TRIBUTE TO ONE OF THE GREATEST INDIAN OF ALL TIMES

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, the 11th first citizen of India is no more. As he was lecturing students of IIM at Shillong he collapsed and did not recover. That was an abrupt, unexpected and sad end of one of the finest sons of India. Surely India is poorer without him.
It was in the June 2002 I & C we had debated the possibility of APJ being an apt candidate to be the occupant of Rashtrapathi Bhavan, when then incumbent president Mr K R Narayanan was hankering for 2nd term and Mr P C Alexander, the then Governor of Maharashtra, was the nominee of Shiv Sena, an NDA partner. Even, former governor of RBI Mr Rangarajan’s name made rounds for the presidency. As luck would have it, Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee, the then PM, in one political masterstroke, proposed APJ to be the NDA candidate and ‘rest’ as the cliché goes, ‘is history’.
As the occupant of Viceregal Palace, APJ disappointed nobody. In fact he scripted, during his five year term, the specifics for any future president of India. Advocating his name, we in I & C had written, “In spite of the above 3 gentlemen mentioned therein there is one more gentleman who deserves like nobody else by the sheer strength of his personality and commitment to the national honour and development. Mr APJ Abdul Kalam is one such unique person that this country can proudly call its very own. He is a man who gave up the cushy job of advisor to the Prime Minister, and decided to travel all over India to ignite the imagination of school kids and make them feel proud of  being citizens of this great country. We have bureaucrats, many of whom have enjoyed and exploited the system, but quickly lapsed into retired life or caught hold of their political friends to perpetuate their taste for good life as ambassadors, governors etc. These gentlemen never thought of giving back to the country their time and resources without expecting any benefits of office. In this muddled scenario Bharat Ratna APJ Abdul Kalam stands out as a beacon of unmatched radiance, who is beyond politics & sectarian considerations, a true Bharat Ratna indeed!” He personified and lived every inch of it for all the five years he was in office and until his last breath. Despite being a highly decorated man (he received honorary doctorates from 30 universities and 3 of India’s highest national honour) APJ was humble to the core. He has said “I will not be presumptuous enough to say that my life can be role model for anybody; but some poor child living in an obscure place in an underprivileged social setting may find a little solace in the way my destiny has been shaped. It could perhaps help such children liberate themselves from the bondage of their illusory backwardness and hopelessness”. A true reflection of  an IGNITED MIND.  He was a great soul devoid of all human failings of Wine, Women & Wealth. If only Shakespeare was to be there, he would, in all probability, have said,
                    This is the noblest Indian of them all
                    ……    …………    ……………   ……….
                    His life is gentle, and the elements
                    So mixed in him that nature might stand up
                    And say to all the world 'This was a man'

        MAY HIS SOUL REST IN EVERLASTING PEACE AMEN