Dr. Abdul Kalam as a Teacher!

Dear Induslady,

He passionately mentioned in one of his interviews about his teacher who laid the foundation for him to learn about flying and the technology related to flying. When he stood up in his middle school class to say that he didn't understand the teaching about flying, the teacher decided to take the whole class to the beach in Ramaswaram and show the kids in his class the birds in the beach and what enable them to take a flight. He mentioned this teacher's effort as the reason why he decided to join Madras Institute of Technology to learn aeronautic engineering. Later, he went on to become the leader for missile technology in India. He always mentioned that teachings in the school should make the difference for the children to grow up with passion to do something very specific.

He dreamed of making every village to have necessary infrastructure with information and communication technologies so that the villagers could freely interact with other areas in the country. He emphasized the need for every child in the village to get educated. He talked about every educated individual in India to contribute to the growth of India through contributing time and effort to educate the underprivileged.

He passionately recalled his father, who is a spiritual leader of the local Mosque in Rameswaram conducted meetings with the father of the local church and Chief Priest of Rameswaram Temple in his house to discuss how the welfare of the people from all communities could be established. He explained how his father taught him an important lesson that when someone is offered a position, the Lord would have already given everything one needs to hold that position and he or she doesn't need anything else from anyone else.

In an interview, he mentioned how his sister had to pawn her jewelries to pay for his tuition in MIT. He also mentioned how he had to sell his favorite book gifted by his professor to get to Rameswaram when his house was flooded. He recalled how the shop owner kept his book in tact for him to buy it back and how he paid back his sister to get back her jewelries.

I heard that he moved into the Rashtrapathi Bhavan with two suitcases and nothing else. He led a simple life inside Rashtrapathi Bhavan with simple food being prepared for his own consumption. He left all his gifts in the Rashtrapathi Bhavan. In my honest view, his life itself is a teacher for all of us. The best way Indians could pay tribute to this great leader is by committing to teach the children or young adults whatever they have learned in life as a contribution to India without any rewards. This commitment could be made post retirement.

Viswa

 

Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Kalam was born in 1931 in Rameshwaram, son of a boat owner who “who had neither much formal education nor much wealth”. As a small boy he distributed newspapers, sold oil, onions, rice and novelties made of sea shells.
Dr. Kalam has published his autobiography entitled “Wings of Fire” in association with Arun Tiwari who had worked under Dr. Kalam for ten years in the Defence Research and Development Organisation at Hyderabad. The book is a saga of a warm and intensely personal, deeply passionate story of a boat owner’s son becoming India’s most distinguished technocrat. It is also a brilliant account of success story of India’s Space Rocketry and Missile Programme.Samuel Butler, Victorian novelist wrote, “Greatness comes in the cloak of humility”. No better description than this is possible of Dr. Kalam. Two examples will elucidate. In his autobiography he writes with disarming candour that he was “…a short boy with rather undistinguished looks, born to tall and handsome parents. I ate with my mother. She would feed me on the floor of the kitchen, place a banana leaf before me, on which she ladled rice and aromatic sambhar….”

When Smt. Indira Gandhi summoned him to Delhi in 1980 to personally felicitate him for putting India on a World’s space map, Dr. Kalam was in a panic, as he owned neither a suit nor shoes. Prof. Satish Dhawan, his guru, and then Head of I S R O told him, “You are beautifully clothed in your success”.His suit had been well earned. Under his guidance India launched the first Satellite Launching Vehicle – the SLV-3. He also made the country a Missile power by developing the Agni and Prithvi. It is impossible to overestimate Dr. Kalam’s role in the 1988 Pokhran nuclear blasts – the result of ten years of unremitting toil by him and his team.He aptly summarised his career thus; “my story is the story of a scientist tested by failures and setbacks; the story of a leader supported by a team of a dedicated professionals”.
Fortunately for students of India, his meritorious service to students ,perhaps, might not have been to this exemplary level had he become president of India for the second term.

The life of Dr. Abdul Kalam reveals so many teachings.

1. We learn from our children. They become our teachers.2.We learn from our mistakes.Mistakes become masters.
3.All our anger & agonies,beatings & burnings,challenges & churns,cries and cracks,toils and turmoils,twists & turns make us mellow down & season us a lot.
4. From good persons we know how to be,and from the so called wicked we know how not to be.
5. When we listen to music,it soothens our hearts & music becomes our preceptor.
6.When we hear the mazhalai or babblings of children, we forget the pressing problems. then children become our masters.
7.The sun,the rain,the mountains ,the rivers & trees- all are teaching the lesson of PAROPAKARA ,without uttering a single word by their mere routine.
8. Above all,"SILENCE" itself is the greatest GURU-MAUNA GURU.It is meditation in SILENCE that brought into our Bharat so many great thinkers,luminaries & Acharyas whom we revere most.
The list is endless.
Let us bow with reverence, on this Teachers' Day all the teachers.It need not be emphasized that 'to follow 'is thousand times more important than offering admirations and accolades.
Let us follow the foot steps of great teachers like Dr. Kalam, Dr.Radhakrishnan and others and continue to be 'learners' for ever.

jayasala 42

 

Following are 10 Quotes by the Scientist,Author and former President






1 You have to dream before your dreams can come true


2 Excellence is a continuous process and not an accident


3 Life is a difficult game .You can win it only by retaining your birthright to be a person


4 Man needs his difficulties because they are necessary to enjoy success


5 We will be remembered only if we give to our younger generation a prosperous and safe India,


resulting out of economic prosperity coupled with civilizational heritage


6 Those who can not work with their hearts achieve but a hollow,half hearted success


that breeds bitterness all around.


7 Educationists should build the capacities of the spirit of inquiry,creativity,Entreprenurial


and model leadership among students and become their role model


8 Look at the sky we are not alone.The whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only


to give the best to those who dream and work


9 If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds,I strongly feel


there are three key societal members who can make a differnce.


They are the Father,the Mother and the Teacher


10 My message especially to young people is to have courage to think differently,courage to invent,


to travel the unexplored path,courage to discover the impossible and to conquer the problems and succeed.


These are great qualities that they must work towards.This is my message to the young people.

Quotes courtesy --------NDTV. following is my tribute to DR.Abdul Kalam




These quotes prove he is a Genius,Patriot ,Educationist,a Practical man in his lifespan,and a role model

for young generation.






First quote is to put effort.


second one is the fruit of effort


Third quote to fight strongly for your identity

Fourth quote says the path to success is not a bed of roses but you have to cross thorny bushes too


Fifth one is the meaning for patriotism


Sixth quote says to acheve a goal , you need a sincere commitment in the work ,work done with les sincerity


brings bitterness around as a semi-cooked food spoil the taste .


Seventh quote relates the quality of an Educationist.He must be able to shape a student with questioning knowledge,


Imagination capacity ,Organizing and Managing skills and also with leadership skill.Totally a teacher must be a role model


Eighth quote points out that the whole universe helps the people who dream up to the sky level.


Nineth specifies the role of a Father,Mother and a good teacher who creates a good young generation,


whose parts are very much needed to build up a Great Nation


Tenth quote is a valuable advise to young people.They need courage which makes them to think differently ,invent new features,


to conquer the problems and get success they have to travel the unexplored path to discover the impossible to make possible .



These Ten quotes are Golden Quotes from our former president DR.Abdul Kalam who lived according to these quotes.


we salute you as a great human being SIR.

 

I can tell my children proudly about Dr. Abdul Kalam that we used to have a leader, human being like him...epitome of humbleness, great patriot, lover of children (Want to be remembered as a teacher shows his love for education), simplicity, honesty. Nation is proud of him. His books Wings of fire is excellent.
He passed away in the middle of students...what an irony!
Syamala

 

"Some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them."

It is not hard to categorize our former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam under those who achieve greatness through sheer dint of hard, honest work accompanied by sincerety, total commitment and plain wisdom.

A down to earth person, he was the embodiment of "simple living and high thinking". He was not known to make elaborate speeches. His teachings, like the man, were simply put across and are that much stronger because he practiced what he preached.

Here are some of his quotes from "Wings of fire":

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How comforting it would be to have a teacher tell his student to relax and do what he has to do without thinking only of the end result! Isn't this 'karmanye vaddhikaaraste ....." in the most practical sense?[/FONT]

Here is one more healthy attitude that he shared. No one is perfect and in the quest for that perfection, one may choose never to take risks. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. The effort is what counts, not whether it worked out or not. More important is to reflect and learn from one's mistakes. That is the course of true learning and that is how the greatest discoveries are made. In fact, mistakes are the greatest teachers.

Such greatness is hard to come by and we are indeed very fortunate to have lived in the same times as Dr. Abdul Kalam.

A very practical teacher who loved nothing more than passing on his knowledge and wisdom to the younger generation, he really knew what 'nation building' was about. If only we had more teachers and more people in responsible positions who were a fraction of what Dr. Abdul Kalam was, our nation would be right at the top in every respect.

What we need is to learn to emulate the values he propagated, rather than just 'admiring' his qualities and paying lip service to all that he said.

 

Dear Indus lady,

Though Dr Abdul Kalam was known as the missile man he preferred to be known as a teacher. His close associate Srijan Pal Singh once asked him how he would prefer to be known to the world, as a scientist, writer, missile man, or president. To his surprise Kalam replied that he wanted to be known as a teacher. This shows not only his humility, but also his passion for teaching. Wherever he went he mixed with children and students and they also loved to be with him.

As for his passion he dedicated his last hours to the students of IIM Shillong. He was to give them a lecture on the topic " Creating a livable planet earth."


While addressing the students he connected the terrorists attack in Punjab as it was relevant to the topic. He told that man made forces were as big a threat to livability of earth as was pollution.


Mr Srijan Pal Singh also mentioned that Mr Kalam was very much worried that time and again there was disruption in parliament which was not good for the country. He even thought of giving an assignment to the students of the IIM at the end of his lecture to suggest three innovative ways to make the parliament more productive and vibrant. It is anybody's guess that it was a tough task, but it shows the concern about the country's future and the trust he had on the younger generation.


The same day in another incident we get to know his compassion . They were traveling to Shillong in a convoy of six to seven vehicles. Mr Kalam saw a security man standing and keeping vigil all through the five hours journey. He felt that the guy would get tired and felt that it was a punishment for him. He was worried that his legs would pain and told a person who was accompanying him to send a wireless message and tell the guy to sit. But they were unable to send the message. As soon as they reached Shillong Dr Kalam went and thanked the person and shook hands with him. He enquired whether he was feeling tired and wanted to eat something. He also told him that he was sorry that he had to stand so long because of him.


Some of Dr Kalam's quotes:

Dream, Dream Dream, Dreams transform into thoughts and thoughts result in action.

Difficulties in your life do not come to destroy you, but to help you realize your hidden potential and power, let difficulties know that you too are difficult.

Confidence and Hard work is the best medicine to kill the disease called failure. It will make you successful person.

If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher.

I'm not a handsome guy, but I can give my hand to someone who needs help. Beauty is in the heart, not in the face.

 

IndusLady, sometimes back i had read an article written by Dr. Kalam on how indians are not keeping the country clean but behave nicely when they are abroad and based on that article I had written a poem. Sharing it here.

Hum azaad panchi hum hai Hindustani
jiye aapni marzise kare hum manmani



dar na gam koi
na hai sharm koi
Foolad nahi qaid koi
yaha rihaayi hai aashani ... hum hai Hindustani


Chahe jaha ghosla kare
Chahe jaha kachra pheke
na hai parva kisiki
Chahe kisiki hoi haani .... hum hai Hindustani


Hai paas humare Ram Sita
jivan reet hai saath Gita
Chori rajneeti bas sikha
Sunkar humne krishna kahani ... hum hai Hindustani


Pardes ke aache Sahari hai
Swades ke bade Julmi hai
Chaal humari pal mein badle
Jab paar kare hum paani ... hum hai Hindustani


Bhagwan ko hum manate hai
phool,phal,dudhse bahlate hai
Ganga mein hum nahate hai
mitate hai paap ki nishaani ... hum hai Hindustani


Sabmein humhe chor dikte hai
Khudmein humhe ram dikte hai
nazarmein har shaksh bikta hai
jab kamjori koi humne jaani ... hum hai Hindustani