by Stephen Gill
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was the 11th president of India. His notable success was a tribute to his education, hard work and impressive character that is the outcome of the multicultural heritage, ranking him among the outstanding personalities of the world history. He was popular among the majority as well as among the minority groups, and was easily approachable by ordinary people, particularly the youth. He collapsed while delivering a speech at a seminar of Indian Institute of Management in Shillong, India. He died of a cardiac arrest at Bethany Hospital in the capital of Meghalaya province on July 27, 2015 in the evening.
He was born in a humble boatman’s Muslim family in a rural area of Tamilnadu, South India. He was given the job of the president of India by the BJP Government in 2002 not because of his politics but because of his achievements as a missile scientist. He was the right choice of the BJP, the Hindu nationalists, who wanted him to build India’s defense system and to attract Muslim votes. He wrote inspirational poems, remained unmarried, and led a simple life. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, prime minister of the BJP Government, who picked him rightly for the highest position of India, was also a poet, and unmarried.
The subcontinent is burning for a lack of water from an idol of the multicultural nature. Religion has penetrated everywhere. After religion, it is the fire of the caste and the sub caste and after caste and sub caste, it is the language and after language it is the economical strata and several other causes which are burning the centuries-old regions. The subcontinent needs an idol and Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam is that idol.
Dr. Kalam will be remembered for his life of a harmonious marriage between art and knowledge. His ceaseless struggle in the narrow alleys of the bumpy orbits of bigotries to raise a stage for the goddess of peace to dance has set an example. This is an uncommon phenomenon at least in India, where he cultivated a crop of the palpitation of human groans and a glory that is the essence of more than five thousand years old culture. He is rightly known as “people’s president.” It is clear from Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam’s life and beliefs that he was a genuine child of the multicultural nature of Indian heritage. At this time, when India needs a citizen of uncritical devotion, the legacy of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam shall remain alive for a long long time.
About the Author
Multiple award winning Stephen Gill has authored more than twenty books, including novels, literary criticism, and collections of poems. He is the subject of doctoral dissertations, and research papers. Nine books have been released by scholars and more are to be released on his works.
Websites: www.stephengill.ca; www.stephengillcriticism.info
