Interaction With Students and Commissioning of the Abu Sabah Library Complex at the Farook College

Address

I am indeed delighted to participate in the Commissioning of Abu Sabah Library Complex at the Farook College. For a person who is convinced that the future of the nation lies in the moulding of younger generations, namely the students, nothing would be more welcome than being amidst them. I feel extremely happy that I have been able to come here and be with you all this morning.

I would be stating the obvious if I say that education is the cornerstone of all development. But then, some obvious things need to be re-stated if their meaning and intrinsic values are not to be forgotten and their purity retained unadulterated. At a time when commercialism and consumerism are invading almost every facet of human life, the need to keep education free of such pollution cannot be over-stated. Education is learning; education is character building; education is enlightment - it is a mission that has to be pursued with zeal and fervour unendangered by the dictates of materialistic compulsions. I am extremely happy, against this background, to learn that this College has been upholding these cherished indestructible values and also has been maintaining a high moral standard among its students. I have been told that as a token of its commitment to the causes of education, the College was selected by the Ford Foundation to receive a major grant under its project, namely, the Campus Diversity Initiative. My congratulations to the authorities concerned for making this possible!

It is my pleasant privilege this morning to commission the new library complex which, I understand, has a collection of more than 70,000 books and 3,000 journals. It has a reader-friendly atmosphere and state-of-the-art facilities like audio-visual theatre and online facilities to make this complex a wholesome proposition to students who are eager to learn. It is one thing to have such a beautiful library complex; yet it is another thing to ensure that the facilities so provided are fully made use of by the entire student community. This calls for a certain positive approach from the college management which builds it in, in a strategy that encourages knowledge seeking among the student community and rewards those who succeed. I fervently hope that the facilities which I have the privilege of commissioning today, will be fully made use of by the entire student community here and that in course of time this complex would stand out as a major contributory factor in evolving a generation of youngsters who are motivated through the strength of their knowledge to take this country forward on the path of development and progress.

Thinking is Progress

Friends, we should note that human mind is a unique gift. Marvels of universe you can enter into it only if you have curiosity and thinking. I suggest to all of you, thinking should become your capital asset, no matter whatever ups and downs you come across in your life. Thinking is progress. Non thinking is destruction to the individual, organization and the country. Thinking leads to action. Knowledge without action is useless and irrelevant. Knowledge with action brings prosperity

As a student, I would like you to have a mind to explore every aspect of human life. Look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe is friendly to us and conspires to give the best to those who dream and work. Like Chandrasekhar Subramaniam discovered the black hole. Today, using Chandrasekar's limit we can calculate how long the sun will shine. Like, Sir CV Raman looked at the sea and questioned why the sea should be blue leading to the birth of Raman Effect. Like, Albert Einstein, armed with the complexity of the universe, asked the question how the universe was born. The famous equation E=mc2 arrived. When E=mc2 is in the hands of noble souls we got electricity using nuclear materials. When the same equation was in the hands of extreme political thinkers, destruction of Hiroshima took place. Millions of people walk in this universe. But during last millennium one noble soul walked and walked in the Indian soil giving application of ahimsa dharma leading to the Indian independence. My dear friends, can you dream to become a noble minded like Mahatma Gandhi or Sir CV Raman or Einstein, or Chandrasekhar Subramaniam. Look at the marvels of your universe. You become a great thinker and action will follow.

Knowledge sweat and perseverance

Wherever I go , I meet school children. Till now, I have met more than 100000 students. Recently, I was in Tuensang, a remote village in Nagaland. I talked to student community. I was in Tawang, in a 400 year old monastery situated in the high altitude of 10,000 ft in Arunachal Pradesh. I was in Manipur valley, I was in Jharkand, I was in Gujarat. Everywhere, one common voice echoed from the young. Mr. Kalam, can you tell us, in this complex world how to achieve a prosperous India, Peaceful India, a secured India?. What can be my answer? I was thinking and thinking. I have lived in this planet for 71 years. Did I learn out of my difficult times, some thing to share with you, the young boys and girls across the country. From 1982 to 1992 was a very important period for me to design, develop, build and to operate certain missile systems for our country. What type of world was there around me at that time. All developed countries had condemned India in the name of MTCR, as one weapon. The other weapon used by them was NPT (Non nuclear Proliferation Treaty). With these two weapons of technological denials can the Indian minds succeed in its mission? I will share with you an experience which I had during development of Prithvi and Agni missile systems. In the missile system, for guidance and control, we use two gyro sensors in every flight system. For a given accuracy for a missile payload system, it was essential to have a accuracy of .20 drift per hour. One of our industries at that time was producing 10 per hour gyros. There was a denial of high accuracy gyros from developed countries. A task team was formed between an University and one of our labs to find a technical solution. About twelve software and hardware engineers after working for eight months came out with a solution of fast algorithm to be loaded on the on-board computer of the missile system and for real time error compensation. This will predict the error in the flight trajectory ahead and compensate the error in the gyro performance to make it to provide very high accuracy than the one which was denied. I am giving this example how software solutions, knowledge and enthusiasm can work with hardware constraints. We have to work for high end software which will bring more value addition. Also, VLSI foundries should be continuously upgraded to the sub micron level. To keep these foundries going, one of the major requirement is high purity VLSI grade silicon material. The country should have this facility and the investment should take place in this critical area.

The Vision for the nation

After 50 years of progress, the aspirations are mounting that India should become a developed country. This is the second vision for the nation. How we can prepare ourselves to this challenge?

To become a developed India, the essential needs are (a) India has to be economically and commercially powerful, at least to be one of the four top nations in terms of size of the economy. Our target should be a GDP growth of 9% annually and that the people below poverty line to be reduced to 10%. (b) near self-reliance in defence needs of weapon, equipment with no umbilical attached to any outside world. (c) India should have a right place in world forums. Technology Vision 2020 is a pathway to realise this cherished mission.

Conclusion

Dear friends, the present academic system may give you more workload, But, it doesn't prevent you to dream. It doesn't prevent you to work hard and acquire knowledge. Hard work and perseverance are beautiful angels who will support you. I would like to recall an incident that I witnessed in 1960s. Prof. Vikram Sarabhai, the visionary of space programme, put forth to this country that India should design and develop communication satellites, remote sensing satellites and launch them in polar orbits from the Indian soil, for mapping Indian natural resources. Today his dream has become true. The nation is capable of developing any type of space system. Hence, dream. Your dreams will transform into thoughts. The thoughts will result in actions. You will succeed. India is a nation of a billion people. A nation's progress depends upon how its people think. It is thoughts which are transformed into actions. India has to think as a nation of a billion people. I am sure, the recommendations of this Summit will facilitate proper actions. Let the young minds blossom-full of thought, the thoughts of prosperity.

With these words, I commission the new library complex dedicated to the memory of Moulvi Abu Sabah Ahmad Ali, the founder of this College. My greetings and best wishes to all of you.