A P J Abdul Kalam, My Idol

THE VISIONARY, SOURCE OF INSPIRATION TO THOUSANDS AND MISSILE MAN OF INDIA

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam , born on Rameshwaram island, is a traveller of life. He was one of the greatest Presidents India had. He has designed so many missiles and led India into successful space research through ISRO. Most important of all, he mingled with children so well, he travelled far and wide in India just to connect with the younger generation of India since he believes in "Children of today are citizens of tomorrow".

I take my pride in writing about my Guru, my Idol, my Inspiration...Abdul Kalam. I still remember this particular incident when I was in 10th standard. There was this edition called "60 Greatest Indians" by India Today. As soon as I got the edition, I turned to index page, saw the page number of Abdul Kalam, skipped all in-between pages(no insult to other great people) and started reading it. But it was just a page long :( I read that around 100 times and have still got the magazine with me(I also cried while reading that, I dont know why! :P) I remember another such article(dont know the source though) where a student, who was a great fan of Kalam Sir, sent an invitation to Sir to attend his musical concert.The student was so surprised to receive a reply from Sir and the student was invited to attend some function in Delhi(I guess children's day or something related to that).He  attended and was so overwhelmed to see Kalam Sir and to his astonishment Kalam Sir recognized him, his invitation ,spoke to him personally and also sang  a song with him(Some famous Carnatic raaga, I dont remember).When he was the President, there were so many articles about him, appearing everyday in papers and I wouldn't even miss one!! These days we hardly see his pictures in papers.

I like this particular poem of Kalam Sir's, which he wrote it about his mother(taken from Wings Of Fire).

                                                               MY MOTHER

Sea waves, golden sand, pilgrims' faith,

Rameswaram Mosque Street, all merge into one, My Mother!

You came to me like heaven's caring arms. 

I remember the war days when life was challenge and toil,

Miles to walk, hours before sunrise,

Walking to take lessons from the saintly teacher near temple,

Again miles to the Arab teaching school,

Climb sandy hills to Railway Station Road.

Collect, distribute newspapers to the temple city citizens,

Few hours after sunrise, going to school.

Evening, business time before study at night.

All this pain of a young boy,

My mother you transformed into pious strength,

With kneeling and bowing five times,

For the grace of Almighty only, My Mother.

Your strong piety is your children's strength,

You always shared your best with whoever needed the most,

You always gave and gave with faith in Him.

I still remember the day when I was ten,

Sleeping on your lap to the envy of my elder brothers and sisters,

It was a full moon night, my world only you knew,

MOTHER! MY MOTHER!

When at midnight I woke with tears falling om my knee,

You knew the pain of your child,My Mother.

Your caring hands, tenderly  removing the pain,

Your love, your care, your faith gave me strength,

To face the world without fear and with His strength,

We will meet again on the great Judgement Day, My Mother!

-Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam.

One of my favourite quote of Kalam Sir's - 

God has not promised

Skies always blue,

Flower-strewn pathways

All our life through;

God has not promised

Sun without rain,

Joy without sorrow,

Peace without pain.

I wish one day I'l meet him and shake hands with him.