A Tribute to my hero

Thousands of students and their families waited eagerly to catch a glimpse of the missile man. Several scaled walls to get a fleeting glance. My friend, my teacher and I stood at the gate, eagerly awaiting his arrival. We were lucky, many of the students wanted to meet him, but only two of us were given the necessary permission to do so. We enthusiastically checked out watches and as the clock struck five, a convoy pulled up at our school gate. A barrage of people rushed to meet him but were prevented from doing so. 

I could not believe my eyes. I was seeing my hero in flesh and blood for the first time. As he got off the car, he smiled and walked up to us. He asked me and my friend for our names. He smiled and repeated our names and then shook hands with us. He then asked me what subjects I had chosen to major in and what I intended to become. On hearing my response he smiled and asked the two of us to study well.

My friend brought out a bouquet of orchids and I held a box of cashew nuts in my hand. The former president remarked that he did not eat cashews. My smile vanished at my inability to give him something good. Dr.Kalam, not wanting to disappoint us took the box of cashews and profusely thanked us. He said that he and his assistants would definitely eat some of the cashews. 

The crowd began to swell and Dr.Kalam had to move on to address the gathering. My friend and I stepped back. We stared at our palms in disbelief. We could not believe that we had met Dr.Kalam and felt truly blessed to meet a great legend. 

Several celebrities through their weight around and demand respect. Abdul Kalam is an exception for his gentle demeanour and humility commands respect even from the most disrespectful of people. I was not the only one from my family who had the chance to meet the Missile Man.

My father was once travelling by flight. To kill time, he picked up a copy of the magazine Frontline. To his good fortune, that particular issue of Frontline had a picture of Abdul Kalam on the cover page and had an article about him. As my father read through the magazine, he realised that his co-passenger was none other than the great man himself. He asked him for an autograph, to which Dr.Kalam readily obliged. He signed the magazine cover and wrote the ‘NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE. This magazine is a prized treasure that my family cherishes.

Another incident that illustrates the greatness of this Mahatma was witnessed by my grandfather. Dr.Kalam was scheduled to catch a flight but had nearly missed the timing owing to traffic. The airline, not wanting to let go of their esteemed passenger delayed the aircraft. Dr.Kalam reached the airport and ran to the boarding gate. He was a older than most of the passengers, and it was the passengers good luck to be travelling with him. Yet he felt bad to keep others waiting. He apologised to the passengers and the crew for the delay. A great man like him need not apologise, yet Dr.Kalam chose to remain a commoner despite his achievements. He chose to remain one among the people. He thoroughly enjoyed spending time with people. Hence it is befitting that he died surrounded by students.

Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam may have left the physical world, yet he continues to live on in the hearts of the millions he inspired. Certain teachers need to be present to deliver their message to students, however Dr.Abdul Kalam is no normal teacher, he is someone like Dronacharya, a person who inspires by just merely thinking of him. We the future of India are his Ekalavyas or his unseen disciples. We need to keep the Wings of Fire Burning and realise the dream that Dr.Kalam had for each of us and the nation.

The world is not an asset that we acquire from our parents, it is a debt that we take from our progenies. Dr.Kalam paid this debt multi fold by being a great mentor and teacher. It is upto to each and everyone of us to keep the path of progress envisioned by him.

Badam Halwa Lessons

My grand mother prepared a tin full of Badam Halwa Cake and handed it to me. I placed it with my clothes and zipped the bag shut. On reaching Singapore, I promptly put it into the refrigerator. Everyday I would open the fridge to see if the Halwa was intact and would tell myself I would eat a piece of it the next day. On some days I would break a piece into half and consume one portion of it.

One day I opened to see the Badam Cake was grey in color as compared to its rich beige color. Fungi had infested the cake and I had to throw away the partially filled box with a heavy heart. I could not comprehend how the halwa that had seemed fresh had suddenly turned grey. I wondered if the greying had occurred over a period of time and whether I had been absent minded. I chided myself for my absent mindedness and wondered if destroying some of the spoilt halwa would have helped the rest of the halwa remain uninfested. I was surprised yet a little upset at the same time.

This Badam Halwa analogy holds good for all relationships including friendship. Several times we notice that a friendship has gone sour primarily because we fail to notice the changes. We are caught in a time race and effectively ignore the greying symptoms. We keep putting away making calls to the next day, assuming that there will be one more day. This cycle continues until you feel an emotional disconnection with the person. This disconnection spreads like the fungus, unfortunately you are caught in a eutopic world that you fail to notice the fungi and the end result is a sour friendship infested with bitterness.

Make that call that you need to make TODAY. Do not put it off until tomorrow for the person may not need you tomorrow, do not let the fungi spread. Be vigilant and give people the importance they deserve. Do not let the emotional disconnection develop for one day it may lead to a situation where your loved one may need to discard your friendship just like I had to discard the tin of Badam Halwa.