A P J Abdul Kalam was a great man, a humanitarian, an accomplished scientist, an uncorrupted politician, author of two world famous youth-inspiring books namely Wings of Fire and Ignited Minds. I was aware of all this before his demise. But I read his first book only after his death and am sorry to say it failed to inspire me. So I didn’t even go through the trouble of finding the other book.
Then on one fine day, I came across another book — Squaring the Circle by Kalam and Arun Tiwari. They managed to cover so many aspects of life in those few pages that I was astounded. It was through that book that I found my role model — a six-year-old boy who was inspired to fly after observing the wings of a bird and managed to do so after 70 years of perseverance. I finished reading this book recently and by the time I finished, I had a fire burning inside me.
My desperation to send out sparks of that fire even brought up the idea of writing a letter to our Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Then, I laughed at myself. A man so busy travelling abroad, trying hard to create profitable international relations for the development of India, would he have the time to read a few words from me? Spare time for the thoughts and ramblings of a common middle-class girl? Even if he did have the time, the words shouldn’t end there. They say a pen is sharper than a sword. I wanted to see for myself if it was so.
To all those who have not read this book, the thought that struck me the most is that in one of the pages, Kalam outlined the various levels of the harsh realities of India, starting from alcohol consumption beyond limits at the personal level, to corrupt politicians at the national level. Everyone blames the other. We have voting rights. Most don’t go and vote saying, “why vote? After all, another irresponsible man is going to be in that seat”. Are we not responsible? Do we have the right to blame others if we had no hand voting? Does the elected one not have the dignity to take some moments off his busy schedule to recall the promises he made to his people while campaigning?
There are policies created everyday. A few good ones are run like the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana for farmers, Beti Bachao, Swacchh Bharat for the collective well-being of the nation and a lot more. But are they reaching everyone? Is ascertaining that the knowledge and benefits have reached the people not a part of the responsibility of the government? Why only the government? Are all Indians not brothers and sisters? Have we not pledged this since our school days? Everyone is running in a never-ending race for success, money and career. Are the people around not important? CSR has made the corporate bend to public interest. Few corporates are even working for the collective good out of humanitarian concern. Does this relieve Indian citizens from helping others? If each Indian feeds one extra mouth, apart from the ones he is responsible for by blood, will it not be enough to brush off malnutrition and hunger? Can we not together ensure that our brothers and sisters are getting fed three times a day? If every well-off family adopted a child and looked after his or her education, food and shelter, will there be a need for orphanages in every town? If adoption sounds like a life-long responsibility, why not sponsor? Do something, Indians! If every Indian takes a few minutes to recite mata pita guru daivam every morning, will there be a need for old age homes? One doesn’t need to share blood to show compassion and humanity.
Most of us are aware of this. We stand for these words everyday while speaking to our colleagues. But are words and thoughts going to feed the nation? Come on India, step out of your comfort zone. Feed that beggar you see. Educate that little one you saw on the road, playing with garbage. Shout for humanity. Work for humanity. Let us together become a ‘Government’.
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