BANGALORE: A P J Abdul Kalam, former President of India, is now on Facebook.
When the former President made up his mind to get on the social networking site, little did he realise that there were already more than 10 other Kalam profiles already existing. Hence, for authenticity, his official address on FB will be: www.facebook.com/OfficialKalam. Like his famous missile launch campaigns, Kalam quietly ran the trial run of his new-found-love a month ago and late on Saturday night (February 4), decided to make the site live. Giving him company in the hour of networking was his Man Friday and IIM-Ahmedabad grad Srijan Pal Singh.
“I travel across Indian cities and villages meeting thousands of people, a majority of whom are youth, who are great innovators and social entrepreneurs. Through my social networking page, I want to enlighten the nation about such wonderful initiatives, ideas and people who are silently shaping the future of this country. I look forward to a constructive discussion on such initiatives which would be vital for achieving the vision for an economically-developed India by 2020,” Kalam said.
He said that his FB page will be a tool to promote a spirit of ‘What Can I Give’ among the citizens, especially the youth.
“I would be sharing all the examples and ideas from the nation, of those people who have been giving to the society, nation or environment to create smiles, happiness and peace. I am calling this ‘The What Can I Give Diary’ which will be regularly uploaded on the page,” says Kalam.
Hinting that his FB mission will be one for a cause, Kalam said that he is keen to bring forth the problems and opportunities of rural India to a larger audience. “I have come across cases where farmers have suffered in bad seasons due to poor technology and in good seasons due to bad management. Can we bring forth these problems and evolve solutions with a national participation through social networking? Or can we use the social networking platform to discuss, improve and replicate some of the successful initiatives in villages for empowerment of the farmer and underprivileged communities?”he asks.
When asked how often would he get on to FB, Kalam said: “Every day.” When probed about the ‘other Kalams’ on FB, he said: “Such pages will always exist. We will try and merge them into one common page over a period of time.”