Dr. Abdul Kalam was so deeply and sincerely engrossed in his studies that he could not find enough time to think about himself. Circumstances did not permit him to think about his marriage even.
Though Rameswaram is a sacred place for entire India and the entire world, a holy place for pilgrims; no one knows when its fate will rise for education beyond school level.
Dr. Abdul Kalam completed his school-level education in Rameswaram and took his father’s permission to leave Rameswaram and study at the district headquarters in Ramanathapuram. Now every moment of his life was going to become tough and challenging. As if Dr. Abdul Kalam could hear his father thinking aloud—“Abul! I know you have to go away to grow. Does the seagull not fly across the Sun, alone and without a nest? You must forego your longing for the land of your memories to move into the dwelling place of your greatest desires; our love will not bind you nor will our needs hold you.”
His mother must have had a hard time to bear the painful truth of separation from her loving child. Dr. Abdul Kalam’s father quoted Khalil Gibran to his hesitant wife in order to pacify her—“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts.”
While putting him on the train at the Rameswaram station his father had said—“This island may be housing your body but not your soul. Your soul dwells in the house of tomorrow which none of us at Rameswaram can visit, not even in our dreams. May God bless you, my child.”
The above few lines have been quoted from ‘Wings of Fire’, only to show the kind of wisdom Dr. Abdul Kalam’s father possessed, the kind of faith he had in God—a faith in true sense. It also reveals how deeply he understood the pohilosophy of Khalil Gibran.
Samsuddin and Jallaluddin accompained him to Ramanathapuram to get him enrolled in Schwartz High School and to arrange for his boarding there.
Abdul Kalam worked hard; he engrossed himself in his studies, and ultimately his sincerity and hard labour yielded fruitful results. Everyone in the family was filled with boundless happiness. But, at the same time, his future studies stood like a challenge before the family; and this was a challenge which everyone in the family was prepared to face. The decision to go in for further studies was taken without a second thought.
The nearest college where he could go for higher studies was at Tiruchchirappalli (spelled Trichinopoly those days, and called Trichi for short).
It is said about ‘Time’ that it has wings. In the same manner, the wings of ambitions of a person, in all readiness, remain prepared to soar into flight. And a combination of industriousness with ambition leads a man to greater heights. The doors of progress opened for Abdul Kalam when he arrived in Tiruchchirappalli in 1950 at St. Joseph’s college. But the ambience here was entirely different from that of the Secondary School.
At St. Joseph’s he could study upto B.Sc. degree course. The expenses were high, but his father and brother managed to bear the expenses. And so, there was nothing to be worried about.
Along with his studies as a B.Sc. degree course student, he had his dreams fascinated by the mysteries of the sky. And in order to be able to fulfil his dreams he had to work hard with sincerity. On the one hand he was laden with the burden of serious studies and on the other he would have to spare some time for writing articles for the newspaper—‘The Hindu’—of Madras and earn honoraria from it.
Despite being seriously engrossed in the new dimension of his life, what he always missed was the coherance and harmony of Rameswaram. He could never forget the magnificence of his birthplace, Rameswaram, the island, playing with the waves of the sea, the brilliant sand particles on the beach, the colourful pearls, conches and shiny pebbles. And what kept his memories always alive was the attraction of poli, a South Indian sweet his mother made.
He writes in his autobiography—“Despite my homesickness, I was determined to come to terms with the new environment because I knew my father had invested great hopes in my success. My father visualised me as a Collector in the making and I thought it my duty to realise my father’s dream, although I desperately missed the familiarity, security and comforts of Rameswaram.”
Despite all his homesickness, he was determined to follow the teachings of the Geeta—
‘Karmanyevadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana.
(Geeta 2/47)
i.e. you have your right only on the performance of your Karma, and not on its outcomes.
And so, he had his sole attention on the performance of his Karma. He continued marching ahead without allowing the hindrances and obstructions, coming in his way, to bother him.
Since he had formed a habit of studying physics and maths with deep concentration, he had no problem in his routine studies. He had a target before him, and behind him were the ambitions of his parents, brothers and sister; and it was important for him to keep in view the betterment of his house and family.
An ideal for students
A student, in order to keep himself advancing continuously, needs to have a clear vision of his target, he needs concentration in the performance of his Karma, hard work and, also needs to absorb himself fully in his studies. Since Abdul Kalam had a target before him to become a scientist, he used to make new experiments everyday and analyse their results with full concentration. As a student of B.Sc. degree course, Abdul Kalam, while obeying his teachers and showing full reverence to them, continued to keep searching for ways for achievements. During his studies, the most important thing that continued to occupy his mind was, that his country, India, will definitely proceed on the path of development after freedom and its technological development must not lag behind in any manner.
Studying abroad and, living away from one’s country and for other such arrangements, a lot of money is required. And only those students may succeed in studying abroad whose parents have a lot of money; and side by side, the parents should be able to exercise influence in this regard.
But what can a person, with limited resources, do, who neither has any such source of income nor is he capable of exercising influence on others?
Such were the circumstances under which Abdul Kalam was struggling for success and achievements. Abdul Kalam neither wanted to crush his family under this kind of unbearable burden nor did he wish to join the lot who were striving to succeed with the support of their enormous wealth. The only weapon he had, with which he could fight his battle, was his hard work and sincerity.
Vigorous personality : Swamy Vivekanand—an awakening.
Great is the country, India. In order to fill the youths of India with enthusiasm, in order to fill them with new kind of vital energy and in order to exhort them to give the best of their performances, great souls have been taking incarnations on the land of this country.
When Swamy Vivekanand, having addressed the religious assembly in America, returned to India, he thought that he had to encourage the youth of this country by rendering necessary guidance in order to fill them with radiance and brilliance.
With this in view he spoke in a challanging tone to the youths of India and invited them to come forward—
‘Be courageous; be proud of being an Indian! Say with pride that you are an Indian and that every Indian is your brother. Say that the poor Indians, the uneducated Indians and the untouchables of India are all brothers. Despite being in torn clothes, announce at the top of your voice that you are an Indian and you own the pride of being an Indian. We Indians are brothers of each other. Being Indian is our life, the Indian societies are our cradle; India is the green forest of our youthful days and is a sacred land for ascetic life for the old age. Say that the soul of India is the greatest soul of yours and everything that is good for India is good for you.’
While reviling sanctimony and superstitions he had said—
‘Remember, all these things make you weak. There is no truth in these things; rather these superstitions have caused disasters to us. The acid test of Truth is in considering those things like poison and throwing them away which make you weak mentally, physically and spiritually. There is no substance in those things. Truth creates firmness, increases will-power and is always sacred. True knowledge lies in Truth only. Study your treatises, study the high thoughts contained in the Indian philosophy and remember—the greatest Truth is most simple—as simple as your life.’
He speaks further—
‘Under the present day circumstances, you can neither prove the justification of my existence nor can you prove the justification of my purpose; but, wake up, O the responsible sons of India, the dutiful sons of India, the powerful sons of India! The burden of proving the truth of whatever I have said or done is on your shoulders.’
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