Abdul kalam's simplicity/ austerity are the signature to his life and the youth will emulate

Having written about the appointment of parameswaran Nair as the personal secretary by  kalam  let me translate now what the private secretary  recalled in that Tamil weekly way back in 2011.

Once Dr Kalam ’s relatives nearly  59 persons  had come to see and stay with him for a short while. It would be very  difficult for anyone to believe that  Mr Abdul Kalam met from his personal accounts  all the expenditure towards food  ,lodging , including the tea expenses for his relatives. Furthermore as Kalam’s elder brother had shared his room he also paid the rent for it.

Again, his bother undertook  a journey to Hajji.    As  AB J initials would be found  pre fixed with his brother’s name in the passport , his  relationship with the president will be known and hence he categorically   asked to tell  the Embassy officials that no special privilege should be extended to his brother during the visit.The Personal Secretary was much moved by this .

Later when his wife suffered from fracture in the leg Kalam went to his home and enquired about her health. This simplicity and humility to share the pain  of the fellow human was the signature of his personality.

He had an immense faith in the youth of the country. In his ideal world envisaged for the youth  he or she would not join any political party. Nor he would start any. He  would often say ,”The imperative today  for the youth is that they should be a judicious mixture of science,  spirituality in the real sense away from the narrow confines of religion and  of of course the virtuous life centring around Aram in Tamil which is  far beyond the simplistic dharma’.

The private secretary concluded by saying that such a society of super power will emerge with good governance will emerge in 2020 and the youth will endeavour to make it.

 I can  only add that Kalam’s wish is sincere and a kind of Utopia and in my humble opinion the corrupt politicians and the politicised officials – the really bad ones not all ,  are the principal  problem than the solution. The great soul of Kalam will give the positive energy and I feel that in a graduated for a good governance  the paradigm shift will take place  and the dispossed and the disadvantaged will be aware of their rights. The  youth will give the knockout punch in a gentle way and promise a secular and truly democratic India