Former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam who was in the city released his new book ‘Squaring the circle: Seven steps to Indian Renaissance’ at Taj Krishna on Thursday. The book has been co-authored by Professor Arun Tiwari and is presented as a series of dialogues between the two. The event also celebrated the milestone of the book ‘Wings of Fire’ which has sold one million copies all over the world and has been translated into 13 Indian languages and six foreign languages.
“The book ‘Wings of Fire’ has turned out to be a beacon of hope for people. Letters from our readers tell us how the book has helped them in solving their problems. Working on this book has been like a pilgrimage for me,” said Professor Arun Tiwari who worked along with Dr Kalam on the ‘Trishul’ and ‘Akash’ missile projects. He added that co-authoring the book ‘Squaring the circle’ has been his best reward so far.
In the new book, Kalam expresses his concerns on what ails our country at the systemic and the individual level and suggests ways for mitigating it through an Indian renaissance. Speaking about the book, he said, “Squaring the circle carries the message that humanity needs a great vision to forego all the conflicts and move towards a common goal of peace and prosperity for every human being and foresee the birth of a world vision leading to a livable planet Earth.” Explaining that the book has been fashioned as a guide per say, but is not the answer to the problems we are currently facing, he added, “The message is articulated in the book but it is not fully developed, for it is beyond us. I’m setting a ball rolling and I hope you’ll all help it move forward.” ‘Squaring the circle’ differs from the octogenarian’s earlier works in that he has used a dialogue between himself and Professor Arun to convey his point.
“The book is more of a dialogue between the two. The entire book is in questions and answers. It’s important that the book has come out in an atmosphere clouded with negativity. Kalam’s positivism blends personal experience, science and faith seamlessly,” pointed out Dr D Balasubramanian, director of research, LV Prasad Eye Institute who released the book.
A believer in this country’s ‘youth’ power, Dr Kalam has in the last 12 years met about 15 million youngsters, as per his own count. “There’s a saying that ‘Nation without a vision dies’. The vision directs the nation, directs its people and all the problems cropping up will have less impact when people are busy with nation building,” said the former president. An author of 13 books, he also spoke eloquently about the importance of social media while addressing the audience which comprised of students, parents and intellectuals. “Social media has a tremendous effect on youth. Parliament has yet to recognise the importance of this medium.”