On the evening of February 24, 2007, at Coimbatore, I had a very beautiful experience.
As I got ready for meeting the first person out of twenty appointments, a wheel chair was in sight with a smiling person probably in his late fifties; unfortunately he has no hands and legs.
His radiant face was revealing his happy state of mind. He introduced himself as Vidwan Coimbatore SR Krishna Murthy.
I greeted him and asked him how this had happened.
He smilingly said that it was from by birth. He thanked God, his parents, teachers and many others for giving him confidence, training and help.
I asked him, what I could do for him? He said, I don’t need anything from you. I would like to sing in front of you?
I readily agreed. He sang melodiously the Saint Thyagraja’s Pancha ratna kriti entharo mahanubavulu in Sriragam giving me a glimpse of his talent. I was quite touched.
What is the message? Despite being physically challenged, the latent talent of music could blossom in this person with his positive attitude and perseverance, encouraged by the parents, teachers, academics and rasikas. Now he wants to give, give and give his art to inspire others.
Of course, by his merit of music, in July 2007, he performed in the Rashtrapati Bhavan art theatre.
Copyright@ www.abdulkalam.com. This is an article written by former President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam.