Memoriam for Dr. Abdul Kalam

Peace Greetings!

It is a combination of sorrow and joy to hear the news of Dr. Kalam departing from this mortal world yesterday.

He was one of the great sources of inspiration to me over the last decade.

He was an extremely great soul, advanced soul, very pious.

He left the body in the midst of his seva (service) for students and academic community, setting a wonderful example how to live one's life and leave the body in the end.

He departed on the most auspicious day as per Hindu calendar (Ashada Ekadasi). We believe God has embraced him for the wonderful deeds he performed during his active life.

He was delivering a lecture at IIM-Shillong, when he had a cardiac arrest. 

Some of his former colleagues from ISRO have given wonderful tributes, glorifying his unique qualities.

He was a true Muslim indeed; a visionary of all domains of knowledge.

His birth was very holy in the holy city of Rameshwaram.

Though born as a Muslim, he had high regards for all religions' holy books and he could quote from Upanishads, etc.

I started taking interest in this great personality after he willingly received the copy of Dr. T.D. Singh's (BI-K) publication “Thoughts on the Synthesis of Science and Religion" from the hands of Dr. T.D. Singh more than a decade back. I became intrigued to know more about him.

Later I heard he had tears in his eyes on hearing about the passing away of Dr. T.D. Singh.

Perhaps their souls were stitched together. They had similar thoughts on presenting synthesis of science and religion to the scientists/academic community, and student community, etc.

I continue to be inspired by this great soul. 

I have a few of his books and like to read all of his writings, including in papers as an invited columnist.

He had a message for all with a subtle application of spirituality. He had a message for scientists, spiritualists, religious leaders, interfaith leaders, political leaders, parents, students (youth), children, social workers, academicians, etc. So I always quoted him whenever possible in my papers/seminars etc. His approach of blending science and spirituality as a Muslim was par excellence.

His respect for his teachers/superiors was an example to be followed by youth today. Simultaneously he gave guidelines to teachers/parents/leaders about how to earn respect, and how they should perform their duty, by giving examples of his own glorious school teachers. 

Last year, while working on and preparing a 2-day workshop for students at a leading engg. college, I got so inspired by his life history, especially the launching of the Rohini satellite, that I dedicated half of the workshop to teachings/audio by Dr. Kalam. 

The first attempt to launch the satellite failed after putting in years of efforts, including skipping sleep for several nights. 

Later, exactly after one year, in July 1980, the satellite was launched. It was not an ordinary feat to be achieved by India. 

India then became proud of Dr. Kalam's contribution to the space mission as it entered into the small, elite group of nations that possessed satellite launch capability for the first time.

For Dr, Kalam, it was the happiest moment of his life. He recalled in his memoirs after the successful launch that he got an opportunity to speak a few, choicest words for the first time in his life, when he said, “Mission director calling all stations. All stages performed successfully and the Rohini Satellite is now in orbit.”

Recalling the failed first attempt, as a team leader, he felt responsible and the whole nation and world was watching; how could he face them? He felt frustrated, but later with the support of his superior, he changed failure to success.

He said, "By not letting the problem become my captain, I became its captain and overpowered my mistakes, failures and weaknesses. I take cue from my failures about the mistake I committed during the process.”

Abdul Kalam thus became an excellent role model for the youth community (he addressed 7 million or more students as of today) and connected with students' problems. 

He has given a unique knowledge equation as follows:

Knowledge = creativity + righteousness in heart + courage + indomitable spirit 

He expands them as follows: 

Creativity

• Learning gives creativity
• Creativity leads to thinking
• Thinking provides knowledge
• Knowledge makes you great

Righteousness

  Where there is righteousness in the heart

• There is beauty in the character.
• When there is beauty in the character,
• There is harmony in the home.
• When there is harmony in the home.
• There is order in the nation.
• When there is order in the nation,
• There is peace in the world.

(Who will give the righteousness? They are: Father, Mother in a spiritual environment and Teacher, particularly primary school teacher”)

Courage

• Courage to think different,
• Courage to invent,
• Courage to travel into an unexplored path,
• Courage to discover the impossible,
• Courage to combat the problems
• And succeed, are the unique qualities of the youth.

On indomitable spirit, he recalls Prof. C.V. Raman:

"Success can only come to you by courageous devotion to the task lying in front of you." 

Much can be talked about Dr. Kalam. I conclude with two of his powerful guiding instructions for all to keep us charged. They are very inspiring for us. 

I reproduce below:

He had said, "To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal and those who cannot work with their hearts achieve but a hollow, half-hearted success that breeds bitterness all around.”

On the spiritual side he said, "God, our Creator, has stored within our minds and personalities, great potential strength and ability. Prayer helps us tap and develop these powers.”

Let us pray for this great soul. I did offer special prayer for him although he is much advanced than us. I humbly prayed with hope, with all his wonderful spiritual qualities and God given faculty, he appear again to serve Lord's important mission to guide mankind to transform the society/mankind to promote peace all over the planet and heal the injured Mother earth.

Thanking you with humble prayers for Dr. Kalam,

Prof. Jayanti. Ranganathan. Chavan
Social Scientist, Counsellor - Holistic Education
Founder President, Dr. T.D. Singh's Institute of Science and Religion, Navi Mumbai
CEO, PEACE (Peace Education Association & Centre for Excellence) Cooperation Circle of URI - Multi-region
Life Member - Indian Women Scientist Association

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Read more inspirational quotes from Dr. Kalam thoughtfully compiled by Karickam International Public School (KIPS) Cooperation Circle in Kottarakara, India.

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Source for the following excerpt:  Inaugural address "The Joy of Human Life" by Dr. Kalam delivered at "International Summit: Towards a Culture of Harmony and Peace", New Delhi, Dec. 7-10, 2003. It is published in the publication "Towards a Culture of Harmony and Peace", published jointly by Bhaktivedanta Institute (Kolkata) and Delhi Peace Summit.

He concludes the address as below:

Creator's Message

God has created the human being with a brain and thinking faculty. He has commanded His creation that the faculty must be used with reasoning to reach His image. This is the mission of the human life. Science is the best boon God has bestowed upon mankind. Science with reasoning becomes the capital of society. In whatever field we work, be it science, technology, medicine, politics, policing, theology or the judiciary, we have to remain in the service of the common man whose well-being is central to all human knowledge and endeavor.

Every religion has a central component - spirituality that is driven by compassion and love. Rationality and logic are intrinsic to science and spirituality. A spiritual experience is the goal of a deeply religious person whereas a major discovery or an invention is the goal of a scientific mind. If both aspects are unified, amalgamated in our own patterns, we can transcend to that level of thinking in which unity is cohesive aspect. For this environment the two major components, Science and Spirituality, have to interact. 

A Peace prayer can be the foundation for both. 

Peace Prayer

Oh Almighty, create thoughts and actions in the minds of the people of the nation so that they live united.

Oh Almighty, bless the people to take a path of life with righteousness as righteousness gives the strength of character.

Help all religious leaders of the country to give strength to the people to combat the divisive forces.

Guide the people to develop an attitude to appreciate different ideologies and transform enmity among individuals, organizations and nations into friendliness and harmony

Embed the thought 'Nation is bigger than the Individual' in the minds of the leaders and people.

Oh God, bless the people to work with perseverance to transform the country into a peaceful and prosperous nation and promote world peace.

Thanking you.

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Dear All,
Greetings from Travel Agent CC Lahore – Pakistan.
It’s really shocking news. Indians lose a great scientist and a great man as well.

May Allah rest his soul in peace. 
Best Regards,

Asad Yameen
Nafees Travels (Pvt) Ltd.

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Dear Jayanti & URI Friends,

We convey our sympathies and pray for the departed soul of Dr. Abdul Kalam, the greatest leader of the world. We pray for his family to be consoled and to be proud of all the wealth of knowledge and examples that he has left for the world. We pray for all our Indian URI friends that through the intersession of the Dr. Abdul Kalam, all of you become example of Peace to the world. Let us all learn from him the knowledge and challenges he had set before us.

United with you, united all our friends and peace lovers  

Miss Naseem George T.I

Seeds of Peace, CC 

Sargodha - Pakistan

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Condolence to Dr. Abdul Kalam's passing away. 

We pray for his next life in the pure land and family in peace.

All the best regards,

Dr. Jinwol Lee, URI Asia's Regional Coordinator for Korea