Sri Aurobindo
Known as a revolutionary - ascetic, patriot, philosopher and yogi, Sri Aurobindo was a many faceted brilliant personality. Born in Calcutta on 15th August 1872, he tried to assimilate both Indian and Western philosophical thoughts and find the paths of divine communion and spiritual realization.
Early Influences
His father, Dr. Krishnadhan Ghose, was an Anglophile, and so sent little Aurobindo to England to study at St. Paul's school in London and then at King's College, Cambridge. In 1890, he passed the I.C.S examination with flying colours, but as he did not want to serve the British, he disqualified himself. Instead, he returned to India and served in Baroda as a civil servant, a professor, and finally as Vice-Principal of Baroda College.
Nationalistic Fervour
In 1905, Aurobindo Ghose joined the freedom struggle of India. He was the revolutionary who encouraged direct political action against the British instead of moderate reformism. He began writing essays, poetry, dramas and fiery articles on nationalism that stirred India's political consciousness. In this phase, he was appointed editor of the controversial "Bande Mataram" and was prosecuted in 1908 and jailed in Alipur for a year.
The Aurobindo Ashram
It was during this time that he had a divine spiritual experience in the form of a vision of the all-pervading reality. This changed his life, and in 1909, when he was acquitted, he did not return to politics, but retired to Pondicherry to pursue yoga in order to realise the mysteries of consciousness. He established an ashram there in 1910 and spent his time in seclusion, writing eminent books and poetry like ' Life Divine', 'Essays on Gita', 'Basis of Yoga', 'Love and death' and 'Savitri'.
The Aurobindo Ashram attracts hordes of people from all around the world to come to Pondicherry, study, meditate and discover themselves and the true meaning of existence. In India, Sri Aurobindo is admired not only for his nationalistic fervour but also as an ascetic and philosopher with a divine vision to guide us into a new awakening.
Mahatma Gandhi
October 2, 1869 saw the birth of a famous Indian personality, lovingly called, the Father of the Nation. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born to the Diwan of Porbandar, in the state of Kathewar in Gujarat. His mother, Putlibai, was a very religious lady and brought up her son with stories from the scriptures and mythology. Little Gandhi grew up to be an honest, upright student.
At the tender age of 13 he was married to a beautiful damsel named Kasturba. At 19, much to his mother's chagrin, he was sent to England to study law. He promised his mother that he would keep away from wine, women and non-vegetarianism - and he managed to stick to his word.
A Mission in South Africa
He returned to India as a barrister in 1891 and started his own practice at Bombay and Rajkot. In 1893 he went to S. Africa to fight a case. It was there that his life's mission was determined - to fight against injustice. Gandhiji could not tolerate the oppression of the Indians by the whites. So he stayed on in Africa for 12 years and established the Natal Indian Congress to improve the conditions of the Indians there, through peaceful, non-violent methods.
Struggle for Swadeshi
In 1914, Gandhiji returned to India and established the Satyagraha Ashram near Ahmedabad. Inspired by G.K.Gokhale and Lokmanya Tilak, Gandhiji toured the country listening to the woes of the common man. Gandhiji was touched by the plight of his countrymen and so entered the political arena.
He launched 3 significant movements with one goal - freedom from the British rule. The first one was the Non-Cooperation Movement, the objective of which was 'the attainment of swaraj by peaceful and legitimate means'. The method was to boycott foreign goods and official durbars, British courts and schools, give up honours and titles and go back to the use of swadeshi goods.
The second was the Civil Disobedience Movement. Launched on April 6, 1930, it began with the historic Dandi March or the 'Salt Satyagraha'. In order to oppose the British Salt Law, Gandhiji marched to Dandi along with his followers to make their own salt.
Quit India
The third one was the Quit India Movement of 1942, which resulted in the 'Quit India' resolution on August 8, 1942 urging the British to leave India. Finally India gained independence on 15th August 1947. Thanks to the efforts of Gandhiji.
Gandhiji's Teachings
Mahatma Gandhi is arguably, one of the most influential persons of the 20th century. Albert Einstein, very aptly put it, when he said: "Generations will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth." He was not just a political leader, but a social reformer and a spiritual teacher, too.
Incidents from the Mahatma's life and his well-documented experiments with truth serve as a great way of inculcating values in our children. He stressed that one should always live one's philosophies, beliefs and faith, and he was a prime example of that.
Honesty is the best policy
In primary school, once during a school inspection, Gandhiji had spelt the word, 'kettle' wrong. When his teacher urged him to copy from others and correct the spelling, he refused as he was convinced that it was not the right thing to do. Honesty and truthfulness were qualities he came to embody throughout his lifetime.
In the modern world, we strive to make our children excel in academics, sports and the ways of life, but we must also pay great attention to these character-building attributes, which may seem a little old-fashioned.
Clothes do not a man make
When Gandhiji set out to England to study law, he had a brush with the sophisticated lifestyle of the British. In his pursuit of being an 'English gentleman' he tried dressing up like one. He busted money on fashionable clothes and even a chimney-pot hat in a desperate attempt to belong. He took lessons in dancing and elocution, but these infatuations lasted for a while before common sense dawned. Gandhiji realized that character, and not clothes, made a man.
Much later, his thoughts about dressing took him further in quite the opposite direction and he started dressing in loincloth to empathise with the poorest of the poor. In that, he used the symbolism of dressing as a conscious tool to shape public opinion.
It would be far-fetched to expect that we emulate him, but it would be worthwhile to interpret his experiences and experiments in clothing, in spirit. Teenagers today spend unnecessary time and money on the latest fashion and fads to the detriment of other things. They should be discouraged from such wasteful expenditure and preoccupation.
Ahimsa and Satyagraha
Gandhiji built his life's mission on the two pillars of non-violence and truth. He said: "I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills." His interpretation of non-violence was not limited to abstaining from physical violence; he maintained that faith without action and suffering injustice were forms of violence.
In a society that is getting more strife-torn and ghettoized, we cannot underscore enough these age-old qualities and must seek to inculcate the same in our children.
Work for the larger good
Gandhiji propounded the teachings of the Bhagvad Gita, emphasizing, "work without the expectation of fruits of the labour done". Through the symbols of charkha, the spinning wheel and khadi, the hand-spun fabric, he stressed the message of physical labour. The spinning symbolized harnessing of every idle minute for common productive work. Gandhiji always maintained that one should look beyond one's personal aspirations and needs and work for the common good of society at large.
We must ensure that in the pursuit of name, fame and money, our children do not lose sight of the larger purpose in life. We must teach them to be socially responsible individuals who give back to the society what they gain.
Religious co-existence
Gandhiji was a votary of multi-religious identity. He said: "Even as a tree has a single trunk but many branches and leaves, there is one religion - human religion- but any number of faiths." He maintained: "The essence of all religions is one, only their approaches are different."
Though he drew inspiration from the Bhagvad Gita and was a true Hindu by action, he always remained open to influences from all religions and culture. He said: "I want the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any."
Again, in an age where hate politics and 'us and them' sentiments ride high, Gandhiji's teachings which he practiced diligently stand in good stead for the young generation.
As relevant as ever
Gandhiji's teachings are as relevant today as ever. Every growing child should be acquainted with his life and times, his struggles to shape himself and his politics that so changed the way the world looks at things. For, as he maintained, his life is indeed his message.
On January 30, 1948, the Mahatma was shot dead by a misguided communalist. As Pandit Nehru put it, 'the light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere'.
Mother Teresa
About 20 years before India gained its freedom, Christian missionaries from Yugoslavia came to India to render humanitarian services. They were extremely affected by the conditions of poverty rampant in India and so invited people from their country to serve here. Amongst these was a special girl called Agnes Goxa Bojaxiu, who is today known as Mother Teresa.
Arrival In India
Agnes was born on August 27, 1910 and was just 19 years when she came to Calcutta on January 6, 1929. And she never left this country. Her aim in life was to serve the sick and the poor and she dedicated her full life towards this purpose. She would roam the dangerous dark and dirty streets of Calcutta at night, covering the cold and offering food and shelter to the poor. When she first arrived in Calcutta, she had just Rs. 5.00, and was helped by a priest. She lived in a small room for 9 years, where she nursed the ill back to health. Compassion, dignity and sympathy marked her every action.
Mission Of Charity
Through her efforts she managed to open several institutions to help the downtrodden e.g. 'Missionaries of Charity', ' Nirmal Hriday', and 'Shishu Bhavan' whish houses the mentally and physically challenged children. Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and the Bharat Ratna in 1980. Besides these she also received the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Peace (1972), Ramon Magsaysay Award (1962) and the Templeton Foundation Award (1973). As the Mother- General of the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Teresa has a thousand Missionary institutions working under her.
Despite all the public acclaim, national and international honours, mother Teresa remained humble, kind and generous till the end. The Florence Nightingale of India passed away in September 1997.
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
APJ Abdul Kalam was born in 1931 in a middle-class family in Rameshwaram Tamil Nadu, a town well-known for its Hindu shrines. His mother tongue is Tamil . His father, a devout Muslim, owned boats which he rented out to local fishermen and was a good friend of Hindu religious leaders and the school teachers at Rameshwaram. APJ Abdul Kalam mentions in his biography that to support his studies, he started his career as a newspaper vendor. This was also told in the book, A Boy and His Dream: Three Stories from the Childhood of Abdul Kalam by Vinita Krishna. The house Kalam was born in can still be found on the Mosque street at Rameswaram, and his brother's curio shop abuts it. This has become a point-of-call for tourists who seek out the place. Kalam grew up in an intimate relationship with nature, and he says in Wings of Fire that he never could imagine that water could be so powerful a destroying force as that he witnessed when he was six. That was in 1934 when a cyclonic storm swept away the Pamban bridge and a trainload of passengers with it and also Kalam's native village, Dhanushkodi.
Kalam observes strict personal discipline, vegetarianism, teetotalism and celibacy. He is a lover of natural beauty. Kalam is a scholar of Thirukkural; in most of his speeches, he quotes at least one kural Kalam has written several inspirational books, most notably his autobiography Wings of Fire, aimed at motivating Indian youth. Another of his books, Guiding Souls: Dialogues o the Purpose of Life reveals his spiritual side. He has written poems in Tamil as well. It has been reported that there is considerable demand in South Korea for translated versions of books authored by Dr.Kalam.
Kalam's Advice to Youngsters
Kalam's advice to the youngsters of the nation is to "dream, dream and dream and convert these into thoughts and later into actions." Also to "think big". "We are a nation of a billion people and we must think like a nation of a billion people. Only then can we become big."
On 25th November 1999, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was appointed Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India and accorded the rank of a Cabinet Minister. His role was to advise on overall scientific development in the country on issues relating to scientific and technical policy in different sectors. Kalam also advised on matters relating to achieving technological self-reliance and foreign collaboration.
On December 8, 2000, the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, Shri K.C. Pant conferred the "Life-time Contribution Award in Engineering 2000" on Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam at the annual function of the Indian National Academy of Engineering in New Delhi. Speaking on the occasion, Kalam said that Engineering and technology should be used for the upliftment of the people living below the poverty line
Agni intermediate range ballistic missile
In 1982, as Director of DRDO, Kalam was entrusted with the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme(IGMDP), India's most successful military research task to date. The programme constituted of 5 major projects for meeting the requirements of the defence services and for establishing re-entry technology.
The 5 projects were scheduled to be completed in a time frame of only 10 years and consisted of:
(1) Nag - an anti-tank guided missile
(2) Prithvi - a surface-to-surface battlefield missile
(3) Akash - a swift, medium-range surface-to-air missile
(4) Trishul - a quick-reaction surface-to-air missile with a shorter range
(5) Agni - an intermediate range ballistic missile, the mightiest of them all
From his SLV-3 experience, Kalam had learned the advantages of team work and of sharing the tasks with partners in private and public sector industries. In the new management structure of the missile program, Kalam, as the Chairman of the Programme Management Board, delegated almost all executive and financial powers to five carefully selected Project Directors and kept himself free to address the core technology issues. His task was to inspire and monitor over 20 institutions and partners outside - ranging from large public and private sector suppliers to small specialist firms that needed seed money to take up the precision tasks.
The naval version of Trishul launched from INS Dronacharya
The missiles went up more or less on schedule: Trishul in 1985, Prithvi in 1988, Agni in 1989 and the others in 1990. The development and successful flight test of Prithvi, Trishul, Akash, Nag, and Agni established the indigeneous capability towards self reliance in defence preparedness. The successful launching of 'Agni' surface-to-surface missile was a unique achievement which made India a member of an exclusive club of highly developed countries. The Trishul has the unique distinction of being capable of serving all three services.
The establishment of the Research Centre Imarat(RCI), a campus 8km from DRDL, in 1988 was perhaps the most satisfying achievement for Kalam during the missile years. He received generous funding from the Government to build the futuristic centre, which is totally geared for work in advanced missile technologies. Its state-of-the-art facilities are set in a unique ambience and the level of comfort accorded to the individual worker is matched by few R&D institutions. And Kalam's interest in the environment saw RCI emerge as an oasis in a rocky wasteland. It has a small farm that meets the food requirements of those who stay in the RCI quarters. Kalam was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1990.
Dr Kalam and Defence Minister G. Fernandes at the Agni II missile launch in 1999
On 25th November 1997, in appreciation of his contributions to Indian defence and science, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was awarded India's highest civilian honour- the "Bharat Ratna". In October 1998, he bagged the prestigious Indira Gandhi award for national integration(for 1997).
After 10 years in DRDL, he went to New Delhi to take over from Arunachalam as Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister - reluctantly, many in DRDL felt. But the system created by Kalam had taken a firm hold in that decade and the missile programme passed on smoothly into its final phase of production and induction.
In Delhi, Kalam as head of the DRDO had to deliver other prestigious projects, such as the Arjun MBT and the Light Combat Aircraft(LCA) projects. "Strength respects strength", this is Kalam's usual response to the question why India needs its own missiles or a battle tank or a combat aircraft. While management practices he adopted for the missile program have inevitably rubbed off on these projects, there are no miracles to be had in strategic development areas. There have been technical problems. Even in the missile program, work on the SAMs and the ATM is slower than anticipated. But Trishul's recent multiple test flights have demonstrated that the system Kalam put in place has inherent strengths.
Kalam is by no means a miracle man. As the head of a vast network of laboratories - whose products include avalanche-controlling structures in Kashmir, water desalination kits for the Thar desert, a world class sonar submarine finder for the latest warship - INS Delhi, and infra-red night vision goggles for the Indian Army - Kalam's attention is necessarily a bit diffused. His self-effacing persona cloaks a formidable catalyst who can make people work.
