Kochi : 25.04.2004

Marvels of Universe

I am indeed delighted to address and interact with the children of Naval Community and other schools of Kochi Naval Base. My greetings to the Principals and teachers and all students. I have met over 4,00,000 students/youths of our country. I am aware of their dreams and concern. I thought of sharing some thoughts based on that experience.

Marvels of Universe

Friends, we should note that human mind is a unique gift. You can enter into Marvels of Universe only if you have curiosity and thinking. I suggest, thinking should become your capital asset, no matter whatever ups and downs you come across in your life. Learning is the primary resource.

When learning is purposeful, creativity blossoms. When the creativity blossoms, thinking emanates. When thinking emanates, knowledge is fully lit. When knowledge is lit, young life is enriched.?

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. Like Nobel Laureate Subramaniam Chandrasekar discovered the black hole through a quest, why most of the stars shine and few die. Today, using Chandrasekar limit we can calculate how long the sun will shine. Like, Sir CV Raman looked at the sea and the sky, and questioned why the sea should be blue This led to the birth of Raman Effect, he found the blue of the sea was due to the molecular scattering of light and was not a case of reflection of the sky in water as most people imagined. Like, Albert Einstein, armed with the complexity of the universe, asked the question how the universe was born. The famous equation E=mc2 arrived, which can be used for the generation of electricity using nuclear materials and also lead to nuclear weapons. In India during 1960's one important event took place, Prof. Vikram Sarabhai gave a vision for the nation on the space programme. He said, India should build her own rocket system, build communication and remote sensing satellites, integrate and launch from Indian space launch centers and put them into the geosynchronous orbit and sun synchronous orbit. Today India can build any type of rocket systems and satellite and launch in a specified orbit.

Indomitable spirit

Let us study the characteristics of indomitable spirit. It has two components. The first component is that there must be a Vision leading to higher goals of achievement. I would like to recall a couplet from Thirukkural by the Poet Saint Thiruvalluvar written 2500 years ago.

Quote:

It means that whatever may be the depth of the river or lake or pond, whatever may be the condition of the water, the lilly flower always comes out and blossoms. Similarly, if there is a definite determination to achieve a goal even if it is impossible to achieve, the man succeeds.

Many of us have gone through large programmes and projects. We would have experienced that success is not in sight and there are many hurdles. The same poet reminds us at this point of time through another couplet:

We should never be defeated by any problems. We should become master of the situation and defeat the problems. I consider these two Thirukkurals characterize the indomitable spirit.

Bird story and my profession

When I think of my school days, I am reminded of an incident which took place when I was studying in 5th class. I had a teacher, Shri Sivasubramania Iyer. He was one of the very good teachers in our school. All of us loved to attend his class and hear him. One day, he was teaching about bird s flight. He drew a diagram of a bird on the blackboard depicting the wings, tail, body structure and the head. He explained how the birds create the lift and fly. He also explained to us how they change direction while flying. Nearly 25 minutes he gave the lecture with various information such as lift, drag, how the birds fly in a formation of 10, 20 or 30 etc. At the end of the class, he wanted to know whether we understood how the birds fly. I said, I did not understand how the birds fly. When I said this, he asked the other students whether they understood or not. Many students said that they did not understand. Our teacher was a real teacher and very good teacher. He did not get upset by our response.

In view of this, my teacher said that he would take all of us to the sea shore. That evening the whole class was in the sea shore. We enjoyed the roaring sea waves knocking at the rocks in the pleasant evening. Birds were flying with sweet chirping voice. He showed the sea birds in formation in 10 to 20 numbers. We saw the marvelous formation of birds, with a purpose, and we were all amazed. And we were enjoying the formation of the birds. He showed the birds and asked us, what did we observe We saw the wings being flapped. He asked us to look at the tail portion with the combination of flapping the wing and twisting the tail. We observed closely and found that the birds in that condition flew in the direction they wanted. Then he asked us, where the engine was and how it was powered. Bird is powered by its own life and the motivation what it wants. All these things were explained to us within 15 minutes. We all understood the whole bird dynamics with practical example. How nice it was Our teacher was a great teacher; he could give as a theoretical lesson coupled with a live demonstration. This is real teaching. I am sure many of the teachers in schools and colleges will follow this example.

For me, it was not merely an understanding of how a bird flies. The bird s flight entered into me and created a feeling on the seashore of Rameswaram. From that day evening, I thought that my future study has to be with reference to flight and flight sciences. I am telling this because, my teachers teaching and the event that I witnessed later, decided my future career. Then one evening after the classes, I asked the teacher, Sir, please tell me, how to progress further in learning flight sciences.? He patiently explained to me that I should complete high school, and then I should go to college that may lead to education of flight. If I do all these things I might do something connected with flight sciences. This advice and the bird flying demonstration given by my teacher really gave me a goal and a mission for my life. When I went to college, I took Physics. When I went to engineering in Madras Institute of Technology, I took Aeronautical Engineering.

Thus my life was transformed as a rocket engineer, aerospace engineer and technologist. That one incident of my teacher s teaching, giving a live demonstration proved to be a turning point in my life which eventually shaped my profession.

Enlightened Citizens

In every country, the national development, which is a collective process, has to be accomplished through the constructive efforts of enlightened citizens, who practice righteousness in all their activities. The evolution of enlightened human beings is indeed a big challenge for the world community. I was asking myself, what will be the components of such a mission There are three components to that. The first component is education with value system, second religions graduating into spiritual forces to bring universal brotherhood and the third is poverty eradication by attaining economic prosperity through a national vision. And it has to be done in every country in an integrated way with link to the world.

I wish all students and the teaching community success in all their endeavours.

Questions and Answers Session With Naval School Children

Q.1. You always say Dream, dream and dream?. Can you please elaborate - Karubakee Mohanti, Age 17 yrs, Class XII, Kendriya Vidyalaya II

Ans. Dreaming leads to thinking; thinking provides knowledge; knowledge leads you to work hard, which in turn makes you great.

Q.2. We all dream of a developed and prosperous India. What is the role of children to make this a reality - Deepthi, Kendriya Vidyalaya I

Ans. You are a student, you excel in your education, and you work hard. This itself will increase the education level of the nation. Also when a problem occurs, you defeat the problem.

Q.3. What is India s biggest hurdle to progress poverty, illiteracy or intolerance How can we help India to overcome this - Abhinand Pradeep, Age 13 yrs, Class VIII, Naval Public School

Ans. To meet the need of one billion people and alleviate poverty and illiteracy, we have the second vision of transforming India into a developed nation by the year 2020. We have identified five areas where India has a core competence for integrated action: (1) Agriculture and food processing (2) Reliable and quality electric power and surface transport for all parts of the country. (3) Education and Healthcare (4) Information and Communication Technology (5) Strategic sectors. These five areas are closely inter-related and if well done would lead to national, food, economic and security. Intolerance comes through the character. Home is responsible for generating the righteous citizens.

Q.4. According to Honorable President s vision, by the year 2020 our country would be developed. Could you please explain your vision of development Why have you kept 2020 as the deadline - Himani, Age 17 yrs, Class XII, Kendriya Vidyalaya I

Ans. Infrastructure development like networking of rivers it may take minimum 20 years, establishing the PURA complexes for our 600,000 villages to provide sustainable rural development will also take time. Another alternative is we may achieve this by 2050, if we are not focused in our mission, but by that time you will be old and crossed above 70 years age. Better as a young citizen achieve it before 2020.

Q.5. Sir, whenever we see you, you have a great attachment towards children. What makes you so attached to them Is there some incident, which has made you like that - Aditya Ramesh, Age 17 yrs, Class XII, Kendriya Vidyalaya II

Ans. Because, young have dreams and questioning mind. And with your nobility, curiosity, commitment, sincerity and concern for making the country great. You can be molded great.

Q.6. With great power comes great responsibility. What do you think individual citizens should do to contribute in making our society and country more responsible - Arjun Nair, Age 17 yrs, Class XII, Naval Public School

Ans. First of all the citizens must realize their individual responsibility and perform their duties in whatever area they are with commitment and devotion. By setting an example they will generate a sense of responsibility and commitment amongst younger generation. In this respect, I would like to share a hymn that I heard in a divine campus. The name of the hymn is 'Peace in the World':

Where there is righteousness in the heart There is a beauty in the character. When there is beauty in the character, there is harmony in the home. When there is harmony in the home. There is a order in the nation. When there is order in the nation, There is peace in the world

Friends, we can see a beautiful connectivity between heart, character, nation and the world. How to inject righteousness in the human heart This is indeed the purpose of human creation - that is divinity. We are going through a complex situation as many of us are completely at war with ourselves, with society and with nation. At every instant there is a war in our mind, whether we should go in one direction or another. Whenever there is a dilemma, we must seek the wisdom from the Almighty to lead us to the path of righteousness through education with value system.

Dear Friends, do you know who are the three greatest thinkers of the 20th century

They are Thomas Alva Edison, Sir Charles Darwin, Mahatma Gandhi.

I would like to administer a Nine point oath to you.

Nine point oath for the youth

1. I will pursue my education with dedication and I will excel in it.

2. I will plant at least 10 saplings and shall ensure their growth through constant care.

3. I will visit rural and urban areas and permanently wean away at least 5 persons from addiction and gambling.

4. I will constantly endeavor to remove the pain of my suffering brethren.

5. I will not support any religious, caste or language differentiation.

6. I will be honest and endeavour to make a corruption free society.

7. I will work for becoming an enlightened citizen and make my family righteous.

8. I will always be a friend of the mentally and physically challenged and will work hard to make them feel normal, like the rest of us.

9. I will proudly celebrate the success of my country and my people.

DR. A.P.J. Abdul KalamFORMER PRESIDENT OF INDIATerm of Office: 25th July 2002 - 25th July 2007

Address to the Students at Naval Base, Kochi

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