Thursday, July 26, 2007

APJ Abdul Kalam - What a Leader!


There are so many resons for me to be proud of being an Indian. One of them is to have a leader like Dr APJ Kalam. He is the perfect example of how a leader should be. His vision, goals and thoughts are so motivating. He always makes sure he is not a politician, but one among us.


Some lines from his famous speech in Hyderabad.


Dr. APJ Abdul Kalaam's speech in Hyderabad
"I have three visions for India. In 3000 years of our history, people from all over the world have come and invaded us, captured our lands, conquered our minds. From Alexander 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 other nation. We have not conquered anyone. We have not grabbed their land, their culture, their history and Tried to enforce our way of life on them. Why? Because we respect the freedom of others.


That is why my first vision is that of FREEDOM. I believe that India got its first vision of this in 1857, when we started the war of Independence. It is this freedom that we must protect and nurture and build on. If we are not free, no one will respect us.
My second vision for India's DEVELOPMENT, For fifty years we have been A developing nation. It is time we see ourselves as a developed nation. We are among top 5 nations of the world in terms of GDP. We have 10 percent growth rate in most areas. Our poverty levels are falling. Our achievements are being globally recognized today. Yet we lack the self-confidence to see ourselves as a developed nation, self-reliant and self-assured. Isn't this incorrect?


I have a THIRD vision. India must stand up to the world. Because I believe that, unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. Only strength respects strength. We must be strong not only as a military power but also as an economic power. Both must go hand-in-hand. My good fortune was to have worked with three great minds. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai of the Dept. of space, Professor Satish Dhawan, who succeeded him and Dr.Brahm Prakash, father of nuclear material. I was lucky to have worked with all three of them closely and consider this the great opportunity of my life.I see four milestones in my career:

For the full speech please click here.

It is worth reading many times.

Salutations to our best ever Indian President. We will make your dreams come true because we too are having the same dream. And as you said, You have to dream before your dreams can come true.

Jai hind!!!

1 comment:

Srihari said...

The speech indeed was excellent and reading between the lines we would find how eager he is to make india developing nation ... He has quoted saying "The young minds are the pillars of developing India"..

His tenure as president has indeed made us proud and disproved the critics that he is a "rubber stamp" to the ruling party ..