President’s address and interaction with school
children in Uri
Following is the text the of President,
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s address to the school children at Uri in Jammu and
Kashmir today:
“I
am indeed delighted to interact with the students of Uri. My Greetings to the
head
asters, teachers, parents and students.
Dear
Children, will you repeat with me, a message of importance of education.
Knowledge Card
Learning gives creativity,
Creativity leads to thinking,
Thinking provides knowledge,
Knowledge makes you great.
My teacher:
Shri Siva Subramania Iyer
When
I think of my teacher, I am reminded of my childhood days when I was studying
in 5th class at the age of 10. I had a teacher, Shri Siva Subramania
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 and the
body structure with the head. He explained how the birds create the lift and
fly. He also explained to us how they change direction while flying. Nearly for
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. 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, the teacher asked the other
students whether they understood or not. Many students said that they also did
not understand. He did not get upset by our response, since he was a committed
teacher.
Our
teacher said that he would take all of us to the sea-shore. That evening the
whole class was at the sea-shore of Rameswaram. We enjoyed the roaring
sea-waves knocking at the sandy hills in the pleasant evening. Birds were
flying with sweet chirping voice. He showed the sea-birds in formations of 10
to 20 numbers. We saw the marvellous formations of birds with a purpose and we
were all amazed. He showed us the birds and asked us to see that when the birds
fly, what they looked like. We saw the wings flapping. He asked us to look at the
tail portion with the combination of flapping wings and twisting tail. We
noticed closely and found that the birds in that condition flew in the
direction they desired. Then he asked us a question, where the engine is and
how it is powered. Bird is powered by its own life and the motivation of what
it wants. All these things were explained to us within fifteen minutes. We all
understood the whole bird dynamics from this practical example. How nice it
was? Our teacher was a great teacher; he could give us a theoretical lesson
coupled with a live practical example available in nature. 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 special feeling. From that evening, I thought
that my future study has to be with reference to flight and flight systems. I
am saying this because my teacher's teaching and the event that I witnessed
decided my future career. Then one evening after the classes, I asked the
teacher, "Sir, please tell me, how to progress further in learning all
about flight." He patiently explained to me that I should complete 8th
class, and then go to high school, and then I should go to engineering college
that may lead to education on flight. If I complete all my education with
excellence, I might do something connected with flight sciences. This advice
and the bird flying exercise 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 teaching the lesson, showing the visual live example proved to be a turning point in my life which eventually
shaped my profession.
Dear
students, I would like to say "Courage to overcome the sufferings and to
succeed, courage to innovate, courage to invent are indeed the traits that led
to the growth of human civilization. I, as a citizen of India, will work with
courage and knowledge to transform my state Jammu and Kashmir into a
prosperous, happy and safe state."
Nothing is
impossible?
Human
flight is nothing, but creativity of human mind and it undergoes several
struggles to achieve excellence. In 1895, a great well-known scientist Lord
Kelvin, who was the President of Royal Society of London said, "anything
heavier than air cannot fly, and cannot be flown." Within a decade, Wright
Brothers proved man could fly of course at heavy risk and cost.
On
the successful completion of Moon Mission in 1969, Von Braun, a very famous
rocket designer, who built Saturn-V, to launch the capsule with astronauts and
made moon walk a reality, in 1975 said "If I am authorized, I will remove
the word impossible".
In
ancient days, Ptolemaic astronomy is a widely used system in calculating the
dynamics of various stars and planets. Assumption by then was that the earth is
flat. What a scientific struggle had to take place to prove that the earth is
spherical in shape orbiting around the sun. The three great astronomers,
Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler had to give a new dimension to the world of
astronomy. Today, we take it for granted that earth is a globe, orbiting around
the sun, and the sun orbits in the Milky Way. All the technological
advancements we have today are the outcome of scientific exploration of
scientists of earlier centuries. At no time, man was beaten by problems. He
strives continuously to subjugate impossibility and then succeeds.
According
to the laws of aerodynamics, the bumblebee should never be able to fly because
of the size, weight, and shape of its body in relationship to the total wing
span, flying is scientifically impossible. The bumblebee, being ignorant of
scientific theory, goes ahead and flies anyway. I would like the youth
assembled here to take a lesson from these examples and work to make everything
possible.
Conclusion:
Magnanimity in Victory
I
met a great personality who was responsible for the freedom of South Africa.
Particularly for the young people, you can learn two lessons. They are:
indomitable spirit and virtue of forgiveness. He is none other than Dr. Nelson
Mandela.
Cape
Town is famous for its Table Mountain; it has got three peaks called Table
Peak, Devil Peak, and Fake Peak. Between the peaks it was a beautiful sight
throughout the day, sometimes dark clouds and sometimes white clouds embracing
the peaks. Table Mountain is very close to the sea-coast of the Atlantic Ocean.
We traveled by helicopter to Robben Island from Cape Town in 10 minutes flight.
By fast powered boat it will take 30 minutes to reach the Robben Island. When we
reached the Island, except sea roaring, the whole island, was a silent island
symbolizing the thought: this is the place the freedom of individual was
chained. We were received at the Island by Mr. Ahmed Kathrada a South African,
who was a co-prisoner. What surprised me was this: can you imagine a tiny room,
where sleeping and all human needs have to be fulfilled. It has to be
remembered that Dr. Nelson Mandela, who was 6 feet tall was imprisoned in that
room for 26 years - fighting against the apartheid. The major part of his life
was spent in this silent Island. He used to be taken for quarrying in the
nearby mountain for a few hours in bright sun. This is the time his sight got
damaged. In spite of his body being tortured, he revealed to the world the indomitable
spirit in him. This is the time he evolved a manuscript of freedom in tiny
letters every day, when the jail wardens went to sleep. This small tiny
lettered manuscript finally became the famous book of Mandela - ‘A long walk to freedom’.
It
was a great event for me to meet him in his house in Johannesburg. Dear
friends, I would like to share with you, when I entered Dr. Nelson Mandela?s
house, I saw his three-dimensional form with cheerfulness: the mighty man who
got the freedom for South Africa from the tyranny of apartheid. And also a
person when he became the President of South Africa, he gave the people freedom
to move, freedom to live in South Africa to those people who specialized in
apartheid and ill-treated and put him in jail for 26 years. Nelson Mandela
accepted them as equals citizens who ill treated them practicing apartheid. I
felt that, I am touching the hand of a mighty Soul. When he started walking, he
used to have a walking stick, he discarded the walking stick; I became his support
- walking stick. Dear friends, a big lesson that we learnt from this
personality Dr. Nelson Mandela which is explained in one of the Thirukkurals
written 2200 years before.
Now
I would like to administer the Seven point Oath for enlightened citizenship.
Are you ready?
Seven Point
Oath
1.
I will pursue my education with dedication and I will excel in it.
2. I will plant at least 5 saplings and shall ensure their growth through
constant care.
3. I will constantly endeavour to remove the pain of my suffering brethren.
4. I will work for becoming an enlightened citizen and make my family
righteous.
5. 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.
6. Courage to overcome the sufferings and to succeed, courage to innovate,
courage to invent are indeed the traits that led to the growth of human
civilization. I, as a citizen of India, will work with courage and knowledge to
transform my state Jammu and Kashmir into a prosperous, happy and safe state.
7. We, the children of Jammu and Kashmir, promise that we will work hard with
honesty to transform our State into a developed, happy and prosperous State.
Happy and prosperous Jammu and Kashmir will make happy and prosperous India.
My
best wishes to you all for success in your educational career. May God bless
you.”
HK/CS
(Release ID :13579)