Thursday, July 30, 2015

How did I feel when the final moments of Abdul kalam arrived at PEKKARUMBU Ground Rameswaram

I am typing this when OUR PM is showing his final respects to the departed People’s President. The leaders of different states holding different ideologies and ambitions have just  joined him in paying the floral tributes to the technocrat .Outside the ground chosen for funeral, thousands and thousands of people from different parts of Tamilnadu  are standing silently, under the scorching sun getting the glimpse of the final moments of the leader. What brought these poor people to this temple city? How did this chemistry develop between him and the people? Are they craving for an icon to guide them from above while the POWER on earth has failed them?
While watching the final moments  I am virtually going back to February 3 1969 when C N Annadurai the CM of Tamilnadu then called affectionately  the elder brother to everyone in Tamilnadu passed away. I was a final year MA student of Presidency College  at that time ; the Madras city was filled with people  from all over the state..I was at Rajaji hall on 2 when his boedy was laid there swimming through the crowd and again   in the crowd on  3 Feb on the sands of Marina shedding tears. But Anna and MGR belong to a different shade and stature. Tamils have shown by this spontaneous overflow of emotion that simple living and high thinking will endear millions and the current tribe of politicians must learn The LKG lesson from this massive funeral procession .
. In terms of the spirit and intensity of feelings  ordinary people of Tamilnadu have shown love and respects to good souls not craving for wealth but leading the3 life of austerity and becoming the symbol of honesty and integrity in public life Our man did not appropriate  the affluence of Rashtrapathi Bhawan  as his successor, the lady president did more successfully and more shamelessly but treated himself only as a tenant for the short term.
      Now  Kalam’s body is gently placed under the ground. He will be assimilated into his native soil and dissolved into cosmos soon. Will our leaders and academicians bankers and bureaucrats religious heads and the so called revolutionaries and rebels including the  militants,  internalise the true quality of  his life and understand the eternal truth that  simple living and honesty alone matters most and that  the ill-gotten wealth or position or even fame will be shortlived.
Therefore,my fellow countrymen, WE shall always remember the words of the famous  philosopher of ancient china LAO TZU: In dwelling live close to the ground. In thinking keep to simple. In conflict be fair and generous. In governing don’t try to control. In work do what you enjoy. In family life , be present.
Mr Abdul Kalam came from a family but preferred ot to have a family of his own and treated the entire humanity as his family. Perhaps that explains why despite his ordinar4y background and and scholarly   PHD type of paper education  he could reach an exalt5ed position it he country and more important enter into the hearts of many the young and the old  and I am typing with one finger as I have not learnt typing at the young age.

The music is still flowing. The leaders will depart and attend to their work and the poor will suffer with no worthwhile job and the Supreme will be a witness as a mute spectator for ever. May his soul rest in peace.  

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