Shed Not a Tear!

Bharat Ratna Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam has reached the heavens! God granted his wish of taking him back whilst he was doing his life’s karma – teaching and sharing his wisdom! The exit was a fitting one to this modern Bheeshma amongst men!

Is it possible for any eulogy to capture the life, time and thoughts of a great man who lived his entire life for the sake of the nation? More so, if he was a man of not only great accomplishments in myriad fields but also a man who was responsible for capturing the imagination of millions, are mere words enough to capture the enormity of the legacy he leaves behind?

Yet, as an ordinary Indian, who has never had the opportunity to meet him in person, except from afar, I do feel that the message that his life’s work and achievements have meant for me personally should be shared.

What then was his life’s message? For me there are many dimensions to this question.

His life was a message of the eternal India  - As we look back at the phenomenal journey of this son of a boat man’s rise from the southern shores of Rameshwaram to the Himalayan heights of high office, we can see that the best and noble ideals of this ancient civilization have shaped him. It was as if Mother India ensured that the upbringing of Kalam was influenced by the best and brightest of individuals that captured the diversity of thoughts and systems of this land.

Starting from his parents, his father’s friend the Priest of the Rameshwaram temple, the Primary school teacher, Sivasubramania Iyer who introduced him to Aerodynamics, or Iyyadurai Solomon of Scwartz School, his professors in St Joseph’s College Trichy and Madras Institute of Technology, his mentors Vikram Sarabhai, Satish Dhawan, Brahm Prakash and UR Rao – each one of them shaped his thinking and development and each one of them were themselves dedicated Indians, representing the best work ethic and noble values of this land.

It is therefore as if his life is, in essence, a product of the best elements of our heritage and legacy. In that sense, his life is a message of eternal India!

Positive Karma Yoga as a way of life – By the same token, his approach to life has been one of a practicing Karma Yogi who went on undeterred by failure and criticism and unswayed by adulation and high office. It is not as if he that he did not feel the ups and downs of his life. Growing up his ambition was to fly and join the IAF, yet when he met with failure during selection trials, and as a despondent young man, wandered aimlessly to the ashram of Swami Sivananda, it was the Great Master who instilled him in the confidence of a Karma Yogi.

The many other incidents that he faced in his long career at ISRO, DRDL and the many mentors who demonstrated to him by their example qualities of leadership and Nishkamya Karma Yoga, the instinctively philosophical and spiritual Kalam became a consummate Karma Yogi – a fantastic transformation of Karna into an Arjuna – if one were to draw a parallel.

Inspired by his mentors and gurus, as well as by his idols of Gandhiji, Vivekananda and Kalifa Umar, shaped by their thoughts and his deep study of all spiritual philosophies, he had tutored his soul and mind to become a true Stithapragnya of our times

He combined the art of being impelled by noble thoughts, to do practical purposeful action without attachment to the results and resolute faith in the grace of God to help achieve the impossible! If such a life is not a worthy example of a Karma Yogi in action what is?

Life lived as journey on the path to excellence – His long and distinguished career had many achievements to his credit and many failures too. He understood very early in his career that a life well lived must necessarily mean a lifetime dedicated to the pursuit of excellence.

He never allowed negativity and constraints to come in the way of taking on the biggest of challenges. He believed that we are all capable of much more than we think we can. Not for him was the safe and risk free, for he believed that he must throw himself, with all the talent he could muster, at the greatest of tasks with the greatest of risks.

Nor was he, satisfied with success, for he was ever seeking out for the next challenge, the bigger dream and how he could make a positive difference in every field that came his way. He, more than anyone, realized that his persona and image itself could be used in a positive way to inspire and make others dream and take on the challenges that the nation faced.

His personal quest for excellence and his persistent articulation of the need for that quest for excellence, extended till his last breath. This example held out the message that life is a journey on the path to excellence!

Life dedicated to building Leaders – Kalam was a leader who was shaped by leaders amongst men. Therefore it was no surprise that his life to was spent in building Leadership. It takes a leader to recognize the need for creating leaders. One can cite numerous occasions where he has demonstrated leadership and even more so the kind of leaders he has developed have demonstrated it themselves.

He developed a brand of leadership that was not dependent on just individual capabilities and brilliance, or merely on the strength of collective endeavours of talented teams. His was a brand of leadership that was founded on something more than mere traits of character or function of habits.

It was based on the strength of inspiring vision, on values and empowering belief in the Almighty. He was at once able to combine the more practical and visible aspects of leadership, with the more difficult to perceive and tap, yet real, aspects of leadership.

Not only was he able to practice that kind of leadership, he was able to impart that to a whole army of Indians ranging from children to women, from scientists to farmers, from soldiers to saints, from businessmen to politicians, from sportspersons to movie stars.

It is this life message of Leadership that he has bestowed on himself and others that will continue to burn bright in the hearts and minds of a new resurgent India and its young Indians for years to come!

Life as a Unifier – India is a country that has been truly blessed, in that it has from time immemorial borne witness to the advent of great unifiers. Kalam is definitely in that list.

He conducted his affairs based on stressing what unites all of us, not only Indians but also all of us in this world. His worldview was that of building on the harmonious while leaving behind that which are negative and divisive. One cannot forget that inspired speech to the Parliament of the European Union, which represented his soaring aspirations of an indivisible world, anchored in the reality of positive, harmonious and purposeful action.

He travelled, to every corner of India and across the world, and gave his message of harmonious vision with practical suggestions. He spoke to children, he spoke to political leaders, to businessmen, to international leaders. Power point presentations and talks left everyone amazed and touched by the nobility of his vision and the sincerity and passion of his belief in that vision. Presidents, Princes, Children and Commoners were all touched by that vision and his living example. They saw in him and his life the living example of that vision and thus he became a unifier across all barriers. It pushed them towards their own inherent nobility and into purposeful action.

He sought out harmony, practiced it with all his heart and mind, and shared that unifying vision of harmonious living that was rooted in the Indian way of Vasudeiva Kutumbam –A world for all species and nature, living harmoniously

A Rasika of Life – I do not want to use the word Connoisseur for the word Rasika means much more than that. He was a true Rasika of life. The way he found time for his passion for playing the Veena or listening to music, or his passion for getting into the cockpit of Sukhoi or into the Captain’s bridge of a Submarine, he did not waste his time of thinking about these things. He just did them and enjoyed that moment.

If he wanted to walk, he did, anytime of the day, if he wanted a garden or a hut built, he just did it. If he wanted to read or write a book or a poem he just did. He liked his dose of comedy and humour and he ensured that he watched such movies and plays. He enjoyed it and was not at all bothered about what it meant for others.  He loved nature and gadgets and celebrated life itself. That is the true Rasika.

To many an ordinary Indian, he was the distant Acharya who taught us all the many dimensions of a life well lived. As an ordinary Indian, as I read the many articulate eulogies, I am reminded of the immortal Subramanya Bharati’s poem Agni Kunju

Agni kunjondru kandaen – adhai
angoru kaatil Or ponthidai vaithaen;
Vendhu thanindhathu kaadu

thazhal veerathir kunjendru moopendrum undO
thatharikida thatharikida thithom!

Agni’s fledgling spark, I saw once,

That I place in a tree hollow in a forest nearby;

Burnt to a cinder was the forest;
In the furious blaze; Is there

a difference between the spark and the inferno? (translation by me)

So too is the message of the life of APJ Kalam; a spark of Mother India’s Agni. He has placed his life and message in the forest of our minds; may it burn to cinder negativity and ignorance and let there be no difference between the teacher and the taught.

I am sure that in the many villages, cities and towns of this vast nation, there are many more Kalams inheriting the legacy and values as he once did, being molded by great teachers and mentors, as he once was, inspired by heroes as he once was, getting themselves ready to achieve that impossible dream as he once did.

As I grew up, I watched from a distance, at first drawn to him by my interest in Defence related matters, his emergence as a leader of men, as a President and finally as a teacher. I shared with him my inspirational heroes and saw how he himself became an inspiration. I also witnessed first hand his effect on children and how he capitalized on their admiration to plant within them the courage to dream and transform India.

When such a person, whose very life was a message, passes on to eternity, I do not see the reason to shed a tear or feel any sorrow. As he himself had said, “Your birth may be just an incidental event, but let your passing away be a history”. He is one of those rare persons who has entered in some way or form into our very thoughts and indeed our soul. Knowingly or unknowingly we have all learned a lesson or two from him and it will issue out in our thoughts and actions.

May many more Kalams arise with the flame of his life’s message in their hearts and minds.

Therefore:

Shed not a tear, nor lament his absence,

For he lives through his life’s message

And through us in our Billion dreams 

After all, his death is but a passage

For him to reach the heavens

And take his place amongst the immortals!