This blog is inspired solely from the interview given by our Honorable ex President Dr.
APJ Abdul
Kalam. I
dont have any other facts to put forth my opinion about him.
Ofcourse I wont start with his introduction, he is definitely a man who
doesnt need it. What a man, his words would compel to believe that he comes from somewhere outside the planet very close to sun with whole lot of energy. One example could be the way of conveying his age. He describes his age as completing 76 revolution around the sun.
Without any further writeup in my own words, I would just mention some of his dialogues as is. I may skip some phrases or statements but believe me that
doesnt change the meaning of it at all. Here it goes:
"I saw India attain her freedom in August 1947; I saw the economic ascent phase of India [beginning in] 1991. I have seen the green revolution, the white revolution, and the
telecom revolution; I have also seen the growth of information and communication technologies (
ICT), as well as India's successes in the space program and self-sufficiency in strategic weaponry. These are some of the things I have witnessed. Of course, we have a long way to go. Since we have to bring smiles to the faces of more than one billion people, we have many challenges ahead."
"I worked for
ISRO for about 20 years. My team and I worked to put India's first satellite into space. These were youthful teams that worked with me, and they have gone on to take up much larger projects. These in turn have led to great value addition in areas such as technology, infrastructure and, above all, human resources.
One of the important lessons I learned in the space and missile program was not just how to handle success but how to deal with failure. Problems should not become the captain of the project chief; the project chief should be the captain of the problems and defeat the problems."
"Well, I won't call India chaotic, because order comes from disorder. That is what is happening now.
"The concept of
PURA -- which stands for "Providing Urban amenities in Rural Areas" -- is about giving a cluster of villages physical, electronic and knowledge connectivity. The idea is to empower the villagers, so that economic connectivity can emerge. We planned about 7,000
PURAs for the country -- including hill
PURAs, coastal
PURAs and plains
PURAs. I believe that connectivity is the key to bridging the rural-urban divide. The core-competence of the village will enable the production of competitive products for national and international markets. This will lead to rural enterprises which will create jobs in villages and lead to a vibrant economy in India's hinterland. That is how prosperity will emerge in the rural environment."
Question: How will social grids -- such as the knowledge grid, the health grid and e-governance grid -- help make India a developed country?
"The idea is that the knowledge grid empowers the village citizens with skill and knowledge. The health grid brings the super-specialty
healthcare that is available in the cities to the doorsteps of rural citizens. And the e-governance grid brings transparent governance to the citizens. All these grids lead to economic growth and social transformation."
"My favorite poem is "The Vision." I recited it in Parliament, and I will recite it for you.
I climbed and climbed
Where is the peak, my Lord?
I ploughed and ploughed,
Where is the knowledge treasure, my Lord?
I sailed and sailed,
Where is the island of peace, my Lord?
Almighty, bless my nation
With vision and sweat resulting into happiness."
There is no open ended statements here nor he is talking non sense things. It makes whole lot of sense to his vision. He has a plan and has got artifacts to achieve it.
Definitely this person may be an Almighty craft but certainly non vulnerable to human politics nor influenced by it.
All best wishes to him. Thank you sir!
