Inspired India…

                                              It has not been too old since the demise of our respectful and beloved People’s President, Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam. Saddened were and still are we on knowing his retirement from this planet. The very first name any Indian or at least the youngsters of India would remember to utter when asked for their inspiration would undoubtedly be Dr. Abdul Kalam. This shows the greatness and popularity of a common man who conquered peaks through shear hard work despite being from a poor background. Having expressed my deep condolences, respect and tribute to the missile man of India, I hereby would like to open up a topic pertaining to the great leader, which requires deep critical thinking.

                                           Dr. Kalam had a deep chemistry with the younger sector of India as his inspirational speeches, quotes, books, etc. are among the standing examples for him having a great concern and love towards children and students. Without a doubt, not a single student could deny getting inspired by him, for, his words and speeches have reached billions of ears.  Now, having painted the wall with his glories, let us think a little deeper, as said earlier, critically, analytically and practically. The study says that an average human brain could remember 50% of the speech delivered however interesting the speech is. The 50%, drastically lowers to 25% within a span of 24 hours and later would shrink to 10% in a week. This is the case with an average human being who pays attention to the speech without any distractions. With this smaller scale of analysis, it could well be understood that going around the country’s schools and colleges, addressing students, giving inspirational speeches are sadly found to be in vain as they would remain as a trace but the real necessity or the purpose remains untouched. Apart from giving lectures all around the nation, how well has he tried for the betterment of the educational system of the nation? For sure he has emerged as a standard icon through his mind-blowing speeches, which is the most basic tool any public speaker would have.

                                         I would like to clarify the basic elementary term used to refer him, “inspiration”. Are we really inspired by him? I would strongly disagree with this with a convincing explanation. Dr. Kalam, apart from being a President, is famously known as a scientist and the missile man of India who became the oldest Indian to fly a fighter aircraft. How many Indians could name any three of his works in the field of science? We just know that he has earned bags of Doctorates in diverse fields, awards and rewards for his unmatchable works. But, how many could name at least three of his scientific works without reference? On the other hand, may it be Shah Rukh Khan, Rajinikanth, Amitabh Bachchan, Virat Kohli, M.S. Dhoni, Aishwarya Rai or Anushka Sharma; we tend to browse, read supplementary of newspapers, or find a source to know about their personal lives, gossips, etc., irrespective of knowing how good or bad they are on screen. Now, we don’t really inspire from them, for, they just portray a role through their movies, rather we do admire their skills in the field. In the cases where we get inspired from them, we do have a solid, concrete reason for having so. Now, stepping back to square one, how much have we browsed, read or learnt to comment, compliment, inspire, aspire or criticize Dr. Abdul Kalam? How many of us know his hand in “What Can I Give?” a propagation against corruption in India by empowering and nurturing students of India? Having analysed this much, if this frames the definition of “inspiration” either should the word be removed off the dictionary of English or should it be redefined in a better way.

                                             To put it all in a nutshell, how many of the so called inspired people could really spell the expansion of A.P.J? This level of inference on him could well be enough to reinforce my statement with explanation and reasoning.  There is always a difference between inspiration and admiration. Inspiration is when something or someone is studied, understood and is reflected or at least tried to be reflected. Here, Dr. Kalam could be subjected to be called an inspirational icon if he has been studied, understood and at least an attempt to implement his ideas have been made by the students, or even the whole of India. Without which, it would be inappropriate to call Dr. Kalam “inspiration” rather than admiration, till we are educated about him. Seeing or listening doesn’t really mean believing, rather observation is.  

                                          I would like to conclude by saying that we have been and still are continuing to be judgemental and prejudice from what is said, seen or listened to irrespective of the fact that they could be right, wrong or neither way. Further search, research and thirst for knowledge on what we believe in or choose to believe in leads to better educated India as of how it was intended to be by Dr. Kalam. Hence, I kindly urge all the readers to understand that the core of this article is to portray Dr. Kalam as an example of being misinterpreted by his dear youngsters in the way he certainly would not have wanted to; a reasonless inspiration and not as an act of demeaning Dr. Abdul Kalam in any ways. To sign a better note, I have got inspired by the simplicity he followed till his last breath. Now, still, am I good enough to use the word “inspired” since I haven’t tried following the act of being simple in life? Every person, every case, every cosmic law is subjected to have a “Rashomon Effect” dormant in it. It is successful in having attained education when we thrive to know about both sides of a coin rather than drawing conclusions with inferred quantum of knowledge.

“Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.”-Albert Einstein.

Written by,
Arun Shankar.M