Kalam expresses grief at violence in land of Gandhi
'Emulate nobility of Father of the Nation'

For a while technology took a backseat and emotions took over. Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam narrated to a receptive audience at the Ahmedabad Management Association on Friday of how profoundly impressed he was with Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy and how pained he was at Gujarat burning so mindlessly.

Father of India's ballistic missile technology and Bharat Ratna Dr. Kalam said the ideals of nobility and spiritualism that Gandhiji stood for and the human element in removing pain had touched him.

Dr. Kalam recalled that his guru Dr. Vikram Sarabhai hailed from Ahmedabad and recollected the special relationship that the shared with him when he began his career in Gujarat.

In a message to the people Dr. Kalam said no person living in the state should forget what Mahatma Gandhi did for the country. He made an emotional plea o the people of Gujarat to emulate the nobility and spirituality of the Father of the Nation.

Addressing a function at the AMA where Dr. Kalam who inaugurated the Ramanlal Patel-AMA Centre For Excellence in Education said a couple of incidents had had a profound impression on his young mind when he was a student during the struggle for Independence.

Recalling an incident, Dr. Kalam said that he had been impressed by two photographs showing political leaders jostling the crowd at the Red Fort to participate in the flag hoisting, while Gandhiji had chosen to walk barefoot to be among the victims o the communal violence that had broken out during that time and share their pain.

"The Father of the Nation who had spent several years in the jail fighting a battle with the British and dreaming of an Indian flag atop the Red Fort had chosen to walk barefoot to share the pain of the people even as his dream came rue," Dr. Kalam said.

"No book nor a Harvard education can teach what Mahatma Gandhi taught. That of removing the grief of people," he said. "This is the land of Mahatma Gandhi, the land of an eminent scientist Vikram Sarabhai, my Guru," Dr. Kalam said adding that no citizen of the state should forget what the symbolised. Dr. Kalam also shared another incident that he recalled during his recent visit to Anand, which had witnessed communal violence. Dr. Kalam who has always sought inspiration from students, was witness to a debate on who was actually responsible for the communal violence in the state, was amazed at the response of a female student who said it was poverty that was real enemy. In another discussion with students from Rajkot he was overwhelmed by a girl's response who said she wanted to become a doctor to serve the people and remove their pain. "It immediately struck a chord with Gandhiji's principles," Dr. Kalam said. The message was not lost to the people and the students who had assembled to hear Dr. Kalam.

Republished from The Asian Age