Dr. APJ Abdul Kalaam's speech in Hyderabad.
[OUR HONOURABLE PRESIDENT OF INDIA]
A must read for every Indian.
"I have three visions for India.
1. In 3000 years of our history, people from all over the world havecome and invaded us, captured our lands, conquered our minds. F romAlexander onwards. The Greeks, the Turks, the Moguls, the Portuguese,the British, the French, the Dutch, all of them came and looted us,took over what was ours. Yet we have not done this to any othernation. We have not conquered anyone.
2. We have not grabbed their land, their culture, their history andtried to enforce our way of life on them. Why? Because we respect thefreedom of others. That is why my first vision is that of FREEDOM. Ibelieve that India got its first vision of this in 1857, when westarted the war of independence. It is this freedom that we mustprotect and nurture and build on. If we are not free, no one willrespect us.
3. My second vision for India is DEVELOPMENT. For fifty years we havebeen a developing nation. It is time we see ourselves as a developednation. We are among top 5 nations of the world in terms of GDP. Wehave 10 percent growth rate in most areas. Our poverty levels arefalling. Our achievements are being global ly recognized today. Yet welack the self-confidence to see ourselves as a developednation, self- reliant and self-assured. Isn't this incorrect?
4. I have a THIRD vision. India must stand up to the world. Because Ibelieve that, unless India stands up to the world, no one will respectus. Only strength respects strength. We must be strong not only as amilitary power but also as an economic power. Both must gohand-in-hand. My good fortune was to have worked with three greatminds. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai of the Dept. of space,Professor SatishDhawan, who succeeded him and Dr.Brahm Prakash, father of nuclearmaterial. I was lucky to have worked with all three of them closelyand consider this the great opportunity of my life.
5. I see four milestones in my career:
Twenty years I spent in ISRO. I was given the opportunity to be theproject director for India's first satellite launch vehicle, SLV3. Theone that launched Rohini. These years played a very important role inmy life of Scientist.
After my ISRO years, I joined DRDO and got a chance to be the part ofIndia's guided missile program. It was my second bliss when Agni metits mission requirements in 1994.
The Dept. of Atomic Energy and DRDO had this tremendous partnership inthe recent nuclear tests, on May 11 and 13. This was the third bliss.The joy of participating with my team in these nuclear tests andproving to the world that India can make it, that we are no longer adeveloping nation but one of them. It made me feel very proud as anIndian. The fact that we have now developed for Agni a re-entrystructure, for which we have developed this new material. A Very lightmaterial called carbon-carbon.
One day an orthopedic surgeon from Nizam Institute of Medical Sciencesvisited my laboratory. He lifted the material and found it so lightthat he took me to his hospital and showed me his patients. There werethese little girls and boys with hea vy metallic calipers weighingover three Kg. each, dragging their feet around.
He said to me: Please remove the pain of my patients.
In three weeks, we made these Floor reaction Orthosis 300-gramcalipers and took them to the orthopedic center. The children didn'tbelieve their eyes. From dragging around a three kg. load on theirlegs, they could now move around!
Their parents had tears in their eyes. That was my fourth bliss!
6. Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India soembarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We aresuch a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but werefuse to acknowledge them.
7. Why?
We are the first in milk production.We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.We are the second largest producer of wheat.We are the second largest producer of rice.
8. Look at Dr. Sudarshan, he has transferred the tribal village into aself-sustaining, self driving unit. There are millionsof suchachievementsbut our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures anddisasters.
9. I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. Itwas the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths hadtaken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaperhad the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years hadtransformed his desert land into an orchid and a granary. It was thisinspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details ofkillings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buriedamong other news.
10. In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Whyare we so NEGATIVE?
11. Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreignthings?
12. We want foreign TVs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreigntechnology. Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we notrealize that self-respect comes with self-reliance?
13. I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girlasked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is.
She replied: I want to live in a developed India.
For her, you and I will have to build this developed India. You mustproclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highlydeveloped nation.
14. Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance.Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choiceis yours.
YOU say that our government is inefficient.YOU say that our laws are too old.YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke,The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach theirdestination.YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolutepits.YOU say, say and say.
15. What do YOU do about it? Take a person on his way to Singapore.Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS. YOU walk out of theairport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don'tthrow cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are asproud of their Underground links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. Rs.60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway orPedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOUcomeback to the parking lot topunch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or ashopping mall irrespective of your status identity. In Singapore youdon't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public duringRamadan, in Dubai. YOU would not dare to go out without your headcovered in Jeddah. YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to, "see toit that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else." YOU wouldnot dare to speed beyond 55mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, "Jaanta haimain kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Takeyour two bucks and get lost."
16. YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than thegarbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand.
Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo?Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates inBoston??? We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respectand conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in yourown. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the momentyou touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciativecitizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India?
17. Once in an interview, the famous Ex-muni cipal commissioner ofBombay, Mr.Tinaikar, had a point to make. "Rich people's dogs arewalked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over theplace," he said. "And then the same people turn around to criticizeand blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. Whatdo they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every timetheir dog feels the pressure in his bowels?
18. In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has donethe job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?" He'sright.
19. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeitall responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect thegovernment to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totallynegative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going tostop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop topick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learnthe proper use of bathrooms.
20. We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of foodand toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the leastopportunity. This applies even to the staff who is known not to passon the service to the public. When it comes to burning social issueslike those related towomen, dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing roomprotestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse?"It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if Ialone forego my sons' rights to a dowry." So who's going to change thesystem?
21. What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us itconsists of our neighbors, other households, other cities, othercommunities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU. When itcomes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system welock ourselves along with our families in to a safe cocoon and lookinto the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean tocome along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand orwe leave the country and run away.
22. Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to baskin their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecurewe run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take thenext flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand tobe rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is outto abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system.Our conscience is mortgaged to money.
23. Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for agreat deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too....I amechoing J.F.Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate toIndians.....
"ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKEINDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY"
24. Lets do what India needs from us.
Forward this mail to each Indian for a change instead of sending Jokesor junk mails.
Thank you,Dr. Abdul Kalam(PRESIDENT OF INDIA)
[OUR HONOURABLE PRESIDENT OF INDIA]
A must read for every Indian.
"I have three visions for India.
1. In 3000 years of our history, people from all over the world havecome and invaded us, captured our lands, conquered our minds. F romAlexander onwards. The Greeks, the Turks, the Moguls, the Portuguese,the British, the French, the Dutch, all of them came and looted us,took over what was ours. Yet we have not done this to any othernation. We have not conquered anyone.
2. We have not grabbed their land, their culture, their history andtried to enforce our way of life on them. Why? Because we respect thefreedom of others. That is why my first vision is that of FREEDOM. Ibelieve that India got its first vision of this in 1857, when westarted the war of independence. It is this freedom that we mustprotect and nurture and build on. If we are not free, no one willrespect us.
3. My second vision for India is DEVELOPMENT. For fifty years we havebeen a developing nation. It is time we see ourselves as a developednation. We are among top 5 nations of the world in terms of GDP. Wehave 10 percent growth rate in most areas. Our poverty levels arefalling. Our achievements are being global ly recognized today. Yet welack the self-confidence to see ourselves as a developednation, self- reliant and self-assured. Isn't this incorrect?
4. I have a THIRD vision. India must stand up to the world. Because Ibelieve that, unless India stands up to the world, no one will respectus. Only strength respects strength. We must be strong not only as amilitary power but also as an economic power. Both must gohand-in-hand. My good fortune was to have worked with three greatminds. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai of the Dept. of space,Professor SatishDhawan, who succeeded him and Dr.Brahm Prakash, father of nuclearmaterial. I was lucky to have worked with all three of them closelyand consider this the great opportunity of my life.
5. I see four milestones in my career:
Twenty years I spent in ISRO. I was given the opportunity to be theproject director for India's first satellite launch vehicle, SLV3. Theone that launched Rohini. These years played a very important role inmy life of Scientist.
After my ISRO years, I joined DRDO and got a chance to be the part ofIndia's guided missile program. It was my second bliss when Agni metits mission requirements in 1994.
The Dept. of Atomic Energy and DRDO had this tremendous partnership inthe recent nuclear tests, on May 11 and 13. This was the third bliss.The joy of participating with my team in these nuclear tests andproving to the world that India can make it, that we are no longer adeveloping nation but one of them. It made me feel very proud as anIndian. The fact that we have now developed for Agni a re-entrystructure, for which we have developed this new material. A Very lightmaterial called carbon-carbon.
One day an orthopedic surgeon from Nizam Institute of Medical Sciencesvisited my laboratory. He lifted the material and found it so lightthat he took me to his hospital and showed me his patients. There werethese little girls and boys with hea vy metallic calipers weighingover three Kg. each, dragging their feet around.
He said to me: Please remove the pain of my patients.
In three weeks, we made these Floor reaction Orthosis 300-gramcalipers and took them to the orthopedic center. The children didn'tbelieve their eyes. From dragging around a three kg. load on theirlegs, they could now move around!
Their parents had tears in their eyes. That was my fourth bliss!
6. Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India soembarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We aresuch a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but werefuse to acknowledge them.
7. Why?
We are the first in milk production.We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.We are the second largest producer of wheat.We are the second largest producer of rice.
8. Look at Dr. Sudarshan, he has transferred the tribal village into aself-sustaining, self driving unit. There are millionsof suchachievementsbut our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures anddisasters.
9. I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. Itwas the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths hadtaken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaperhad the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years hadtransformed his desert land into an orchid and a granary. It was thisinspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details ofkillings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buriedamong other news.
10. In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Whyare we so NEGATIVE?
11. Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreignthings?
12. We want foreign TVs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreigntechnology. Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we notrealize that self-respect comes with self-reliance?
13. I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girlasked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is.
She replied: I want to live in a developed India.
For her, you and I will have to build this developed India. You mustproclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highlydeveloped nation.
14. Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance.Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choiceis yours.
YOU say that our government is inefficient.YOU say that our laws are too old.YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke,The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach theirdestination.YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolutepits.YOU say, say and say.
15. What do YOU do about it? Take a person on his way to Singapore.Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS. YOU walk out of theairport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don'tthrow cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are asproud of their Underground links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. Rs.60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway orPedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOUcomeback to the parking lot topunch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or ashopping mall irrespective of your status identity. In Singapore youdon't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public duringRamadan, in Dubai. YOU would not dare to go out without your headcovered in Jeddah. YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to, "see toit that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else." YOU wouldnot dare to speed beyond 55mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, "Jaanta haimain kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Takeyour two bucks and get lost."
16. YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than thegarbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand.
Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo?Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates inBoston??? We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respectand conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in yourown. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the momentyou touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciativecitizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India?
17. Once in an interview, the famous Ex-muni cipal commissioner ofBombay, Mr.Tinaikar, had a point to make. "Rich people's dogs arewalked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over theplace," he said. "And then the same people turn around to criticizeand blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. Whatdo they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every timetheir dog feels the pressure in his bowels?
18. In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has donethe job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?" He'sright.
19. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeitall responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect thegovernment to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totallynegative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going tostop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop topick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learnthe proper use of bathrooms.
20. We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of foodand toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the leastopportunity. This applies even to the staff who is known not to passon the service to the public. When it comes to burning social issueslike those related towomen, dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing roomprotestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse?"It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if Ialone forego my sons' rights to a dowry." So who's going to change thesystem?
21. What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us itconsists of our neighbors, other households, other cities, othercommunities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU. When itcomes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system welock ourselves along with our families in to a safe cocoon and lookinto the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean tocome along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand orwe leave the country and run away.
22. Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to baskin their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecurewe run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take thenext flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand tobe rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is outto abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system.Our conscience is mortgaged to money.
23. Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for agreat deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too....I amechoing J.F.Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate toIndians.....
"ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKEINDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY"
24. Lets do what India needs from us.
Forward this mail to each Indian for a change instead of sending Jokesor junk mails.
Thank you,Dr. Abdul Kalam(PRESIDENT OF INDIA)
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