of the north-eastern states, Assam and Tripura, and Jharkhand and also a few places in Tamil Nadu, I have addressed thousands of students, about 40,000 at last count. I have found that I communicate well with this age group; I share their imagination. Most important, through my interaction with them, I feel I can ignite in their minds a love for science, and through it, a sense of mission for achieving a developed India.

Will this be my fourth stage? Shall I be successful? I really don’t know. But what I do know is that there is no greater power in heaven or on earth than the commitment to a dream. Dreams hold something of that energy which lies at the heart of all things and are the binding force that brings the spiritual and the material together.

It had been in my mind for the past few years to undertake research and teaching. For this purpose, combined with my desire to find time to meet schoolchildren, I have shifted to Anna University–my alma mater. What a great feeling it is to be among young people bubbling with creativity and enthusiasm! What a great responsibility the elders of this country have at hand to guide this tremendous energy in a constructive way for nation building! How can we make up for missed opportunities and the failures of the past?

Spirituality must be integrated with education. Self-realization is the focus. Each one of us must become aware of our higher self. We are links of a great past to a grand future. We should ignite our dormant inner energy and let it guide our lives. The radiance of such minds embarked on constructive endeavour will bring peace, prosperity and bliss to this nation.

Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn’t have it in the beginning.

—Mahatma Gandhi

Why should I meet young students in particular? Seeking the answer I went back to my student days. From the island of Rameswaram, what a great journey it’s been! Looking back it all seems quite incredible.
What was it that made it possible? Hard work? Ambition? Many things come to my mind. I feel the most important thing was that I always assessed my worth by the value of my contribution. The fundamental thing is that you must know that you deserve the good things of life, the benefits that God bestows. Unless our students and young believe that they are worthy of being citizens of a developed India, how will they ever be responsible and enlightened citizens?

There is nothing mysterious about the abundance in developed nations. The historic fact is that the people of these nations–the G8 as they are called–believed over many generations that they must live a good life in a strong and prosperous nation. The reality became aligned with their aspirations.

I do not think that abundance and spirituality are mutually exclusive or that it is wrong to desire material things. For instance, while I personally cherish a life with minimum of possessions, I admire abundance, for it brings along with it security
and confidence, and these eventually help preserve our freedom. Nature too does not do anything by half measures, as you will see if you look around you. Go to a garden. In season, there is a profusion of flowers. Or look up. The universe stretches into infinitude, vast beyond belief.

All that we see in the world is an embodiment of energy. We are a part of the cosmic energy too, as Sri Aurobindo says. Therefore when we begin to appreciate that spirit and matter are both part of existence, are in harmony with each other, we shall realize that it is wrong to feel that it is somehow shameful or non-spiritual to desire material things.

Yet, this is what we are often led to believe. Certainly there is nothing wrong with an attitude of making do with the minimum, in leading a life of asceticism. Mahatma Gandhi led such a life but in his case as in yours it has to be a matter of choice. You follow such a lifestyle because it answers a need that arises from deep within you. However, making a virtue of sacrifice
and what is forced upon you–to celebrate suffering–is a different thing altogether. This was the basis of my decision to contact our young. To know their dreams and tell them that it is perfectly all right to dream of a good life, an abundant life, a life full of pleasures and comforts, and work for that golden era. Whatever you do must come from the heart, express your spirit, and thereby you will also spread love and joy around you.

My first such meeting took place in a high school in Tripura. It was a gathering of 500 students and teachers. After my talk on the second vision for transforming India into a developed nation, there were a series of questions, two of which I would like to discuss. The first question was: ‘Where do we get a role model from, how do you get a role model?’

Whether we are aware of it or not, from childhood onwards, through various phases of life, we adopt role models. I said, ‘When you are growing up, say till the age of fifteen, the best role model I can think of would be
your father, your mother and your schoolteacher.’ They, to my mind, are the people who can impart the best guidance during this period. I turned to the teachers and parents present there and told them what a big responsibility they have. I personally believe the full development of a child with a value system can only come from these people. In my own home, when I was growing up, I used to see my father and mother say namaz five times a day, and in spite of their modest financial resources, I found them always giving to the needy around. My teacher, Sivasubramania Iyer, was responsible for persuading my father to send me to school setting aside financial constraints. It is very important for every parent to be willing to make the effort to guide children to be good human beings– enlightened and hard-working. The teacher, the child’s window to learning and knowledge, has to play the role model in generating creativity in the child. This triangle is indeed the real role model I can think of. I would even go to the extent of
saying that if parents and teachers show the required dedication to shape the lives of the young, India would get a new life. As it is said: Behind the parents stands the school, and behind the teacher the home. Education and the teacher—student relationship have to be seen not in business terms but with the nation’s growth in mind. A proper education would help nurture a sense of dignity and self-respect among our youth. These are qualities no law can enforce–they have to be nurtured ourselves.

The children enjoyed this answer though I don’t know whether the parents and teachers got the message.

Another girl in all seriousness asked, ‘Every day we read in the newspaper or hear our parents talk about atankvadis (terrorists). Who are they? Do they belong to our country?’ This question really shocked me. I myself was searching for an answer. They are our own people. Sometimes we create them through political and economic isolation. Or they can be fanatics, sometimes sponsored by hostile nations, trying to disrupt normal
life through terrorism. I looked at the audience, at the people sitting by my side, at the teachers, and at the sky for an answer. I said, ‘Children, I am reminded of our epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata. In the Ramayana the battle is between the divine hero Rama and demon king Ravana. It is a long-drawn battle that finally Rama wins. In the Mahabharata, there is the battle at Kurukshetra. In this fight between good and evil, Dharma wins again. The battles are many but finally peace triumphs. In our times too we have seen this battle between good and evil–for instance, the Second World War. It seems to me that both good and evil will survive side by side. The Almighty does help them both to various degrees! How to minimize the evil through our spiritual growth is a question that has persisted throughout human history.’

On another occasion, I addressed a very large gathering of students at St Mary’s School, Dindigul in Tamil Nadu on their seventy-fifth anniversary celebrations. Among the large number of children wishing to
meet me were two who were in a hurry to get an answer from me. One student asked, ‘I have read your book
Agni Siragugal
(the Tamil version of
Wings of Fire
). You always give a message to dream. Tell me, why dream?’

My answer was to ask the gathered children to recite the following: ‘Dream, dream, dream. Dream transforms into thoughts. Thoughts result in actions.’ I told them, ‘Friends, if there are no dreams, there are no revolutionary thoughts; if there are no thoughts, no actions will emanate. Hence, parents and teachers should allow their children to dream. Success always follows dreams attempted though there may be some setbacks and delays.’

Another boy asked, ‘Please tell me, who would be the first scientist in the world?’ It occurred to me–science was born and survives only by questions. The whole foundation of science is questioning. And as parents and teachers well know, children are the source of unending questions. Hence, ‘Child is the first scientist,’ I replied. There
was thunderous applause. The children enjoyed this different way of thinking. Teachers and parents also smiled at the answer.

During my visit to Assam, I visited Tezpur. I had gone for the convocation ceremony of Tezpur University and also to receive the honorary doctorate conferred on me. After the convocation, I took off to meet schoolchildren. It was a big gathering of young people. The theme of my address was ‘Indomitable Spirit’. As soon as I finished my talk the youngsters mobbed me for autographs. When I finished giving autographs I faced two interesting questions. One was: ‘Why cannot water from the Brahmaputra, which is in flood much of the time, be diverted to Rajasthan or Tamil Nadu which are starved of water?’

Only children will have these innovative ideas. Grown-ups tend to see more impossibilities. It was such a powerful question, I was completely beaten. I was sure even the Prime Minister would not have been able to answer it! How to tell the boy,
rivers are a state subject and our states are fighting for the rights to their waters? That these would bring them prosperity some day but meanwhile they were flowing wastefully into the sea and causing floods every year. How to answer it?

I said, ‘India Vision 2020 demands from the young that they start a great mission of connecting rivers cutting across the states.’ I personally feel the young have the most powerful minds. They can overcome the negativity of the bureaucracy and some self- centred policies of the state governments to enrich the people of the country. They can even improve coordination between the states and the Centre. And they surely will!

Another student asked me a question for which again I had no ready answer. He said, ‘Sir, big leaders in any field don’t come and talk to us. We see our Prime Minister often going to Chennai, Lucknow, and many places. But he never comes here. We want him; we want to talk to him.’ I was impressed by this urge to communicate with the country’s leaders. I said, when I reach Delhi,
I will tell your dream to the leaders and your dream will come true.

I later narrated this to the Prime Minister. He conceded the point and said, ‘Children don’t talk to me any more. Maybe the security cordon has created a separation.’ I request our leaders in different fields to interact more with the children of the country for a better understanding of their own purpose in life as also for helping create a better future for our children.

I have visited Jharkhand a number of times after its formation. Every time I visit it, I am struck by the tremendous resources that wait to be harnessed in the state, which will multiply its wealth manifold. At the Sri Ramakrishna High School, Bokaro, I addressed a gathering of about 3,000 students and saw their creativity on display in an exhibition of their paintings, toys and other items made by them. In my conversation with them, one student asked me, ‘In Jharkhand, it is green everywhere. We have forests, streams and hills. Why is it that we have a desert in Rajasthan?’

The question reminded me of a similar one in Assam: Why cannot the Brahmaputra’s waters be taken to Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan? ‘You know, twenty years ago, you would not have seen much cultivation in Rajasthan. But once the Indira Gandhi Canal was constructed agriculture became possible in many places. It is possible for man to transform the desert into a fertile land.’ I repeated what I had told the student in Assam. ‘It has to be one of the greatest missions of India to connect rivers so that water can reach many water-starved states. Visionary action is needed. When you grow up you will probably be part of reconstructing this nation and giving shape to these thoughts.’

One child came to me with a serious expression and asked, ‘Sir, will your Agni missile cross the ocean and reach America?’

I was a little startled by this thought. ‘For us no country is our enemy to send Agni there. Particularly America is our friend. Agni symbolizes our strength. It shows that India has all the capabilities.’

During my visit to Cuttack I participated in the birthday celebrations of the late Justice Harihar Mahapatra. I went there at the invitation of Justice Ranganath Mishra. For me, it was a revelation, how the independence movement, the first vision for the nation, had created the larger-than-life figure of Justice Harihar Mahapatra. He lived to the age of ninety-two and established Cuttack Eye Hospital, Utkal University and above all organized multi-pronged efforts to remove poverty. My biography in Oriya was released. At the end of my speech the youngsters crowding around put forth many questions.

The first question was, ‘Sir, tell us which are your favourite books, that you loved and which have shaped your mind?’

I said, ‘Four books in my life have been very close to my heart. I cherish reading them. The first is
Man the Unknown
by Dr Alexis Carrel, a doctor-turned-philosopher and a Nobel laureate. This book highlights how the mind and body both have to be treated in an ailment as the two are
integrated. You cannot treat one and ignore the other. In particular, children who dream of becoming doctors should read the book. They will learn that the human body is not a mechanical system; it is a very intelligent organism with a most intricate and sensitive feedback system. The second book, one I venerate, is Tiruvalluvar’s
Thirukkural,
which provides an excellent code of life. The third is
Light from Many Lamps
by Lillian Eichler Watson which has touched me deeply. It illuminates how we live and has been an invaluable guide to me for fifty years. And the Holy Quran is, of course, a constant companion.’

While I was addressing another gathering of schoolchildren in Anand, Gujarat, one smart boy asked a very intelligent question: ‘Who is our enemy?’ I liked the question and put it to the other students, encouraging them to come forward with their views. Then came the answer, ‘Poverty.’ What a wise reaction from this young child whom I have mentioned in the dedication.

The last question, which I am including
here, came from the powerful mind of another child. ‘Tell me, sir, are Pakistani weapons stronger than Indian ones?’ I asked the child why this doubt arose in his mind. Reports he read in the media led him to think so, he said.

‘This is a unique characteristic of our country–to belittle our capabilities. It may even be genetic!’ I said. ‘India can design, develop and produce any type of missile and any type of nuclear weapon. This is a capability only four countries in the world have. You remove all the doubts from your mind,’ I told the child, who gave me a very satisfied look.

I have selected only eleven questions here from among the hundreds of questions I have been asked during the course of meeting 40,000 high school students so far. The questions reflect the children’s innocence, but most of all they show how strongly they feel the desire to live in a strong and prosperous nation. I also realized from these sessions how important it is for them to have role models, whether in
science, industry, sports, entertainment or some other field. The question is: Can we give our children a role model? And how?