LearningHowtoFly

Born on 15 October 1931, at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu,Dr AvulPakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam specialized in AeronauticalEngineering from Madras Institute of Technology. Dr Kalam was adistinguishedscientistandwasawardedthePadmaBhushan(1981),thePadmaVibhushan(1990)andIndia’shighestcivilianaward,theBharatRatna(1997).

DrKalambecametheeleventhPresidentofIndiaon25July2002.Hisfocusandgreatestambitionwasfindingwaysto transformIndia intoadevelopednation.

OtherbooksbyA.P.J.AbdulKalam(fromRupaPublications)

MyJourney:TransformingDreamsIntoActionTheRighteousLife:TheVeryBestofA.P.J.AbdulKalamGovernanceforGrowthinIndia

TheGuidingLight:ASelectionofQuotationsfromMyFavouriteBooksMyLife:AnIllustratedAutobiography

PublishedbyRupaPublicationsIndiaPvt.Ltd20167/16,AnsariRoad,DaryaganjNewDelhi110002

Copyright©APJMNazemaMaraikayar2016

Theviewsandopinionsexpressedinthisbookaretheauthor’sownandthefactsareasreportedbyhim/herwhichhavebeenverifiedtotheextentpossible,andthepublishersarenotinanywayliableforthesame.

Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,transmitted,orstoredinaretrievalsystem,inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recordingorotherwise,withoutthepriorpermissionof

thepublisher.

ISBN:978-81-291-???-?

10987654321

Themoralrightoftheauthorhasbeenasserted.

Thisbookissoldsubjecttotheconditionthatitshallnot,bywayoftradeorotherwise,belent,resold,hiredout,orotherwisecirculated,withoutthepublisher’spriorconsent,inanyformofbindingorcoverother

thanthatinwhichitispublished.

Contents

Publisher’sNote

IWillFlyCreatingaCultureofExcellenceIgnitedMindsoftheYouthTheLife-longQuestforKnowledgeManagingtheJourneyofLifeInnovationandCreativityBetheUniqueYouWhatCanScienceGiveYou?EmpowermentofThreeBillionPeopleBetheChangeStrivingforExcellenceBooksasOurGuidesABookinEveryHandTransformingtheFutureIntellectandEmpathyFromChildtoLeaderTheEvolutionofCreativeLeadersHealingwithHeart

Publisher’sNote

DrA.P.J.AbdulKalamdidmanythingsinhislife—hewasascientist,aleader,thePresidentofIndiaandateacher.Ofalltheseroles,theonethatgavehimthegreatest joywas that of a teacher. For him, therewas nothing as important astalking to the youth and telling them about the world of opportunities thatawaitedthemiftheypursuedtherightkindofknowledge.HespentmuchofhistimeintheyearsafterhehadcompletedhistermasPresident,travellingalloverthe country, meeting students, interacting with them, talking to them andlisteningtothem.

Thelecturesthathegaveattheseinteractionsdistilledthethoughtsbehindwhat he felt was important for the young.He spoke about the concept of the‘ignitedmind’.Amindthathasbeenexposedtothehighestthoughtprocesses,sourcesofinspiration,beentoldaboutthegreatinventionsanddiscoveriesoftheworldandhowthegreatestmenandwomenachievedtheirgreatness,isamindthathasbeenignitedbythelightofknowledge.

In this book, some of his best, most detailed and interesting lecturesaddressedtotheyouthinvariouspartsofthecountryhavebeencollected.Theselectures were given to school students, college students, those studying inprofessionalcollegeslikeengineeringormedicine,andeventostudentsoutsidethecountry.Also includedhereare lectures thathegave to teachers, librariansandcaregiversofchildren.

From these lectures,what emerges is amind thatwas forever thirsty forknowledge, almost childlike in its curiosityaboutnewstudiesanddiscoveries,

andamindthatthoughtandfeltdeeplyaboutthechallengestheyouthfacetodayandthewaysinwhichtheycanovercomethem.Hedeliveredadeeplyoptimisticlesson about believing in oneself and developing confidence to become futureleaders.He firmly believed that ‘The problem should not be themaster. Takechargeandbecomethemasteroftheproblem.’

These lectures make for fascinating reading that will take the youththroughkeyepisodesofDrKalam’s life,his inspirationsand thestoriesofhismentors.Theywillalsohelp themunderstand thechallenges thecountry facesandthebestwaysinwhichtheycanmakeatrulycompassionate,equalandgreatsociety.

LearningHowtoFlywilltelleveryreader,inDrKalam’sownwords,thateachofushavewingsandthatwearecapableofflyinghigh.

IWillFly

IambornwithwingsSo,Iamnotmeantforcrawling,

Ihavewings,Iwillfly.

D earstudentsandteachers,Iwouldliketosharefewthoughtsonhowtoachievethegoalsinlife.Therearesomeprovensteps:•Findinganaim

in life before you are twenty years old; • Acquire knowledge continuously toreach thisgoal; •Workhardandpersevere soyoucandefeatall theproblemsandsucceed.

There isa famousverse ‘Iwill fly’by the thirteenth-centuryPersianSufipoetJalaluddinRumi:Iwillfly

IambornwithpotentialIambornwithgoodnessandtrustIambornwithideasanddreams

Iambornwithgreatness

Iambornwithconfidence

IambornwithwingsSo,Iamnotmeantforcrawling,

Ihavewings,IwillflyIwillflyandfly.

Young friends, education is the instrument that gives you wings to fly. Onlywhenyoursubconsciousmindsays‘Iwillwin’andyoubelieveyoucanreachyour goal, does it become a reality. Each one of you assembled here andelsewhere,havewingsof fire.Thewingsof fire lead toknowledgewhichwillmake you fly as doctors, or engineers, or scientists, or teachers, or politicalleaders,orbureaucratsordiplomats.OryoucouldwalkonthemoonandMarsordoanythingelseyoumaywantto.

Whenweseeelectricbulbs, immediatelyour thoughtsgo to the inventorThomas Alva Edison. He invented the electric bulb and electrical lightingsystem.

Whenwehearthesoundofaeroplanesflyingoverheadwhomdoyouthinkof?TheWrightbrothersprovedthatmancouldfly.

Whomdoesthetelephoneremindyouof?AlexanderGrahamBell.Whenpeopleallovertheworldconsideredseatravelonlyasanexperience

or a voyage, one person during his sea travel fromUnited Kingdom to Indiastartedponderingwhythehorizonwheretheskyandseameetlookedblue.Hisresearch resulted in thediscoveryof thephenomenaof scatteringof light.Forthis,SirC.V.RamanwasawardedtheNobelPrize.

There was an Indian mathematician who did not have formal highereducation but had an inexhaustible spirit and love formathematics. This tookhim on a path where he ended up contributing to the treasure houses ofmathematical research—some of which are still under serious study andengagingmathematicians’effortsallover theworld toestablish formalproofs.Hewas a geniuswhomelted the heart of themost hardened and outstandingCambridge mathematician Professor G.H. Hardy. In fact, it is not anexaggeration to say that it was Professor Hardy who discovered a greatmathematicianinnumbertheorySrinivasaRamanujanandbroughthisgeniustotheworld.

Allthesepeoplewerethirstyforknowledgeandtheirworksandnamesarenowimmortal.

Ihavemet21.5millionyouthinadecade’stime.Fromthesemeetingsandinteractionssuchasthisone,I learntthateveryyouthwantstobeunique.YoucanonlybeYOU!Buttheworldallaroundyouisdoingitsbest,dayandnight,tomakeyoujustlikeeverybodyelse.Athome,youareaskedbyyourparentsto

beliketheneighbours’childrenandscoregoodmarkslikethem.Whenyougotoschool,yourteacherssay,‘Whycan’tyoubeamongthetopfiveintheclass?’Wherever you go, they are saying, ‘You have to be somebody else or likeeverybodyelse.’Butyoungfriends,Iknowthatallofyouwouldliketobetheuniqueyourself.

The challenge, my young friends, is that you have to fight the hardestbattle,andneverstopfightinguntilyouarriveatyourdestinedplace.Whatwillbethetoolswithwhichyouwillfightthisbattle?Theyare:haveagreataiminlife,continuouslyacquiretheknowledge,workhardandperseveretorealizethegreatachievement.

During your studies in your schools youwill acquire a great friendwhowillaccompanyyouforever.Whoisthatfriend?Thatfriendisknowledge.Iamgiving you here the knowledge equation: Knowledge = Creativity +Righteousness+CourageLet’stakeeachofthesepartsonebyone.

CreativityLearninggivescreativity,Creativityleadstothinking,Thinkingprovidesknowledge,Knowledgemakesyougreat.

Thenextcomponentofknowledgeisrighteousness.Thisaspectcanbedescribedinadivinehymn.

RighteousnessWherethereisrighteousnessintheheart,

Thereisbeautyinthecharacter.Whenthereisbeautyinthecharacter,

thereisharmonyinthehome.Whenthereisharmonyinthehome,

Thereisanorderinthenation.Whenthereisorderinthenation,

Thereispeaceintheworld.

Now the question is: How dowe inculcate righteousness in the heart? Inmyopinion,therearethreesourceswhichcanbringrighteousnessintheheartoftheyouth. They are mother, father and, the third and the most important is, theteacher,particularlytheprimaryschoolteacher.

Thethirdcomponentiscourage,whichisdefinedasfollows:CourageCouragetothinkdifferently,

Couragetoinvent,

Couragetoinvent,Couragetotravelintoanunexploredpath,

Couragetodiscovertheimpossible,Couragetocombattheproblemsandsucceed,

aretheuniquequalitiesoftheyouth.Asayouthofmynation,Iwillworkandworkwithcouragetoachievesuccess

inallthemissions.

Wherewillknowledgecomefrom?Knowledgecanbefoundathome, ingoodbooks, from teachers and from an enriching, learning environment. It can beacquiredbycomingintocontactwithgoodhumanbeings.Whenschools teachstudents to use the knowledge they impart with creativity, righteousness andcourage, itwill result in the nation having a large number of empowered andenlightenedcitizens.Thisinturnisvitalforthegrowthoftheindividual,growthofthefamily,growthofnationandpromotionofpeaceintheworld.

Inthepresentsituationintheworldwhereeverycitizenwantstoliveinaprosperous and peaceful atmosphere, the empowerment of youth withenlightenmentbecomesvital.Thishasthreedimensionswhichare:•Educationwith a value system • Bridging religions through spirituality • InclusivedevelopmentThe atmosphere in the school and the teacher’swayof teaching,bothinsideandoutsidetheclassshouldinspiretheyouth.

Today,thestudentsshouldmakeapromisetome.Thepromisehasmanyparts,andIknowyouwillfulfilthemall.

1. Iwill have agoal andworkhard to achieve that goal. I realize that aimingsmallisacrime.

2.Iwillworkwithintegrityandsucceedwithintegrity.3.Iwillbeagoodmemberofmyfamily,agoodmemberofthesociety,agood

memberofthenationandagoodmemberoftheworld.4.Iwillalwaystrytosaveorbettersomeone’slife,withoutanydiscrimination

ofcaste,creed,language,religionorcommunity.5.Iwillalwaysprotectandenhancethedignityofeveryhumanlifewithoutany

bias.6.Iwillalwaysremembertheimportanceoftime.Mymottowillbe‘Letnotmy

wingeddays,bespentinvain’.7IwillalwaysworkforcleanplanetEarthandcleanenergy.8MynationalflagfliesinmyheartandIwillbringglorytomynation.

(fromAddressandinteractionwiththestudentsofBijnor,21July2015)

CreatingaCultureofExcellence

Whenyouwishuponastar,MakesnodifferencewhoyouareAnythingyourheartdesires

Willcometoyou.

IgnitedMindsoftheYouth

Thepoweroftheyouthwilldefinitelymakeachange.

T oday,Iwouldliketosharehowtheignitedmindsoftheyouthcanleadtogreat and purposeful life so that societies will prosper and thereby, the

nationandtheworld.Thistalkisabout‘Ignitedmindsoftheyouthandthegreatchallenges’.

Let me share with you a beautiful experience when I visited Greece inApril 2007. I was negotiating and climbing towards the mountain top ofAcropolisinAthens.Ontheway,Icameacrossagroupof150Greekstudents.They were friendly and the teachers accompanying them came forward andintroduced the students. They said, they were very happy to see the Indianpresidentandthatthechildrenwouldliketohearfromhimafewwords.OnmymindatthatmomentwasthegreatpersonalitiesthelandofGreecehadgiventotheworld:Socrates,PlatoandAristotle.ThewordsofPlatowereringinginmymindwhen I saw theyoungstudents.He said: ‘Ouraim in founding theStatewas not the disproportionate happiness of any one class, but the greatesthappinessofthewhole.’Thiswassaid2,400yearsago.

Similarly, around the same period Tamil poet Saint Thiruvalluvar said,‘The important elements that constitute a nation are: being disease free; highearningcapacity;highproductivity;harmoniouslivingandstrongdefence’.Howcanalltheseelementsbeprovidedtocitizensofeverynation?

Withthesethoughts,Imadeupmymindaboutwhattosaytothestudentsand the youth of Greece. I slowly repeated line by line, a hymn, which InormallyhearinIndianspiritualcentres.

RighteousnessWherethereisrighteousnessintheheart,

Thereisbeautyinthecharacter.Whenthereisbeautyinthecharacter,

Whenthereisbeautyinthecharacter,thereisharmonyinthehome.

Whenthereisharmonyinthehome,Thereisanorderinthenation.Whenthereisorderinthenation,

Thereispeaceintheworld.

Notonlythestudentsrepeatedthewordswithmebutalsothetouristswhowerearound the Acropolis at the time repeated and there was all-round ovation. Irealized how people frommultiple nations, both young and experiencedwereinspired by the thought of righteousness in the heart irrespective of theirnationality. Righteousness in the heart is the starting point for creating greatindividuals,families,nationsandultimatelyagreatEarth.

TheignitedmindsoftheyouthisthemostpowerfulresourceontheEarth.Iamconvincedthatthepoweroftheyouth,ifproperlydirected,willbringabouttransformedhumanitybymeetingitschallengesandbringpeaceandprosperity.

Letusnowconsidertwomajorproblemstheworldfaces:oneis,outof7billion people,majority of the population in certain continents live below thepoverty line,50percentof thepopulationdonothaveaccess tosafedrinkingwater,andmanydonothaveaccesstoqualityeducation.Whatcantheyouthofthe world contribute to make this situation better? If every educated personspreadsliteracytoatleastfiveothersintheirlifethenwecanmakeabeginningin eradicating illiteracy? Can the youth spread the message of waterconservation?Cantheyouthcomewith‘out-of-boxsolutions’forsolvingwaterscarcity?

I have proposed a movement called Lead India 2020 which is a youthmovement, with the mission for young students based on the ten-point oathwhichIhavespeciallydesigned.

Theoathgiventotheyouthsaysthattheycanmakeadifferencetosocietyin theareasof literacy,environment, social justice,minimizing the ruralurbandivide and aim for national development even as they work hard for anindividualgoal.Iinsistthatsmallaimisacrime.Thedevelopmentofyouthhasmultipledimensions.Theyouthmustworkhardimprovingtheirknowledgewitha careergoal andalso serve the family, society, thenation towhichheor shebelongstoandhumanityasawhole.Allarecomplementarytoeachother.

While talking about good deeds, I am reminded of the advice given toMahatmaGandhibyhismother.Shesaid, ‘Son, inyourentire lifetime, ifyoucansaveorbettersomeone’slife,yourbirthasahumanbeingandyourlifeisasuccess.’

This advicemade a deep impact onGandhiji’smind and heworked for

humanitythroughouthislife.Letmenarrateanotherinstanceofselflessness.Duringtheyear2003,whenIwasvisitingthestateofArunachalPradesh,I

also visited a Buddhist monastery at Tawang, situated at an altitude of 3,500metre. Iwas in themonastery for almost a full day. I observed that in all thenearbyvillages,theyoungandoldwereradiatinganinnerhappinessinspiteofseverewinterconditions.At the400-year-oldTawangmonastery,Isawmonksofallagegroups inastateofserenity.Iwasaskingmyselfwhat is theuniquefeatureofTawanganditssurroundingvillageswhichmakespeopleandmonkstobeatpeacewiththemselves.Iaskedthechiefmonkaboutthis.Hesmiledandsaid,‘YouarethePresidentofIndia.Youwillknowallaboutusandthewholenation.’ Again, I said, ‘It is very important for me, please give me yourthoughtfulanalysis.’

There was a beautiful golden image of Lord Buddha. The Chief Monkassemblednearly100monksofvariousages.Wesatamidstthem.Therehegaveashortdiscourse,whichIwouldliketosharewithyou.Hesaid,‘Intheworldtoday, we have a problem of distrust and unhappiness that transforms intoviolence.Butinthismonasterywebelievethatwhenyouremove“I”and“me”fromthemind,youwilleliminateego;ifyougetridoftheego,hatredtowardsfellowhumanbeingswillvanish;ifthehatredgoesoutofthemind,theviolencein thinking and action will disappear; if violence in our mind is taken away,peacespringsinhumanminds.’

Irealizedthemeaningofthisbeautifulequationforapeacefullife.Butthedifficultpartfortheindividualishowtoremovetheethosof‘I’and‘me’.Forthis,weneededucationandvaluestobeinculcatedfromayoungage.

Inmysearchforevolvingapeacefulandprosperoussociety,Igotanotheranswerelsewhere.IvisitedanancientChristianmonasteryinBulgaria,whereIhad a discussionwith highly experiencedmonks. I told themabout the lessonfromTawang.Themonks there agreed, and also added that forgiveness is thefoundationofagoodlife.

Similarly, I had a memorable experience in the birth place of SwamiVivekananda,ayoungmonkofIndiawhocouldkeeptheaudiencespellboundineasternandwesternsocietywithhisinspirationalmessagesofspiritualityandpracticalaspectsoflife.IexplainedtheTawangexperiencetothedisciplesandtheyagreedthatitwasbeautiful.Theyaddedthatdevelopingahabitofalwaysgivingwilladdtopeaceandhappiness.

WhenIvisitedAjmerSharifIparticipatedintheFridaynamaz.Here,theSufi expert told me that Almighty’s creation, man, has been challenged withanother powerful creation of Shaitan.Only good deeds lead to good thinking,

goodthinkingresultsinactionsradiatingloveascommandedbytheAlmighty.Themessage from all these and other spiritual thinkers is that there are

many ideas and spiritual thoughts which transcend religions, geographies andtime.Ifonlywecouldbridgethespiritualityamongreligionsandnations,manyoftheproblemslikethegapsbetweenhavesandhavenots,deprivationcausingunrest leading to extremism, the remnants of past animosities and war andseveralotherroadblockstopeaceandprosperitycanbetackled.Iamsuretheglobalyouthwillworkonthisthemeforasafeworld.

On 28 September 2011, I addressed a combined group of students fromHarvard University and MIT on the topic ‘Leadership, Youth and GlobalEngagement’. Over 500 students hailing from USA and many differentcontinentsparticipatedinmylecture.Afterthelecture,thestudentsformedninegroups and prepared nine sets of questions. Of the nine sets, three questionscame fromUSA team, two questions from theAsian team, and a fewgeneralquestions.TheUSAteamaskedme,whydoyoumakemissilesandatombombsin India, when your nation needs the basic facilities like education andhealthcare for all your citizens?My answer to the questionwas, if you studyIndianhistoryof5,000years, it canbe seen thatonly for600years IndiawasruledbyIndians.Intheremainingperiod,wewereinvadedandruledbymanykingdoms hailing from different countries. The last of such rulers were theBritishwhoruledIndiaforover300years.Weachievedourindependenceafterninetyyearsofstruggle.So,historyhadtaughtusthatwemusthaveminimumstrengthofadequatelyequippedArmedForcessothatIndiacanpreserveitshardearned freedom and work towards prosperity and peace. When we aresurrounded by many nuclear weapon states, we have no other option but tomaintain aminimum force.This doctrine is applicable for all thenationswithsimilargeopoliticalsituation.However,wehaveadoctrineof‘nofirstuse’.Ofcourse,Indiaspendslessthan3percentofGDPondefence.Indiamustpreserveitshard-earnedsovereigntyandworkinanatmosphereofstrengthasistrueformanyothercountriesinthisregion.

ThenextquestioncamefromtheAsianteamthatwaspresidedoverbyastudentfromPakistan.Sheaskedme,‘DrKalamcanyoutellme,atanytimeinpresent or future, can India and Pakistanwork together for the prosperity andpeaceoftheircitizens?’TothisquestionIreplied,‘Afterallwebothareofthesame form. We have seen European nations fighting among themselves forhundredsofyearsandtheyleadtheworldintotwoWorldWars.Buttoday,the27nationsofEuropehaveformedaEuropeanUnionandhaveaParliamentof800memberswithamissionofpromotingprosperityandpeaceinthecontinent.Iamsure,historywillonedayrepeatinAsiaandinanotherfewdecades’time,

itispossibleIndiaandPakistanmayworktogetherforprosperityandpeaceofboththenations.EventheSAARCnationsmaytransformintoadynamicregionlikeEUinSouth-Asia.

ThethirdquestioncamefromaMITstudent.‘DrKalam,pleasetellme,inthenexttwentyyears,whattypeoftechnologicalchangesdoyouexpecttotakeplace?’Iacknowledgedthatitisaverygoodquestion.Isaid,myvisualizationoffuturistic technology upto the year 2030 is a convergence of sciences andtechnologies. That means, bio-science, nano-science, information-science andenvironmental science will converge, reciprocate and create new technologiesforthebettermentofthesociety.

There will be, in the near future, more than ever the need forcompassionate leadership. Let me share with you now about a book calledEverydayGreatness. Here’s an experiencewhich happened inMexico.A riotwas raging inLaMesaPrison inMexico.Twenty-fivehundredprisonerswerepackedintoacompound,whichhadbeenbuiltforonly600.Theyangrilyhurledbroken bottles at the policewho fired backwithmachine guns. Then came astartling sight.A tiny five feet two inches, sixty-three-year-oldwoman calmlygot into the crowd, with outstretched hands, in a simple gesture of peace.Ignoring the shower of bullets, she stood quietly and asked everyone to stop.Incrediblyeveryonedid.Nooneelseintheworld,butSisterAntoniacouldhavedone this. Why did the people listen to her? All because of her decades ofservice to the prisoners. She had sacrificed all her life for the sake of theprisoners who lived in the midst of murderers, thieves and drug lords all ofwhomshecalledhersons.Sheattendedtotheirneedsroundtheclock,procuredantibiotics,distributedeyeglasses,washedbodies for theburial andcounselledthesuicidal.Thisselflessactofloveandcompassiongeneratedarespectamongtheprisonersandthatiswhyshecouldcontrolthemandurgedthemtodowhatshewanted them to do.What a greatmessage for humanity!There’s a leaderwith compassion for even prisoners, but we also need similar leaders withcompassionforthevoicelessmillionsintheworld.

I’d like to share this event that Iwitnessedwhen Iwas a young boy ofabout tenyears. Inourhouse,periodically I used to see threedifferentuniquepersonalitiesmeet.PakshiLakshmanaShastrigal,whowastheheadpriestofthefamousRameshwaramtempleandaVedicscholar,RevFatherBodal,whobuiltthefirstchurchinRameswaramislandandmyfatherwhowasanimamin themosque.Allthreeofthemusedtositanddiscusstheisland’sproblemsandfindsolutions. In addition, they initiated dialogues between communities withcompassion.Theseconnectivitiesquietlyspreadintheislandlikethefragrancefrom the flowers.Thememoryof the threemenmeeting always comes tomy

mindwheneverIdiscusstheimportanceofdialoguebetweenreligions.Indiahashad this advantageof integrationofminds for thousandsofyears.Throughoutthe world, the need to have a frank dialogue among cultures, religions andcivilizationsisbeingfeltnowmorethanever.

Therearesomeeventsthatbringtogetherthewholeworld.WehaveseenhowthelaunchingofSputnikbytheRussiansorNeilArmstrong’ssteppingonthe moon electrified the entire youth of the world. When an Indian originastronautalongwithhercolleagueswas returning toEarthafter amajor spacemission,theentireworldprayedfortheirsafereturn.Cricketisfollowedavidlyin the commonwealth while soccer has an European inspiration, and theyrepresent intense competition and admiration across borders. Similarly, I haveseenmanyinstancesofhowartandmusicintegratethemindsoftheyouth.

Afewyearsback,whenImetMrVladimirPutin,thePresidentofRussia,weagreedonbuildingayouthsatellitewheretheyouthfromdifferentcountriescan work together. Such working together will increase understanding, makethem explore new avenues and the spirit of cooperation among the youthgloballywillprevail.Theideaofayouthsatelliteasajointventureofcountrieswasborn.Iamglad,thespaceagenciesofIndiaandRussiaputineffortsandthefirstyouthsatellitewaslaunchedon20April2011fromSriharikota,inthestateofAndhraPradesh.IhadthensuggestedtotheISROteamtocontinuetheseriesof youth satellites, so that youmay also use this as a platform for developingcollaborativeprojects,neededforscientificandtechnologicaldevelopmentsanditsapplicationsandaboveall,itwillleadtointegrationofminds.

Dear friends, if you askme, howmy life has been enriched for the lasteighty-threeyears,Ihavetoconveytoallofyouonemessage.Themessageislikethis.WhenIreachedtheageofseventeen,Ihadonegreatcompanion.Thatcompanion was nothing but great books. Throughoutmy life, books enrichedme.Iwouldsuggestandrecommendallofyoutoreadthefollowingbooks:

•LightfromManyLampsbyLillianEichler•EmpiresoftheMindbyDenisWaitley•ThirukkuralbyThiruvalluvar•EverydayGreatnessbyStevenR.Covey•TheStoryofMyExperimentswithTruthbyMahatmaGandhi

Earthisfacingmanyconflictsbothnaturalandman-made.Asayouth,allofyouhavearesponsibilitytoworkforuniversalharmonybyironingoutallthecausesofconflicts.Areyoureadytodoso?

Oneoftheimportantareasofworkismovingtowardscleangreenenergy

and a clean planet Earth. That means it is centred around on a mission forproviding a good life to 7 billion people. If all of youwork for this singularmission,thenEarthwillbefreefromfossilfuel.Wewillmoveawayfromcostlyfuel which is detrimental to the environment and achieve clean energy usingsolar power, nuclear power and biofuel. Certainly this mission challenge theinnovativeabilityoftheyouth.Iamconfidenttheyouthleaderswilltakeupthischallenge.Theactionstartsfromtodayonwards.Willyoutakeupthechallengewithanindomitablespirit?

Yesdearfriends,thepoweroftheyouthwilldefinitelymakeachange—achangethatwillbringprosperityofthenationandtheworld.

(fromAddresstostudentsatBMICH,Colombo,26June2015)

TheLife-longQuestforKnowledge

Teacherscaninfluencestudentsnotonlybyteachingbutbyalsogivingpracticallessonsinhumanvalues,particularlybytheirselflessgivingofknowledge.

D earfriends,Iwouldliketosharewithyouagreateventthathappenedon18Dec2014.IndianSpaceResearchOrganisation’s(ISRO)GSLVMark

III achieved its testmission successfully by travelling on an expected path ontime. This proclaimed to the world that India will soon realize its dream ofsendingitsastronautsintospace.Thiswasanexperimentallaunchandthefull-fledged launch is likely to takeplace in twoyears’ time.Themainpurposeofthis mission was to test the atmospheric characteristics and stability of therocket.The630-tonnerockethasgoneupto126kmandthenthe4-tonnecrewcapsule which has enough space to accommodate three people detached andlandedintotheBayofBengal,600kmfromPortBlairand1,600kmfromthespacestationtwentyminutesofblastoff.Threeparachutescontrolledthecrewmoduleasperexpectedlines.

Thesystemworkedtothescheduledtimesperfectly.Afterlaunch,theheatshield separated, theCrewModuleAtmosphericRe-entryExperiment (CARE)module separated from the launch vehicle, then the module worked in activecontrol,aerodynamicdecelerationphasestartedonexpected lines,decelerationsysteminitiationstartedattherighttimeandtheapexcoverseparatedexactlyontime,thepilotchuteejectionwasinitiatedanddroguechutedeploymentstarted,thepenultimateactionofmainparachutedeploymentwasactivated,andfinallyCAREmoduleimpactedontheAndamanseawithintwentyminutesoftheentirelife-cycle.

GSLV Mark III has made ISRO self-reliant to launch big satellite forimportant societal applications such as solar power satellite and mannedmissions later.SomeofyoumayonedaybecomeastronautsforISRO’smoonmissionorMarsmission.MyfriendsinISROsay,thereasonforthesuccessofthismissionisthecreativeandscientificmindsoftheyouthwhoparticipatedin

this programme. I thought of sharing this information as I am certain it willinspiretheyouthtotakeupthepursuitofscience.

The desire to study science or any other subjectmay come from peopleyoumeetasyoungpeople.

WhenIthinkofmychildhooddays,IamremindedofShriSivasubramaniaIyerwho taughtmewhen Iwas studying in the fifth grade at the age of ten.Whenevermy teacher entered into the classroom,weall saw inhima teacherradiating knowledge.Hewas a great teacher in our school.All of us loved toattendhisclassandhearhim.Oneday,hewasteachingabouttheflightofbird.Hedrewadiagramofabirdontheblackboarddepictingthewings,tailandthebody structure with the head. He explained how birds lift and fly. He alsoexplainedtoushowtheychangedirectionwhileflying.Fornearly twenty-fiveminuteshegavethelecturewithlotsofinformationonlift,drag,howthebirdsflyinaformation.Attheendoftheclass,hewantedtoknowwhetherwehadunderstoodhowthebirdsfly.IsaidIdidnotunderstand.WhenIsaidthis, theteacheraskedtheotherstudentswhethertheyunderstoodornot.Manystudentssaidthattheyalsodidnotunderstand.Ourresponsedidnotupsethim,sincehewasacommittedteacher.

ShriIyersaidthathewouldtakeallofustotheseashore.Thateveningthewhole classwas at the seashore ofRameswaram.We enjoyed the roaring seawavesknockingatthesandyhillsinthepleasantevening.Birdswereflyingwithsweet chirpingvoice.He showed the seabirds in formationsof ten to twenty.Wesawthemarvellousformationsofbirdsandwereamazed.Heshowedusthebirdsandaskedustoseethatwhenthebirdsfly,whattheylookedlike.Wesawthewings flapping.He asked us to look at the tail portion alongwith flappingwings and twisting tail. We noticed closely and found that the birds in thatconditionflewinthedirectiontheydesired.Thenheaskedusaquestion,whereisthebird’sengineandhowisitpowered.Hewentontoexplainthatthebirdispowered by its own life and themotivation ofwhat itwants.All these thingswere explained to us within fifteen minutes. We all understood the wholedynamics from this practical example. Your teacher was a great teacher; hecouldgiveusatheoreticallessoncoupledwithalivepracticalexampleavailablefromnature.Thisisrealteaching.

Forme,itwasnotmerelyanunderstandingofhowabirdflies.Fromthatevening, I thought thatmy future study had to bewith reference to flight andflightsystems.Iamsayingthisbecausemyteacher’steachingandtheeventthatIwitnesseddecidedmyfuturecareer.Thenoneeveningaftertheclasses,Iaskedmy teacher, ‘Sir, please tellme, how to progress further in learning all aboutflight.’HepatientlyexplainedtomethatIshouldcompletemyeighthclass,go

tohighschool,toengineeringcollegethatmayleadtolearningaboutflight.IfIcompleted allmy educationwith excellence, Imight be able to do somethingconnectedwithflightsciences.Thisadviceand thebirdflying lessongivenbymy teacher, really gaveme a goal and amission formy life.When Iwent tocollege,ItookPhysics.WhenIwenttostudyengineeringinMadrasInstituteofTechnology,ItookAeronauticalEngineering.

Thusmylifewastransformedtoarocketengineer,aerospaceengineerandtechnologist.That one incident ofmy teacher teaching the lesson showing theliveexampleprovedtobeaturningpointinmylifewhicheventuallyshapedmyprofessionandenabledmetofly.

Another great teacher, who is a living legend now, is ProfessorChinnadurai.He taughtmePhysics,particularlyNuclearPhysics.Theway theprofessortaught,manystudentsstartedlovingthesubject.Whenhewastakinglessons, he used to give reference articles and good reference books that thestudentscouldrefertoandread.HeensuredthatweallreferredtogoodPhysicstextbooksduringthelectureinsteadofonlyreadingthenotes.Thiswidenedthehorizonofthelearning.ProfessorChinnaduraistilllivesinDindugalandImeethimandpaymyrespectswheneverIaminthatarea.Themethodofhisteachingwas important in making the student a lifelong independent learner, which isessentialforthecontinuousgrowthofanindividual,andtherebythenation.Thebestlearningtakesplacewhentheteacherinfusesacreativelearninghabitinthestudents andmakes it anenjoyablepartof lifelongquest forknowledge.Eventoday,wheneverImeethim,heradiatesasenseofenlightenment.

Theseexamplesshowhowteacherscaninfluencethestudentsnotonlybyteachingbutalsogivingpracticallessonsinhumanvalues,particularlythetraitof selfless giving of knowledge. I am grateful to my college for helping meacquireknowledgeandvaluesystemsinlife.

Doyouknowaboutamanofscienceandaboutalifecompletelydedicatedto innovation, creativity and scientific research?Hismost famous successwasthe astrophysical Chandrasekhar limit. The Chandra limit describes themaximum mass (greater than 1.44 solar mass) of a white dwarf star, orequivalently,theminimummassforwhichastarwillultimatelycollapseintoaneutronstarorblackholefollowingasupernova.Thelimitwasfirstcalculatedby a scientist while on a ship from India to Cambridge, England. Yes, I amreferring toSubramanyanChandrasekhar,who livedhisentire life for researchonthecosmos.

Therewasagreatwomanscientistwhoisknownfordiscoveringradium.She won not one, but two Nobel Prizes, one for Physics and another forChemistry.Whoisshe?ShewasMadamCurie.Shediscoveredradiumandwas

doing research on the effect of radiation on the human system. The sameradiation which she discovered, affected her and she sacrificed her life forremovingthepaininhumanlife.

Now, to all the students gathered here, I would like to talk about theimportance of creating a beautiful home environment.A beautiful home—andwe have 200 million homes in India—emanates from four dimensions. Onecomesfromspiritualhome,secondcomesfrommother’shappiness,thirdcomesfromtransparencyofthehomeandthefourthcomesfromprovidingacleanandgreenenvironment.Thiscombinationoffourtraitsindeedbringsaboutahappyhome.Letusstudy,howwecanachievethat.

SpiritualHomeLetusimagineasmallfamilyhomewithfather,mother,asonandadaughter,ortwo sonsor twodaughters. In this home, bothparents earn. I visualize in thislittlehome,a littlehomelibrarywithat least tengreatbooksand in thishomeparentsinculcatethereadinghabitamongtheirchildrenbyreadingbooksduringbreakfastorduringdinner.Thewholefamilygetstogetherforatleastonemealsothattheycommunicateanddiscussfreely.Whentheyarealltogetheronthediningtable,themotherorthefathertakesabookfromthehomelibrarynarratesa story of ethics and moral values, and where the children participate in thediscussionandoffer theircomments.Sucha readinghabit triggers thechild toread thebook indetail andcollectmore informationonsuchstories.Theyputthelessonstheylearnthusinpracticeintheirday-to-daylife.Somechildrenmayalso go to the school and discuss such instanceswith other children and so alargercommunityisbenefitted.Thisishowtheseedingofreadinghabitscanbeinculcatedamongtheyoungminds.Inaddition,Ivisualizea littleprayerroomwhere everymorning or night thewhole family, including children prays andofferstheirthankstotheAlmightyforreceivingblessings.

Thisfamilytimewillbecomethetimewhenknowledgeandvaluesystemsareinculcatedinchildren.Suchchildrenwillcarryouttheirresponsibilitieswithaspiritofexcellence,dedicationandselfesteem.

MakingMotherSmileMissionI am going to give you a mission that will lead to a happy home.Will youfriendspromisemethatyouwillfollowthesuggestionthatIamgiving.

Fromtodayonwards,Iwillmakemymotherhappy,Ifmymotherishappy,myhomeishappy,

Ifmymotherishappy,myhomeishappy,Ifmyhomeishappy,thesocietywillbehappy,Ifsocietiesarehappy,thestatewillbehappy,Ifstateishappy,thenationwillbehappy.

Howmanyofyouarewilling todo thegreatmissionofmakingyourmothershappy?

ATransparentHome

AsIsaid,webelongtoasocietyof200millionfamilies.Thefirststeptowardscreatingatransparentsocietycomesfromatransparenthome.Thereisacryingneed in the nation to develop a transparent society, a corruption free society.Dearyoungmembers, I haveamission for theyouthof thenation, that is thedaughter or son of the family. Every one of you will know that corruptionemanatesfromafewhomes.Itisestimatedthat30percentofourIndianhomesare corrupt. That means approximately 60 million houses may not betransparent. In such a situation, children should appreciate their father if he isfully transparent.At the same time, ifhe isnot, childrenshoulduse their loveandaffectionandhave thecourage tosayno tosuchpractices.Myconsciencesays, compared to any lawagainst corruption, definitely thismovement of theyouthagainst corruptionwillbeextremelyeffective.Howmanyofyouyoungfriendswillofferyourselftobeaparticipantofsuchagreatmissionofmakingthehometransparent?

GreenHomeMission

Today there is climate change occurring on Earth. Deforestation,industrialization and transportation emitted carbon-dioxide, which has causedholes in theozone layer leading to increasedheatingof theplanet.This is themajor cause of flood and drought. If the youth of the nation decide, they candefinitelychangethesituation.EveryIndianmusttakeanoaththatheorshewillplantandnurtureatleastonetree.Onefullygrowntreeabsorbs20kgofcarbondioxideandemits14kgofoxygen.Duringourlifetime,ifweplanttentreesandnurture them, we will have over ten billion trees. These ten billion trees candefinitely help contain the climate change problem. Hence, I would suggest,each one of you to plant a tree and keep your home and the neighbourhoodclean.Greenhomemeansnotonly theplantingof treesbutkeeping thehouseandenvironmentclean.Youshouldnotdumpanygarbageon the streets.You

shouldtakeanoaththat,youwillnotonlykeepthehomeclean,butalsoensurethatthestreetisclean.

All around us we see examples of great people who have served inindustry, government, armed forces and arts and literature. When you areinspiredbysuchwell-knownpersonalities,Iwouldliketoask,whatwouldyouliketoberememberedfor?Youhavetoevolveandshapeyourlife.

(fromAddressandinteractionwiththestudentsofBaldwinInstitutions,Bangalore,12June2015)

ManagingtheJourneyofLife

Thesearethebestdaysofyourlives,whenyouarelearningtogrowwingsandlearningtofly.

F riends, one of the biggest challenges for the scientific and technologycommunity for decades is earthquake prediction. Intensive research

worldwideisessentialintheareaofearthquakeprediction.IhaveseenamodelinIceland—avalidatedprogresswithinthesmallareaabout1,000sqkm.Thiswas possible by following a database. Studies showed how the tremor in theformofavibrationbuildsupgraduallyand stressbuildsup fewdaysand fewhours before an earthquake. This model of earthquake validated nearly threedecadesdatabase.WhatisneededforIndiaisthefollowing:wehavetoformanintegratedteamofgeologists,materialscientists,physicists,andremotesensingsatellite experts, rock formation experts and oil exploration experts. Ideally, itshouldbeayoungteamofmembersbelowtheageofforty.Themissiontobegiventothisteamwouldbetopredictanearthquakethatwilloccurinthenexttwenty-four hours. This window of prediction should slowly be increased tobefore twodaysbefore sevendaysbefore fourweekswith certainprobability.Thismaybeamissionof tenyears foryoungpeople.Researchon forecastingwill bring great name and India will be protected from the devastations ofearthquakes. This challenge of earthquake prediction is put up on my blogwww.3billion.organdhasbeenreceivinggreatresponses.

Before you embark on a path of intense research you also need tounderstandabout‘ManagingtheJourneyofLife’.

Inthiscontext,Iwilltalktoyouaboutfourimportantaspectsinlifewithmy experiences—having an aim, acquiring knowledge, working hard towardsyour dream even in the times of difficulty and then finally, how to managefailuresandsuccessinlife.

Behindevery successfulventure andevery inspiringcareeryouwill findanunflinchingaimwhichwasoftensetearlyinlife.Havinganaiminlifegives

purposetoeveryactionandorientationtoeveryresult.Beforeyouenter intoyourprofessional life, it is important to forgeyour

uniqueaiminlifewhichwillsteeryoureffortstowardsawell-definedgoalforthe rest of your life. It will always remind you of your goals and give youstrength.

Havinganaiminlifeisincompleteuntilyouareabletoacquiretherightknowledgeneededtoaccomplishthataim.Itisyourdutytomakethebestuseoftheresources,peopleandnetworksmadeavailabletoyoubyyourparentsandinyour schools and colleges to acquire the optimal knowledge needed to propelyou towardsyourgoal.Knowledgewill giveyougreatness, andwill helpyouaccomplishdifficultmissions.

I would like to share with all of you the story of my teacher ProfessorSatishDhawan.IwasworkinginDelhiattheMinistryofDefence.LaterIjoinedtheDefence Research andDevelopment Organisation (DRDO) in 1958 at theAeronautical Development Establishment, Bangalore. There, on the advice ofthedirector,Itookupthedevelopmentofahovercraft.Hovercraftdesignneededthedevelopmentofaductedcontra-rotatingpropellerforcreatingasmoothflowbalancingthetorques.Ididnotknowhowtodesignacontra-rotatingpropellerthoughIknewhowtodesignaconventionalpropeller.Someofmyfriendstoldme that I can approach Professor Satish Dhawan of the Indian Institute ofScience,whowaswellknownforhisaeronauticalresearch,forhelpindesigningtheductedcontra-rotatingpropeller.

I took permission frommy director DrMediratta andwent to ProfessorDhawanwhowassittinginasmallroomintheIndianInstituteofSciencewithalotofbooksallaroundhim.Therewasalsoablackboardonthewall.Iexplainedthe problem to him about my project work. He told me that it was really achallengingtaskandhewouldteachmethedesignifIattendedhisclassesattheIndian InstituteofSciencebetween2p.m.and3p.m.onallSaturdays for thenextsixweeks. I starteddoingso. I found thathewasavisionary teacher.Hepreparedtheschedulefortheentirecourseandwroteitontheblackboardsowecouldbepreparedforallthenewtopicsashetaughtthem.HealsogavemethereferencematerialandbooksIshouldreadbeforeIstartedattendingthecourse.Iconsideredthisasagreatopportunityandstartedmeetinghimregularly.Beforecommencing each class, he would ask critical questions and assess myunderstandingofthesubject.ThatwasthefirsttimethatIrealizedhowagoodteacherprepareshimselfforteachingwithmeticulousplanningandpreparesthestudentfortheacquisitionofknowledge.Thisprocesscontinuedforthenextsixweeks.Iunderstoodtheprinciplesandfinallygotthecapabilityfordesigningaductedcontra-rotatingpropeller.ProfessorDhawantoldmethatIwasreadyfor

developing the propeller for a hovercraft configuration. That was the time IrealizedthatProfessorSatishDhawanwasnotonlyateacherbutalsoafantasticdevelopmentengineerofaeronauticalsystems.

Laterduringthecriticalphasesofcontra-rotatingpropellersystemtestingProfessorDhawanwaswithmeandhelpedinfindingsolutionstotheproblems.After reaching the smooth test phase, the propeller went through 50 hours ofcontinuous testing. Professor Satish Dhawan witnessed the test himself andcongratulated me. That was a great day for me when I saw the propellerdesignedbymy teamperforming to themission requirement in thehovercraft.However, at that time, I did not realize that Professor Satish Dhawan wouldbecomeChairman,ISROandthatIwouldgettheopportunitytoworkwithhimasaProjectDirectorinthedevelopmentofSatelliteLaunchVehicleSLV-3forinjectingtheRohinisatelliteintotheorbit.

Thatwas thefirstdesign inmycareer. Itgaveme theconfidence todealwithmany complex aerospace systems in future.Thehovercraft could fly justabove the ground level carrying two passengers. I was the first pilot for thishovercraft and I could control and manoeuvre the vehicle in any direction.Aboveall,Ilearntthatinaproject,problemswouldalwayscropup;weshouldnotallowproblemstobeourmastersbutweshoulddefeattheproblems.Thensuccesswillsparkle.

Inordertoachievegreataims,oneneedstoworkrelentlesslytowardsthegoal.Constant effortwithapplicationofproperknowledgecanhelpovercomedifficultiesandscalesteepheights.

I was fortunate to come under the mentorship of three gurus, ProfessorVikramSarabhai,DrBrahmPrakash andProfessorSatishDhawan. In1973, Iwas entrusted with a major national project of developing the first SatelliteLaunchVehicleSLV-3.Iwasabletoachievetheprojectinsevenyearswithagreatteam.NoneofusknewtotallyaboutSLV-3oritssubsystems.Welearnt,dreamt, experimented, failed, recovered and succeeded. Everybody wasinnovative,everybodyquestionedeverybodyelse.Eachoneenjoyedthesuccessofothers.My teammemberswereallgood,energeticand toughguys. Ihadadifficult but pleasant duty tomanage these great guys. Even now I relish thisexperience.TheyallgrewtotakeupmajorresponsibilitiesinISRO.

When you set upon difficult missions, it will bring difficult challengeswhichmaysometimesproducetemporarysetbacks.Thetestofahumanbeingisin accepting the failure and tokeep tryinguntil heor she succeeds.Managingfailuresisaqualitywhichistheessenceofleadership.Letmenowtellyouanexperienceinthisregardfrommyprofessionallife.

When I think of Professor Satish Dhawan, many incidents come to my

mind. Iwould like tosharewithyouagain,one important incident,which isavaluablelessontotheyoungergeneration.Iwastheprojectdirectorofthefirstexperimental launch of SLV-3. On 10 August 1979, the vehicle took offbeautifully at T-0 and the first stage gave predicted performance. The secondstage was initiated, but within a few seconds, we witnessed the vehicle in atumblingmotionandwelosttheflighttotheBayofBengal.Itwas8a.m.inthemorning.Thewholeteaminspiteofworkingalldayandnightforseveraldays,got busy in collecting thedata and trying to establish the reason for the flightfailure.Meanwhile, IwascalledbyProfessorSatishDhawan toattendapressconference.Beforethepressconference,hetoldmethathewasgoingtohandlethe situation and I should be present with many of the senior scientists andtechnologists.Thepressconferenceroomwasoverflowingwithmedia-persons.Therewasgloom,manyquestionswereposed,someverypowerful, thoughtfulandalsocriticisms.There,ProfessorSatishDhawan,announced,‘Friends,todaywehadtheexperimentallaunchofSLV-3toputtheRohinisatelliteintheorbit.Itwasapartialsuccess.Itisourfirstmissionofprovingmultipletechnologiesinalaunchvehicle.Wehaveprovedmanytechnologiesinthislaunchbutstillwehave to prove somemore.We have tumbled but not fallen flat. Above all, Irealizemyteammembershavetobegivenallthetechnologicalsupportforthenextmissiontosucceed.’Subsequently,afailureanalysisboardestablishedthecauseandweproceededwiththepreparationforthesecondlaunch.

ThesecondmissionofSLV-3tookplaceon18July1980.Itwassix-thirtyin the morning. The whole nation’s attention was trained on SHAR launchcomplex in Sriharikota, now named after Professor Satish Dhawan as a greattribute to him. Themission teamswere busy during the countdown, carefullywatching the flight sequence.AtT-0 the vehicle took off andwewitnessed atextbooktrajectory.Afternearly600secondsoftheflight,Irealizedeverystagehad given the required velocity including the fourth stage. I made anannouncement, ‘Missiondirector callingall stations.TheSLV-3hasgiven therequiredvelocityandrightaltitudetoputRohinisatelliteintheorbit.Ourdownrange stations and global stations will get the orbit of the satellite within anhour.’Therewasthunderousapplausefromallthestationsandfromthevisitors’gallery.

Themost important thinghappened then.ProfessorSatishDhawanaskedmetohandlethepressconferencewithourteammembers.

There are twomessages I would like to convey here. First is about theresilienceandcouragetopickourselvesupandworktowardsaresurgenceafterasetback.Second isabout the roleofa leader inmanagingfailure.The leadershouldgivethecreditofthesuccesstotheteammembers.Whenfailurecomes

theleadersshouldabsorbthefailuresandprotecttheteammembers.Icouldnotget this beautiful education of failuremanagement in any of the textbooks orstudieditatanyoftheinstitutesatthattime.

Letme now give you amemorable event frommy professionalwork inmissiletechnology,whichalsogavemebliss.ThiswasmyexperiencecreatingFRO (FloorReactionOrthosis) calliper for polio-affected children.DuringmyvisittooneofthehospitalsinHyderabad,Ifoundmanychildrenwerestrugglingtowalkwithanartificial limbweighingover4kg.At therequestofProfessorPrasadofNIMS,whowastheheadoftheorthopaedicdepartmentatthattime,IaskedmyAGNImissilefriendswhywecannotusethecompositematerialusedfor AGNI heat shield for fabricating FROs for polio-affected patients. Theyimmediatelysaiditwaspossible.WeworkedonthisprojectforsometimeandcameupwithaFROforthechildweighingaround400gminplaceof4kg,thatis,exactly,1/10thof theweightwhich thechildrenwerecarrying.ThedoctorshelpedusfitthenewlightweightFROonthechildrenandtheystartedwalkingandrunningaround.Theirparentswerealsopresentastheirchildrenwerefittedwiththenewcallipers.Tearsrolleddownonalloftheirfacesatthejoyofseeingtheir children running with the light callipers. With the lightweight deviceprovidedbythehospitaltheycouldrun,rideabicycleanddoallsortsofthingswhich theyhadbeendenied for a long time.The removal of the pain and thefreedom attained by the children gave me a state of bliss which I neverexperiencedduringanyotherachievementinmylife.

Ibelieveeachoneofmyyoungfriendscanandwillworktobeapartofthe one million enlightened youth in the country and bring about societaltransformation.

Forthis,whereveryouare,thethoughtthatwillalwayscometoyourmindiswhatprocessorproductcanyouinnovate,inventordiscover.

Alwaysrememberthatthesearethebestdaysofyourlives,whenyouarelearningtogrowwingsandlearningtofly.Don’t let thesepreciousdaysgoinvain.

Whateverbe the fieldyouchoose tospecialise in,youhave to thinkbig,workhardandperseveretorealizethegoal.

Great scientific, technological and compassionate minds, good teachers,good books and good internal environment are required to bring aboutdevelopment.

Eachofyoumustfirmlybelievethatnoproblemcandefeatyou.Youhavetosay:Iwillbecomethecaptainoftheproblem,defeattheproblemandsucceed.

Weallneedtoworkforremovingtheproblemsfacedbytheplanetintheareasofwater,energy,habitat,wastemanagementandenvironmentthroughthe

applicationofscienceandtechnology.We need to realize that we are as young as our faith and as old as our

doubts.Wearealsoasyoungasourself-confidenceandasoldasourfears.Weareasyoungasourhopesandasoldasourdespairs.

Wewilldevelopfaith,self-confidenceandhope.

(fromAddressandinteractionwithstudentsatCochinCollegeofScienceandTechnology,Muvattupuzha,6May2015)

InnovationandCreativity

Inaknowledgesociety,wehavetomakeinnovationscontinuously.Innovationscomethroughcreativity.Creativitycomesfrombeautifulminds.

W henknowledgebecomesanimportantpartoftheeconomy,thensocietyfocusesmoreonempowermentandall-rounddevelopmentratherthan

only on fulfilling basic needs. The education system is improved as there isinteractivityandcreativityinteachingandmotivatedself-learning.Bothformaland informal education focus on values, merit and quality. After such aneducation, those who enter the work force will be knowledgeable, self-empoweredandhave theflexibility in their thinkingandskillsets todealwithdifferentissuesandproblems.Thetypeofworktheydomaybelessstructuredand require development of relevant software instead of being structured andhardwaredriven.Managerswill emphasizemoreondelegating responsibilitiesrather thanexpectingemployees toonly takeorders.Finally, theeconomywillmostlybedrivenbyknowledge-drivenindustries.

Iwouldliketosharehereamessagewithyou.Itisamessagethatconnectsmind,resource,personality, teamandleader.Twenty-firstcenturyleadersneedto have a newdimensionwith knowledge,most importantly the leader shouldworkwithintegrityandsucceedwithintegrity.

I have mentioned the idea of ‘What worked yesterday, will not worktoday’. We need to constantly evaluate the changing realities of the worldaroundusandinnovateandadapt.

Ihavementionedthefollowingaspectsofleadership:

•Leadershipshouldempoweritselfwithknowledge.•Leadershipwillenableintheintersectionofmultiplefacultiesinorderto

achievemissiongoals.• Leadershipwill enrich itself through an understanding of the needs of

sustainabledevelopment.

• Leadership should inculcate sensitivity to the needs of all thestakeholders.

•Leadershiphastopromoteteamspirit.• Leadership will be judged by innovation and how it has promoted

creativity.• Leadership will constantly evolve and become more competitive with

knowledge,managementandtechnology.•Leadershipwillinculcatevalueadditionateverylevel.•Leadershipwillvaluefeedbackandtakeactionbasedonthat.• Leaderswillworkwith integrity and succeedwith integrity and act as

promotersofsuchacultureintheirsubordinates.

I was studying the development patterns and the dynamics of connectivitybetweennations,especiallyintradeandbusiness.Asyouallknowtheworldhasafewdevelopedcountriesandmanydevelopingcountries.Whatisthedynamicsbetweenthemandwhatconnects them?Adevelopedcountryhas tomarket itsproductsinacompetitivewaytodifferentcountriestomaintainitspositionasadevelopedcountry.Thedevelopingcountryalsohavetomarkettheirproductstoother countries in a competitive way if they want to become developed.Competitivenessisthecommonfactorbetweenthetwotypesofcountries.Themore successful one is the onewho achieves three dimensions: quality of theproduct,costeffectivenessandsupplyintime.Thisdynamicsofcompetitivenessinmarketingofproductsbydevelopinganddevelopedcountriesiscalledthelawofdevelopment.

In this context, the time has come to launch new technology that willimprovetheconnectivityintheremoteareasofthenation.Today,wehave900millionmobilephoneconnectionsnationally. It isestimated thatby theendof2017, therewill be over 500millionmobile-based Internet users in the nationfromthecurrentnumberof160million.Manyofthesenewuserswillbeinruralareas. Currently, a majority of 600,000 villages, where 70 per cent of thepopulationlivesarenotconnectedwithhighspeedInternetconnectivitysofar.Even3Gmobilenetworkconnectionsarenotavailable inmajorityof theruralareas.

Here, Iwould like to share one information, that of a new type of fibreoptic cable developed by researchers inUS andNetherlands that has smasheddata transfer records, managing to squeeze 255 terabits of information perseconddownasinglestrandofglassfibre.

Today, India is currently ranked 118th in theworld in broadband speedwithanaveragespeedof1.7mbpscomparedtoover20mbpsinJapanandHong

Kong.Today,Indiahasapproximately14millionkmfibrelaidoverthelastonedecadeconnectingfewcitiesandsomedistrictsandit isenvisagedtoreach30millionkm2017,probablyreachinguptodistrictandblocklevel.Ifweneedtobridge the digital divide between the rural and urban areas, it is essential toconnect2.5lakhpanchayatsand600,000villageswithfibreopticcables.Ifweneedtodothatapproximatelyweneed6lakhcablekmand15millionfibrekmto connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats. Now if we need to connect 600,000villagesand thecities, thenweneed to laymaximumof400millionfibrekm.The challenge of realizing ‘Digital India’ is to create 400 million fibre kminfrastructure. It is reported thatChina is creating 200million fibre km everyyeartobridgethedigitaldivide.Themostchallengingcomponentforuswillbelaying the fibre cable underground with an effective project management,processmanagementtoachievethetargetontime.

Since the fibre optics cable technology can go with the high tensionelectrical wire, also the hybrid fibre, copper, aluminium cables can transmitpower,data togetherwithout anyelectrical interferenceand loss, ifwe lay theopticalfibrealongwith theexistingelectricalpowerlines,wecanreachout tothe entire country.Hence appropriate policy should be evolved to connect theopticalfibrealongwithpowerlines.

Until and unless the villages are connected and haveWi-Fi access, thedigitaldivide isbound toexist.Hence, Iwouldurgeallofyou inengineering,technologyandcommunicationtoworkwiththegovernment,publicandprivateinstitutions to evolve a roadmap to bringhigh speedWi-Fi access to villagesthroughthecombinationoffibrecable,Wi-Fiand3G/4Gconnectivity.Oncethisispossible,wecanprovidetothesenewusersegmentsareliableserviceswhichisseamless,fastandfreefrombreakdownandatthesametimecost-effective.

Iwouldliketotouchuponanotherimportantareawhichwillhaveahugeimpact in human lives. This is Artificial Intelligence (AI). As you are aware,Artificial Intelligence can enhance human endeavour by complementing whatpeoplecando.Amalgamatedteamsofhumansandalgorithmswillbecomethenorm in all sorts of pursuits. Supported by AI, doctors will have augmentedabilitytospotcancersinmedicalimages;speech-recognitionalgorithmsrunningonsmartphoneswillbringtheInternettoruralpopulations;digitalassistantswillhelp inacademic research; imageclassificationalgorithmswill allowwearablecomputers to layer useful information onto people’s views of the real world.(Source:TheEconomist,May9-15,2015).

Iwas studying theGlobalCompetitivenessReport for theyear2014–15.There,IfoundthatintermsofGlobalCompetitiveIndexranking,Switzerlandisranked1,Singaporeisranked2,USisranked3,UAEis12,Koreais26,China

is28andIndiais71.Ourperformanceinarangeofcompetitivenessindexneedstobeimproved.Growthcompetitivenessisdeterminedbytheinnovativeabilityofanorganization.Thisinnovationarisesfrominitiativestakenbytheinstitutionand theR&D productivity of the firm, shaped by policies and nature of localinstitutions.Weneedtoworktoimprovethecompetitivenessindexandaimtoreach the top 10 among the nations of the world in the next five years. Thisrequires the combined efforts of researchers, technologists, productionengineers, business leaders and above all support from the political systemInnovation opens up new vistas of knowledge and new dimensions to ourimagination to make everyday life more meaningful and richer in depth andcontent.Innovationisbornoutofcreativity.

Inaknowledge-basedsociety,wehavetomakeinnovationscontinuously.Innovationscomethroughcreativity.Creativitycomesfrombeautifulminds. Itcanbeanywhereandfromanypartoftheworld.

I am sure therewill always be hundreds of creativeminds in Indiawithinnovativethinkingengineers,managers,workersandsupportingstaff.Collegesshouldhaveaninnovationcentretonurtureinnovativeideasandshapeitintoaproductneeded for customers.The innovation centrehas tobe ledby creativeleaders who can inspire the youth and the experienced to grow ideas into aproduct.

I have been presenting in many forums the pillars of the developmentprofileofthenationby2020.Letmepresentittoyou:

•Anationwherethereisminimalruralandurbandivide.•Anationwherethereisanequitabledistributionandadequateaccessto

energyandqualitywater.•Anationwhereagriculture,industryandservicesectorworktogetherin

symphony.• A nation where education with a value system is not denied to any

meritorious candidate because of societal or economicdiscrimination.

• A nation which is the best destination for the most talented scholars,scientistsandinvestors.

•Anationwherethebestofhealthcareisavailabletoall.•Anationwherethegovernanceisresponsive,transparentandcorruption

free.• A nationwhere poverty has been totally eradicated, illiteracy removed

and crimes againstwomen and children are absent and none in thesocietyfeelsalienated.

•Anationthatisprosperous,healthy,secure,devoidofterrorism,peacefulandhappyandcontinueswithasustainablegrowthpath.

• A nation that is one of the best places to live in and is proud of itsleadership.

Toachieve such aprofileof India,wehave themissionof transforming Indiainto a developed nation. I believe there are five areas where India has greatcompetenceforintegratedaction.Theseare:

1.Agricultureandfoodprocessing

2.Reliableandqualityelectricpower,surfacetransportandinfrastructureforallpartsofthecountry

3.Educationandhealthcare

4.Informationandcommunicationtechnology

5.Self-relianceincriticaltechnologies.

Thesefiveareasarecloselyinter-relatedandifdevelopedinacoordinatedway,willleadtofood,economicandnationalsecurity.

In every domain, in every sector of the economy, whether it is science,engineering, technology, management, what is essential is the presence ofcreativeleadership.

Let me connect how national economic development and creativeleadershiparerelated.Theprosperityof thenation isempoweredbyeconomicdevelopmentandgreathumancharacter.

Hereishowthatcanhappen:

•Anation’seconomicdevelopmentispoweredbycompetitiveness.•Competitivenessispoweredbyknowledge.•Knowledgeispoweredbytechnologyandinnovation.•Technologyandinnovationispoweredbyresourceinvestment.•Resourceinvestmentispoweredbyreturnoninvestment.•Returnoninvestmentispoweredbyrevenue.•Revenueispoweredbyvolumeandrepeatsales.•Volumeandrepeatsalesispoweredbycustomerloyalty.

•Customerloyaltyispoweredbyqualityandvalueofproducts.•Qualityandvalueofproductsispoweredbyemployeeproductivityand

innovation.•Employeeproductivityispoweredbyemployeeloyalty.•Employeeloyaltyispoweredbyemployeesatisfaction.•Employeesatisfactionispoweredbytheworkingenvironment.•Workingenvironmentispoweredbymanagementinnovation.•Managementinnovationispoweredbycreativeleadership.

Inmylife,Ihaveseenthreedreamswhichhavetakenshapeasvision,missionand realization. The space programme of the Indian Space ResearchOrganization (ISRO), the AGNI programme of the Defence Research andDevelopment Organization (DRDO) and Providing Urban Amenities in RuralAreas (PURA) mission becoming a national mission. Of course, these threeprogrammes succeeded in themidst ofmany challenges and problems. I haveworked inall these threeareas. Iwant toconvey toyouwhat Ihave learntonleadershipfromthesethreeprogrammes:•Leadersmusthaveavision.

•Leadersmusthavepassiontorealizethevision.•Leadersmustbeabletotravelintoanunexploredpath.•Leadersmustknowhowtomanagesuccessandfailure.•Leadersmusthavethecouragetotakedecisions.•Leadersshouldhavenobilityinmanagement.•Leadersshouldbetransparentineveryaction.•Leadersmustworkwithintegrityandsucceedwithintegrity.

Forsuccessinallyourmissions,youhavetobecomecreativeleaders.Creativeleadershipmeans exercising the vision to change the traditional role from thecommander to the coach, manager to mentor, from director to delegator andfrom one who demands respect to one who facilitates self-respect. For aprosperousanddevelopedIndia,theimportantthrustwillbeonthegenerationofa number of creative leaders from all our educational institutions, publicorganizationsandtheindustry.

While we move towards a developed India, I believe that our inherentknowledge of healthy mind and body and the healing capacity is the mostpowerful resource we have for enhancing productivity, preventing disease,acceleratingrecoveryfromillnessandinjury,andmaintainingwell-beingwhendiseasecannotbecured.Toheal,ourbodiesmustbenourishedandshelteredbythe Earth, our minds and emotions must be awake and calm, and our socialselvesmustreachoutfromneedtoservice.Evenwhencuresarenotavailable,a

form of healing can happen. And there is always a place for well-being. Aculture that values wellness and healing will create a flourishing society—productive,creative,healthyandpeaceful.Letusalignourvalueswithscienceand action to create policies and laws that promote flourishing; to linkproductivity and profit to health; to learn, play and entertain in celebration ofcollective well-being; and, to create a biomedical and healthcare system thathealsaswellascures.

(fromAddressattheMahindraEcoleCollegeofEngineeringandtoyoungengineersofTechMahindra,Hyderabad,14May2015)

BetheUniqueYou

Historyhasproventhatthosewhodaretoimaginetheimpossiblearetheoneswhobreakallhumanlimitations.

H owmanyofmydearyoungfriendsfeelconfidentthatyouwillbecomeauniquepersonalityinwhateverfieldyouchoose?

It is said, ‘History has proven that those who dare to imagine theimpossiblearetheoneswhobreakallhumanlimitations.Ineveryfieldofhumanendeavour,whetherscience,medicine,sports,thearts,ortechnology,thenamesof the people who imagined the impossible are engraved in our history. Bybreakingthelimitsoftheirimagination,theychangedtheworld.’

Letusstudyafewcreativemindswhomade‘impossible’to‘possible’bytheirindomitablespirit.Thestoryofhumanflightisnothingbutthestoryofthecreativity of the human mind and several struggles it undergoes to achieveexcellence. In 1895, a great well-known scientist Lord Kelvin, who was thePresidentoftheRoyalSocietyofLondonsaid,‘anythingheavierthanaircannotfly, and cannot be flown’.Within a decade, in 1903, theWright brothers hadprovedthatmancouldfly.

VonBraun,averyfamousrocketdesigner,whobuiltSaturnVto launchthecapsulewithastronautsandmademoonwalkareality,saidin1975,‘IfIamauthorized,Iwillremovethewordimpossible.’

In ancient days, Ptolemaic astronomy was a widely used system incalculatingthedynamicsofvariousstarsandplanets.Theassumptionthenwasthat the Earth is flat.What a struggle scientists and astronomers had to do toprove that the Earth is spherical in shape and orbits the sun. The three greatastronomers—Copernicus,GalileoandKepler—hadtogiveanewdimensiontothe world of astronomy. Today we take it for granted that Earth is a globe,orbitingaroundthesun,andthesunisintheMilkyWay.Allthetechnologicaladvancements we have today are the outcome of scientific explorations ofscientists of earlier centuries.At no time,wasman beaten by problems. Then

andnow,hestrivestocontinuouslysubjugateimpossibilityandsucceed.What lessonsdowe learn fromall theseachievements?According to the

lawsofaerodynamicsthebumblebeeshouldneverbeabletofly.Becauseofthesize, weight and shape of its body in relationship to the total wing span, theflight of the bumblebee is scientifically impossible. But the bumblebee, beingignorant of scientific theory, goes ahead and flies anyway because itwants tofly.Iwouldliketheyouthassembledheretotakealessonfromtheseexamplesandworktomakeeverythingpossible,becausetheyareunique.

WhenIwasthePresidentofIndia,on28Aug2006,Imetagroupoftribalstudents from Lead India 2020 movement. I asked all of them one question:‘What youwant to become?’Out ofmany responses, one visually challengedboystudyinginclassninegotup.HisnamewasSrikanthandhesaidtome,‘IwillbecomethefirstvisuallychallengedPresidentofIndia.’Iwasveryhappytosee his vision and ambition. I firmly believe that small aim is a crime. Icongratulatedhimandwishedhimwell sohecould realizehisvisionand toldhimtoworkhardforit.

Hedidworkveryhard andgot90per cent inhis tenth class and96percentintheIntermediate.HehadsetagoaltostudyengineeringinMIT,BostonUSA.Hisrelentlesshardworknotonlysecuredhimaseattherebuthegotfullscholarshipfromthe institute.Srikanth’sachievementhas inspiredmany tosetambitious goals for oneself. The training he took under the initiative of LeadIndia2020ledhimtosetahighvisionforhimself.SeeingthisimpactofLeadIndia2020training,themovementandGEvolunteershavefundedSrikanthforhis travel toUSA.Todayhe ispursuinghisstudiesatMIT,Boston.WhenGEoffered him a job on the completion of his graduation, he told them that hewouldcertainlycomebacktoGE,ifhecouldn’tbecomethePresidentofIndia.Whatconfidencethatboyhasamidstthedifficultiesandchallengesinhislife!

Recently,IhadachancetomeetSrikanthandhisteacherwhobroughthimupataninteractionwithphysicallychallengedstudentsorganisedbytheTamilNadugovernmentandLeadIndia2020atCoimbatore.Heisdoingfourthyearinundergraduate studies inB.S.ComputerScienceandManagement.Within thisfour years, he has started one company which produces consumer packagingitems using bio-degradable materials. He has also been part of other socialinitiativesthathebeganwhileprovidingskilldevelopmenttrainingtotheyouth.Atthemeet,hegaveanextemporespeechonhowtoovercomedisabilityandtohaveastrongmindandwillpowertoovercomechallenges.Themessageis,myyoung friends, it doesn’t matter who you are, if you have a vision anddeterminationtoachievethatvision,youwillcertainlydoso.

Here is another example of beautiful minds that are creative and with

indomitablespirit.This took place in Harali village, of Kolhapur district in Maharashtra

where I met over 2,000 students hailing from different schools. When I wasabout to get down from the stage after finishingmy lecture and interaction, ayoungboyofabouteighteenyearsofage,heldinthearmsofhismothercriedtomeetme.Icalledbothofthemontothestage.Thepolioaffectedboycouldnotwalk,buthewasstronginwillpower.Hetoldme,‘MynameisShaileshandIamfromthisvillageHarali.Youtoldustohaveadream.Iamheretotellyoumy dream. I am a chess player. I will work very hard and some day I willbecome a Grandmaster.’ I wished Shailesh all the best and said, ‘You willsucceed. Definitely, God is with you.’ It is my unshakeable belief and mymessagetoeveryyoungfriendthatwillpowercandefeatanyproblem.

Itisnotonlystudentsbutteacherstooneedtohavecreativeandinnovativeminds in order to be effective.Teachers have to emerge as facilitators of newideasandleadtolifelonginnovativethinkingintheyoungminds.Thisremindsmeofapoem‘TheStudent’sPrayer’byaChileanbiologistMaturana.

TheStudent’sPrayerShowmesothatIcanstand

Onyourshoulders.RevealyourselfsothatIcanbe

Somethingdifferent.Don’timposeonmewhatyouknow,

IwanttoexploretheunknownAndbethesourceofmyowndiscoveries.

Lettheknownbemyliberation,notmyslavery.

(fromAddressandinteractionwiththestudentsofShemfordSchool,Dehradun,29April2015)

WhatCanScienceGiveYou?

Sciencegivesyoubettereyesbecausesciencecanremovementallimitationsandchallengeyourbraintosolvemanyproblemsthathavepuzzledtheworldfor

years.

I nventions and discoveries have emanated from creative minds thatconstantlyworkandcreateimagesoftheoutcome.Withconstanteffort,all

the forces of the universe work for that inspired mind, thereby leading toinventions or discoveries. So the higher the number of creative minds in acountry,thefasteritwilltransformintoadevelopednation.

Whyisscienceimportant?Whatcansciencegiveyou?And,whatmakesascientistunique?

Friends, science gives you better eyes because science can remove themental limitations and challengeyour brain to solvemanyproblems that havepuzzled the world for years.Most of our friends, who are not in the field ofscience will slice time perhaps maximum up to one hundredth of a second.Scientists will slice time into femtoseconds (ten-fifteen seconds) which maydecideafastphotochemicalreaction.FewyearsbackIsawafemtosecondlaserat Maxivision Hospital, Hyderabad where precision eye surgery was beingperformedtoremovetheneedforwearingspectacles.

Whenyouthinkwaybackin time, therewas theBigBang,some15,000millionyears agoand then thebeginningof lifeonEarth, about3,800millionyears ago. Sciencewill connect you to the brains ofmany smart people whoweretherebeforeyouandwhoareperformingsomebreath-takingresearchnow.IthelpsyoustandontheshouldersofgiantslikeIsaacNewton,whodiscoveredthe lawsof gravitational force;AlbertEinstein,whodiscoveredof thegeneraltheory of relativity; StephenHawkings, the founder of string theory; Sir C.V.Raman, who discovered Raman effect; Chandrasekhar Subramanyam, whofoundtheChandralimit;SrinivasaRamanujam,whothoughtofnumbertheory;andJamesD.Watson,FrancisCrickandMauriceWilkins,whodiscoveredthemolecularstructureofnucleicacidsanditssignificanceforinformationtransfer

inlivingmaterial.Science provides answers to challenging problems. Look at the southern

skywithbrightclouds litby light.That isourgalaxy;webelong to theMilkyWay.Millionsandmillionsofstarsarethere.Webelongtoasmallstar;whatisthatstar?Oursun.

Thesolarsystemhaseightplanets.OurplanetEarthhassixbillionpeople,andmillionsandmillionsofspecies.Canyouimaginewhatsciencehasrevealedtoallofus?Ourgalaxyandoursunanditscharacteristicshavebeenidentified.Ourexactlocationwithrespecttothesunandinthegalaxyhasbeendiscovered.

Whathavescientificdiscoveriesledto?WeknowthatEarthrotatesonitsown axis in 24 hours.We get day and night. How do you get the full moonnight?Earthhasitsownsatellite,themoon,whichorbitsaroundtheplanetEarthin29days.Andhowdoes themoon shine?Haveyou thoughthowdowegetsuchbeautiful light?Howdoweget thenewmoon?Youallknowithasbeendiscovered.ItisthedynamicmovementofEarth,sunandthemooninthespace,whichdecidesthefullmoonandthedarknight.

The Earth system takes 365 days to orbit around the sun once. The sunitselforbitsaroundourgalaxy—theMilkyWay.Itisestimatedthatthesuntakes250million years to orbit around the galaxy.All the astronomical discoverieshavecomeoutofscience.

Nowcoming to the importanceof looking after thisEarthwehavebeengiven.Youwouldhavereadinbooksandlearntfromyourteacherstheprocessofphotosynthesisinplants.‘Whenthesunshines,greenplantsbreakdownwaterto get electrons and protons, use these particles to turn carbon dioxide intoglucose and vent out oxygen as awaste product.’ Eachmature tree in a yearabsorbs 20 kg of carbon dioxide and transforms intowood and reinforces thebranchesofthetree.Atthesametime,it letsout intotheatmosphere14kgofoxygen.

India’sforestsserveasamajorsinkofcarbondioxide.Ourestimatesshowthat the annual carbon dioxide removal by India’s forests and tree cover isenough to neutralize 11.25 per cent of India’s total greenhouse gas emissions.This is equivalent to offsetting 100 per cent emissions from all energy inresidential and transport sectors or 40 per cent of the total emissions fromagriculturesector(Source:IndiaForestandTreeCoverContributionasCarbonSinkbyMinistryofEnvironmentandForest).Toaugmentthispotentialfurther,weshouldenhance the treecover inaddition toyearlyplantationby the forestdepartment.Iurgeeveryyoungfriendtotakethisoath:‘Iwillplanttentreesandensuretheirgrowth.’Forthisuniquecontribution,Earthwillbeforevergrateful.

(fromAddressatinaugurationofscienceexhibition,Ankleshwar,Gujarat,24April2015)

EmpowermentofThreeBillionPeople

Whenyouareinspiredbysomegreatpurpose,someextraordinaryproject,allyourthoughtsbreaktheirbounds.

F riends,excellenceisnotbyaccident.Itisaprocess,whereanindividual,(or organization or nation) continuously strives to better himself. The

performance standards are set by themselves, theywork on their dreamswithfocusandarepreparedtotakecalculatedrisksanddonotgetdeterredbyfailuresastheymovetowardstheirdreams.Thentheystepuptheirdreamsastheytendto reach the original targets. They strive towork to their potential, and in theprocess they increase their performance thereby multiplying further theirpotentialandthisisanunendingcycle.

Based on my own personal experiences, teachers provide not justcurriculum based knowledge to pass examinations. They trigger lifemissions;theyguidestudentstoavaluesystem.

Many of you have heard about the precise launch of the fourth IndianRegionalNavigationSatellite, IRNSS-1Don28March2015byPolarSatelliteLaunch Vehicle, PSLV-C27 in its twenty-eighth consecutively successfulmission.Inafewweeks,thissatellite,alongwithitsthreepredecessorswillformthebackboneofanindependentregionalsatellitesystemofIndia.Itwillprovideaccurate position information service to users in India as well as surroundingregionextendingupto1,500kmfromitsboundary.

I would also like to refer to a significant event that happened on 18December 2014. It was the suborbital experimental mission of ISRO’s newgenerationlaunchvehicleGSLVMarkIII.Theexperimentalmissiontestedthevital atmospheric ascent of the newvehicle. It also injected theCrewModuleCARE(CrewAtmosphericRe-entryExperiment)atanaltitudeof126km.LaterthecrewmodulewassuccessfullyrecoveredthroughoperationsfromtheBayofBengal.ThismissionpavesthewayforanewgenerationlaunchvehicleinafewyearsandveryearlyinitialengineeringstepsfordevelopingIndiancapabilityfor

humanspacemissions.Someofyoumayhavedreamsofflyingandyouwillbefollowing such developments happening in our country and elsewhere.Depending on your interests, you may also keep abreast of developments inother areas of human endeavours in energy, water, agriculture, infrastructuredevelopment,socialentrepreneurship.

Excellence and inquisitiveness about future technologies can be fosteredby dynamic colleges. These are the eight aspects or characteristics of suchinstitutions:1.Acollegethatradiatesgreatnessbytheteachingcapacityof theteachersandhowstudentsareencouragedtowalkwithteachers.2.Acollegeisgreatbecauseitcherishesthelearningenvironmentwithlibrary,

Internet,e-learningandcreativelaboratories.3.Acollege isgreatbecause it createsandgenerates studentswithconfidence

whofeel‘Icandoit’thatinturngeneratesateamspiritthatsays‘Wewilldoit’and‘Indiawilldoit’.

4.Acollegethatpromotesall-roundlearninginallthestudents.Studentsstandontheshouldersofgreatteachers.

5.Acollegeisgreatbecauseithasteacherswholeadauniquewayoflifewithpurity and become role models for the students and develop them asenlightenedcitizens.

6.Acollegeisgreatbecauseithasthecapacitytoteachallstudentstosucceed.7.Acollegethatgeneratescreativityamongallstudentsirrespectiveofwhether

theybelongtoartsorsciencestream.8.Acollege isgreatwhen itgeneratesalumniwhocherish that theybelong to

thiscollege.

The challenge of empowering 3 billion population of the world has multipledimensions.Letusdiscussfourmajorsuchtrendswhichwillemergeandneedtoaddressed: i) New Consumption: If growth and development is to reach theworld’s population, it will bring about a colossal shift in the consumptionpatterns,pushingnewdemandsforproductssofarunknowntohalfofhumanity.For example, the current consumer expenditure per capita is about $800 forIndia,$1500forChinaand$6,000forBrazil.Comparedtothat,thesamefigureforUSAstandsat$35,000percapitaandforUKitisabout$22,000.Itisfurtherestimated that a person born in 2009 in emerging economies will consumeroughly35timesmoreinrealtermsthanapersonbornin1979.Thisisboundtocreateademandforfreshsetofproductsandserviceswhichsuitthelocalneedsandcontextandmultinationalswillfacestiffcompetitionfromsmallerbutlocalplayers.Thiswillalsoincludehumandevelopmentsectorssuchaseducationandhealthcarewherewearealreadyseeingriseofdistance learning,non-cognitive

abilitiesandgenericmedicines.Empowerment of three billion needs to be innovative to suit localcontextsandcommunities.

ii) Energy: Development is a direct function of energy and as societies areempowered their demand for energy is bound to escalate.Global energydemandisexpected togoupby44percentby2030. India’sownpowerconsumptionisexpectedtotrebletoover600GWandChinaisexpectedtoconsumerover1600GWby2030.Thisisgoingtobemetwithshrinkingnaturalresourcessuchasfossilfuelsincludingcoalandpetroleum.Theemphasishastoshifttowardsnewandrenewable sources such as nuclear, especially thorium, wind, solar,geothermal,hydrogenfuels,biofuelsandtidalpower.Globalsocietiesneedtorealizethattheenergysourcesofyesterdayaresimplynotgoingtoworkinthefuture.Empowerment of three billion needs to create new avenues to meetglobalenergydemand.

iii)Environment:Itiswellestablishedthatthewaysofthecurrentlydevelopedsocieties are unsustainable for the planet Earth. In fact, our estimatesindicatethatifallthethreebillionunderprivilegedaremadetoliveatthesamelevelasthecurrentlydevelopedsocieties,wewouldneedroughlysixnew planet Earths to meet the resources needed and absorb the wastegenerated.Even today,wearegeneratingover30billion tonesofcarbondioxide inthe atmosphere, and it is expected that if current trends continue Earthwouldbeirreversiblyharmedbeyondtheyear2030.Empowermentofthreebillionneedstobeconsciousoftheimpactontheenvironment.

iv) Social Conflicts: Driven by increasing economic gaps, fundamentalism,resourcequestsorhistoricdifferences,therehasbeenasteadyincreaseinglobalconflictssince theSecondWorldWar.While thenumberof inter-stateconflictshasbeenrelativelyconstantsince1946,thenumberofcivilconflicts has risen by about three times, consuming large amounts ofresources and bringing great loss of lives, especially in the developingworld.The300richestpeopleintheworldcommandmorewealththanthebottom3billionpeople.Equityinopportunity,basichumandevelopmentforallandconflictresolutionmechanismatlocallevelsistheneedofthehour.Empowermentforthreebillionneedstobeequitable, justandcreateopportunitiesforeveryone.

Letme recallMaharishiPatanjali,who said2,500years ago: ‘Whenyouare inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all yourthoughts break their bounds. Your mind transcends limitations, yourconsciousnessexpandsineverydirection,andyoufindyourselfinanew,great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents comealive,andyoudiscoveryourselftobeagreaterpersonbyfarthanyoueverdreamtyourselftobe.’

(fromAddressatVijayaCollege,Bangalore,30March2015)

BetheChange

Discoveryourselftobeagreaterpersonbyfarthanyoueverdreamtyourselftobe.

D ear friends, I strongly feel that no youth today needs to fear about thefuture. Why? The ignited mind of the youth is the most powerful

resourceontheEarth.Letmegiveyousomeexamplesofthosewhomadeachangeintheirlives

andbecametrueignitedminds.AuniqueexperiencehappenedwhenIwent toMadurai to inaugurate the

PaediatricOncologyCancer unit atMeenakshiMissionHospital on 7 January2011. After I completed the task, suddenly one person from the audienceapproachedmeandhisfacelookedfamiliar.Whenhecamecloser,Ifoundoutthathewasoncemydriverwhen Iwas theDirectorofDefenceResearchandDevelopmentLab(DRDL)atHyderabadin1982–92.HisnameisV.Kathiresan,andhehadworkedwithmedayandnightforthosetenyears.Duringthattime,Inoticed,hewasalwaysreadingsomebooks,newspapersandjournalsduringhiswaiting time in the car. That dedication had attracted me and I asked him aquestion. ‘Why do you read during your leisure time?’ He replied that hischildren used to ask him lot of questions. Since he didn’t always know theanswer,hewouldstudywhenevertimepermittedinordertogivethemthebestanswers. The spirit of learning in him impressed me and I told him to studyformallythroughdistanceeducationandgavehimsomefreetimetoattendthecourseandcompletehis10+2and then toapply forhighereducation.He tookthat as a challenge and kept on studying and upgraded his educationalqualifications.HedidB.A.(History),thenhedidM.A.(History)andthenhedidM.A.(PoliticalScience)andcompletedhisB.EdandthenM.Edandheworkedwithmeupto1992.ThereafterheregisteredforhisdoctoralstudiesandgothisPhDin2001.He joined theEducationDepartmentofTamilNadugovernmentand served there for a number of years. In 2010, he became an assistant

professorintheGovernmentArtsCollegeatMellurnearMadurai.WhenIwasinvitedtoaddressthestudentsofUPMSSchool,Kovilpatti,I

again met Professor Kathiresan who was sitting on the dais. I introducedProfessorKathiresan to thegatheringandbroughtouthowhe,anativeof thatsame town,has transformedhimself, earnedadoctorateandwas teaching inacollegeafter twodecadesofhardwork.This incidentcheeredtheentireyoungaudience.

Friends, I visualize a scene.A school having about 50 teachers and 750students.Itisaplaceofbeautyandforfosteringcreativityandlearning.Howisitpossible?It isbecause theschoolmanagementandthePrincipalselected theteachers who love teaching, who treat the students as their children orgrandchildren.Thechildrenseetheteachersasrolemodelsnotonlyinteachingbuthowtheyconducttheirlives..Aboveall,Iseeanenvironmentinwhichthereisnothinglikeagoodstudent,averagestudentorpoorstudent.Thewholeschoolandteachersystemisinvolvedingeneratingstudentswhoperformtotheirbest.And above all, what should be the traits the teacher should possess based onteachers’ life both inside the class room and outside the school?When goodteacherswalkamongthem,thestudentsshouldfeel theheatofknowledgeandthepurityoftheirlivesradiatefromthem.Thisraceofteachersshouldmultiply.

Asachildmovestowardsteenageandthenadulthood,hiscarefreeattitudeisslowlytakenoverbymanypressures.WhatwillIdoaftermyeducation?WillIgetaproperemployment?

Teachersandparentsshouldpreservethehappysmilesonthefacesoftheirchildren evenwhen they complete their school education. The student shouldfeelconfident that ‘Icando it’.Heorsheshouldhave theself-esteemand thecapabilitytobecomeanemploymentgenerator.Thistransformationcanonlybebroughtaboutbyateacherwhohasthevisiontotransform.

Ihavealways likedtosit inaclass.WhenIvisitschoolsandcolleges inIndia and abroad, I like to see how teachers teach and students interact in theclassroom. Recently, I was in Andhra Pradesh, in a one-teacher schoolclassroom. The school had classes only up to the fifth grade. I was with thestudents and the teacher was teaching. How happy were the children? Theteacherwastellingtheyoungstudents,‘Dearchildren,youseethefullmoon,thebeautifulsceneintheskybringssmilesandcheers.Remember,asyousmilethefamily also smiles. Howmany of you keep your parents happy?’ The wholeclassliftedtheirhands.Theysaid,theywoulddoit.Ialsoliftedmyhandalongwiththestudents.

Anotherexperiencewasduringmyvisit toUAE.I inauguratedanIndianschoolinDubai.Whenthepreparationwasgoingonfortheinauguralfunction,I

was moving from place to place in the school. I visited classrooms wherestudentsfromclassfiveandsixwerebeingtaught.Assoonas theteachersawme, she askedme to take the class. So I started interactingwith the students.Insteadof loadingthemwiththelessons.Iaskedthemhowmanyplanetsdoesour sun have?Many handswent up.One girl said, there are nine planets andsome students said, there are eight planets. I said the right answer is eightplanets,since theninthplanetPlutohasbeenremovedfromthe listofplanets,because it does not meet the criteria of a planet, in size, weight and orbitalmotion. I asked, ‘Tellme,which is our planet?’Therewas a chorus in reply,‘Earth’.ThenIasked,‘Whowill talkabouttheEarth?’Onesixthclassstudentgotupandsaid,‘OurEarthrotatesonitsownaxis.’Manystudentssaid,‘Ittakes24hoursforoneorbitthat’showwegetdayandnight.’Iwasverypleasedwiththeknowledgeof theyoungon the solar system.Then I asked theclass,whatdoes theEarthdo, therewaspindropsilence.Againa fifthclass student said,‘Earthorbitsaroundthesun.’Howmuchtimeittakestocompletetheoneorbit?Many hands went up, they said 365 days. Our sun belongs to which galaxy?Onlyoneboy responded, ‘MilkyWay’.Howmuch timeoursun takes foroneorbit of ourgalaxy?No response.Of course, it is difficult. I gave the answer:200millionyears.Thechildrenhadagreat surprise. Iwas impressedwith theclassandgreetedthemandleft.

I am giving you these examples to illustrate, how students can beencouragedtobuildtheirself-confidence.Iamsureteachersmayadoptseveralmethodstomaketheclassdynamicandcreativeforpromotingsustainedinterestamongthestudents.

(fromAddressatVillaNazrethEnglishMediumSchoolandotherschools,Aryanad,Thiruvananthapuram,22February2015andAddress

andinteractionwiththestudentsofCRPFPublicSchool,Hakimpet,Telangana,20March2015)

StrivingforExcellence

Excellencehappensnotbyaccident.Itisaprocess.

C reativitycomesfrombeautifulminds.Creativemindshavetheabilitytoimagineorinventsomethingnewbycombining,changingorreapplying

existingideas.Acreativepersonacceptschangeandawillingnesstoplaywithideas andpossibilities, a flexibilityofoutlook, thehabit of enjoying thegood,whilelookingforwaystoimproveit.Theimportantaspectofcreativityisseeingthe same thing as everybody else, but thinking of something different.Innovationandcreativityultimatelyleadtoacultureofexcellence.

Excellenceinthinkingandactionisthefoundationforanymission.Whatis excellence? Friends, you all belong to the youth community, which shouldstandforacultureofexcellence.Moreover,excellenceisnotbyaccident.Itisaprocess, where an individual or organization or nation continuously strives tobetteroneself.

Sometime back, Iwas going through an articlewhichwas about the topscienceadvancementsintheyear2014.Icameacrossmanycases,andmostofthemwere directly benefitinghumanhealth, education, safety and energy.Letmesharethreesuchmajorbreakthroughs.

Weareveryclose to findingacure fordiabetesusinghumanembryonicstemcellstechnologies.

As you may know, beta cells in pancreas produce insulin and thedestructionof these cells causesType Idiabetes.But so far the efforts to turnembryonicstemcells intobetacellsprovedtobe‘frustratinglyslow’.In2014,two studies showed that enough beta cells can be produced in less than twomonths to replace thebetacells in thebody.Ofcourse,beforebeingused, thewhybetacellsdie in thebodyhas tobe identified.Butscientistsareconfidentthatwewillsoonfinallyfindapermanentcurefordiabetes.

Let me discuss a second event which is a convergence between space

sciencesandtractionandrocketrytechnologies.In2014,forthefirst timeeverin thehistoryofmankind,aman-madeobject landedonacomet.TheRosettaspacecraft finally reached the 67p Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet, itsdestination,aftertravelling6.4billionkmandachaseoftenyears,sinceitwaslaunched by the European Space Agency (ESA). Rosetta deployed its probe,Philae.Thecomethasquitealowbulkdensity,somethingintheregionof300kgpercubicmetre,whichmeansthatifyouputtheobjectinanocean,itwouldfloat.

Thoughthelandingwassoft,Philaecametorestonitssideandabitofftheactuallandingspot,intheshadowofacliffandwenttorestasitsbatteriescouldnotbecharged.Butitdidmanagetosendsomevitaldata.

Nearly80percentofscientificdataisexpectedtocomefromRosettathatreachedthecometandhasbeenorbitingitsincethen.Itisorbitingatanaltitudeof10kmfromthecomet’ssurface,andhasalreadytransmittedmassiveamountsofdata.ThiscouldperhapsbeourfutureofexploringdeepspaceandcombatingthedangersofmeteorstrikesonEarth.

The third event is related to computer science and neurology. In 2014,computer engineers at IBM and other companies took a leaf out of how thehuman brain works and designed neuromorphic chips that can processinformationinamannersimilartothehumanbrain.Thismeansthattheyworkunlike today’s computers that carry out logical operations but struggle to‘integrate vast amounts of data’. Our brains don’t face that difficulty. Weseamlesslyintegratevastamountofdatacollectedfromdiversesourcestobuildthe final product. This becomes possible as individual neurons communicatewiththeirneighbourstoenableparalleldataprocessing.

Thenewchipwithabrain-inspiredcomputerarchitecturepoweredbyanunprecedented 1 million neurons and 256 million synapses—TrueNorth—mimics the brain but at very small scale with 5.4 billion transistors and 256million ‘synapses’. The brain has 100 billion neuron cells and 100 trillionsynapses. It only consumes 70mW during real-time operation—orders ofmagnitudelessenergythantraditionalchips.

Sciencethriveswhenitconvergestosolvepressingchallengesoftheworldandthisisthe21stcenturyrequirementfromengineers.

(fromAddressatCollegeofEngineering,Trivandrum,23February2015)

BooksasOurGuides

Comingintocontactwithagoodbookandpossessingit,isindeedaneverlastingenrichment.

I had a mission of meeting the young and sharing their thoughts and theirdreams.Ihavesofarmetabout19.5millionyouthinthelasttwodecades.

WhatdidIlearnfromthesemeetingsandwhatismymessagetotheyouth?Iwould like to share an experiencewhich I had in the year 2010. Iwas

taking a class of 72 students both graduate and post graduate at the GattonCollege ofBusiness andEconomics,Lexington,USA.Weused to have thirtyminutesearmarkedfordiscussionsineveryclass.

Oneday,acourseparticipant,Stephanie,whowasaschoolteacherbeforejoining the course, asked me an unusual question. She asked, ‘Dr Kalam,yesterdaynightIwasreadingoneofyourbooks.Youhavedonemanytasks,sotelluswhatonetaskgaveyouthemostbliss?’

Letmesharemyanswerwithallofyou.Whenwe launched the first indigenous satellite launchvehicleSLV-3 in

1980,itgavemelotofhappiness.WhenAGNIreachedthetargetat2,000kmin1989,itgavemedifferentkindofhappiness.Whenourteamsuccessfullytestedanuclearweaponatthe52degreecentigradeheatinPokhrandesertinwesternIndia in1998, it gavemegreat joy.Whenour teamprepared theVision2020documentfortransformingthenationintoaneconomicallydevelopednation,itgaveme a good sense of happiness. Then Stephanie remindedme, ‘Butwhatgaveyoubliss?’

I toldher, thatIwasgettingto therealanswer.TheexperiencethatgavemethegreatestblisswaswhenIplayedapartincreatinglightweightcalliperstobewornbychildrenafflictedbypolio.Theremovalofthepainandthefreedomattained by the children gave me a state of bliss, which I never experiencedduringanyotherachievementinmylife.

I have also attained bliss while reading some good books and

understandingthedepthsofmeaningintheirpages.Comingintocontactwithagoodbookandpossessingit,isindeedaneverlastingenrichment.Booksbecomepermanent companions. Sometimes, they are born before us; they guide usduringourlifejourneyandcontinueformanygenerations.IhadboughtabooktitledLightfromManyLampsintheyear1953fromanoldbookstoreinMooreMarket,Chennai.Thisbook remainedmyclose friendandalsocompanion formorethanfivedecades.Thebookwassousedithadtobeboundmanytimes.Whenever there is a problem, the book wipes away the tears based on theexperienceofgreatminds.Whenhappinessoverwhelms, thebookagainsoftlytouches the mind and brings about a balanced thinking. I have realized theimportance of the book again, when a friend ofmine who is in the judiciarypresentedmewith theneweditionof thesamebook in theyear2004.He toldmethebestthinghecangivemewasthisbook.Maybefiftyyearsfromnowthesamebookmaytakeanewavatar.Basicallybooksareeternal.

On11August2009,Iwasparticipatinginthevaledictoryfunctionofthebook fair festival at Erode (Tamil Nadu). While addressing the audience, Isuggestedthateveryoneof theparticipantsof thebookfair toallocateat leastone hour in a day for reading quality books. This will enrich them withknowledgetoempowerthechildrenandseethemgrowasgreatchildren.Ialsosuggested all the parents should start a small library in their own home withapproximately20books tobeginwith.This library shouldhave ten children’sbooks,sothat thechildreninthehousecanalsocultivateareadinghabitatanearly age looking at the parents reading quality books. Many people whoattended this function appreciated this thought and they immediately started alibraryattheirhomes.Iadministeredthefollowingoathtotheparticipants:

Todayonwards,Iwillstartahomelibrarywith20booksoutofwhichtenbookswillbechildren’sbooks.

Mychildrenwillenlargethishomelibrarytomakeit200books.Mygrandchildrenwillleadagreathomelibraryof2,000books.Iconsiderourlibraryisalifelongtreasureandthepreciouspropertyofour

family.Wewillspendatleastonehouratthehomelibrarytostudyalongwithour

familymembers.After taking theoathonhomelibrary,asurprisingeventhappenedat the

end of themeeting. Thousands and thousands people rushed to the bookstallsandwithinanhourmostofthebooksatthebookfairhadbeensoldout.

Please remember, a home library is the greatestwealth.Reading for onehour each day in the home library will transform into children into greatteachers,greatleaders,greatintellectuals,greatengineers,greatscientists.Each

one of you can consider creating a home librarywhichwill enable the entirefamily to discuss common topics during dinner time every day. Apart fromenriching the knowledge of every familymember this reading habit creates ahealthy discussion among the family members, which is essential for thesustainedharmonyoftheentirefamily.

(fromAddressattheJaipurLiteratureFestival,24January2015)

ABookinEveryHand

Wemusttranscendbarriersoflanguage,distance,costandevenreadingabilitytomakebooksreacheveryperson.

D ear friends, India has embarked on themission of skilling 500millionpeople by the year 2022. These 500million people,mostly youthwill

needtobeempoweredwithknowledgefrombooksandjournals.Hencetheroleoflibrariesisveryimportantinthisdomain.Howcanweenhancethereachoflibraries?

One possible way is to integrate the existing libraries with mobileplatforms and enable mobile libraries. India has over 700 million mobilesubscribers.Wecancreatemobile-basedbooks,whichcanbesharedbymobilelibraries across the nation. Moreover, with more number of translations andprocessing power available in mobile phones, we can develop real timetranslationfacilitiesbywhichanybookcanbetranslatedinanylanguagebythemobileapplicationitself.Wecanalsoenableaudiointhesebooks,sothatpeoplewithvisualimpairmentorlimitedreadingabilitycanaccessthewealthofbooksandlibraries.Inthisway,wecantrulytranscendbarriersoflanguage,distance,costandevenreadingabilityandmakebooksreacheveryperson.

AbookwhichIhavecherishedisMan,TheUnknownbyDrAlexisCarrel,adoctor-turned-philosopherandaNobelLaureate.Thisbookhighlightshowthemindandbodyhavetobetreatedtogetherasthetwoareintegrated.Youcannottreat one and ignore the other. In particular, childrenwhodreamof becomingdoctors should read this book. They will learn that the human body is not amechanical system; it is a very intelligent organismwith amost intricate andsensitivefeedbacksystem.Thehumansystemisanintegratedlifepackagemadeofpsychologicalandphysiologicalsystems.

IvenerateThiruvalluvar’sThirukkural,whichprovides anexcellent codeof conduct for life and the author’s thoughts that go beyond a nation, beyondlanguages,beyondreligion,andbeyondcultureindeedelevatesthehumanmind.

IwouldliketorecallonecoupletfromThirukkuralwhichhasinfluencedmylifefor the last sixdecades. It says thatwhatevermaybe thedepthof the riverorlakeorpond,whatevermaybetheconditionofthewater,thelilyfloweralwaysblossoms.Similarly,ifthereisadefinitedeterminationtoachieveagoalevenifitisimpossibletoachieve,thepersonsucceeds.

Letmenowtellyouhowanautobiographyofavillageboyenrichedmythinkingonlasertechnology.

In 1968, an Indian scientist, a PhD in physics from IIT, Kharagpur andhailingfromruralWestBengalwasinvitedtojointheteamattheResearchandTechnologyCenterofNorthropCorporation,amajoraerospacecontractorwhooffered extraordinary facilities for a physicist. Hewasworking in the area ofcarbonmonoxide (CO) laser.Basedonhis research, in1968,hiscolleaguesatNorthropdemonstratedthemostpowerfulcontinuouslasertodate.Inafurtherstep forward, the Indian scientist was able tomake the laser operate at roomtemperatures,somethingpreviouslythoughtimpossible.

TheIndianscientistpresentedhisresultsataseminarattheUniversityofCalifornia,LosAngeles.EdwardTeller,themanwhoserevelatoryinsightshadearned him the title ‘Father of the H-Bomb’ was there. Dr Teller was sointrigued by the presentation by the Indian scientist thatwhen he felt nature’scallandhadtoleavetheroom,herequestedthescientisttosuspendthetalktillhe returned. Later, a Soviet scientist wrote in a prestigious Russian journal,‘AfterBhaumik’sthoroughworkontheCOlaser,thereisn’tmuchlefttodo(onthatlaser).’Thisbroughtinternationalrecognitiontothisscientist.DoyouknowwhoisthescientistaboutwhomIamtalking?ItisDrManiLalBhaumikwhohas authored a book titledCode Name God where he shows the connectionsbetweenscienceandspirituality.IreadthebookinonesittingandreallyenjoyedeverychapterwhichbringsoutthepainandpleasureofthelifeofDrBhaumik.Iam sure, all of you will be keen to read more about this laser scientist. HisinventioninlaserhasledtothedevelopmentofLASIK,animportantapplicationofeyesurgery.

NowIwouldliketosharewithyouareal lifestorywhichhappenedtwodecades ago in Honolulu. This incident I read in the book titled EverydayGreatnesswrittenbyStevenR.Covey.

LindyKunishimaandGerihadtwodaughtersTrudi,thirteen,andJennifer,nine, and a small son Steven. At the age of eighteen months, Geri detectedsomethingabnormalabouthisson.ACTscanbyaneurologistrevealedthatthevermis, an area of the brain that transmits messages to and from the body’smuscles, had not developed. The neurologist declared that, Steven will neverwalk or talk, or do anything that requires muscle control and he would be

profoundly challengedmentally and physically. Geri couldn’t eat or sleep fordays.ButTrudichallengedthedoctor’sprognosisandannouncedthat,‘shedidnotbelievewhatthedoctorsaidaboutStevenandtookanotethatshewillworktillStevenbecamenormal.’Theystartedreadingapassagetohimeverydayonthedinnertablewhichbecameahabit.JenniferandTrudialsoaskedquestionsandpointedoutanimalsorpeopleillustratedinthehooks.FormanyweekstherewasnoresponsefromSteven.

Afterthreemonths,oneeveningStevensuddenlywriggledawayfromthecushions.Thefamilywatchedhiminchingtowardsthechildren’sbooks.Stevenflippedthroughthebooktillhesawthepagefilledwithpicturesofanimals.Thefollowing night, as Jennifer prepared to read, her brother crawled to the samebookandopenedthesamepageagain.ThisshowedthatStevenhadamemorywhichwascontinuouslyimproving.

BothTrudiandJenniferplayed thepiano in thepresenceofSteven.Onedayafterpracticing,JenniferliftedStevenfromhisplaceunderthepiano.Thistime,hewasutteringanewsound.Hewashummingthemusic.Simultaneously,the family alsoworked tobuilduphismuscles throughmassages.Geri,Trudiand Jennifer dabbed peanut butter on the boy’s lips, and by licking it off, heexercisedhistongueandjaw.WhenStevenwasfourandahalfyearsold,hestillcouldn’tspeakwords,buthecouldmakesomesoundsandhehadaremarkablememory.Afterstudyinga300-piecejigsawpuzzle,hecouldassemblethepiecesinonesitting.

After many rejections, Steven was admitted in a pre-school by LouiseBogart of Robert Allen Montessori School who found that Steven wasdeterminedtomakehimselfunderstood.

Oneday,Bogartstoodofftothesideandwaswatchingtheteacherworkwithanotherchildonnumbers. ‘Whatnumbercomesnext?’ the teacherasked.The child drew a blank. ‘Twenty!’ Steven blurted. Bogart’s head swivelled.Steven had not only spoken clearly, but also given the correct answer.Bogartapproached the teacher. ‘Did Steven everwork on this?’ she asked. ‘No,’ theteacheranswered.‘Weworkedwithhimalotonnumbersfromonethroughten.Butwedidn’tknowhehadlearnedanybeyondten.’Bogarttoldhismotherthat,‘This is just the beginning ofwhat theSteven is capable of.’Hismotor skillsremainedpoor,soJennifer,Geri,andTrudiworkedhardatmakinghiswrittenscrawl legible. ‘I can do it,’ Steven assured Jennifer one day. ‘Just give metime.’

After that, Steven continuously improved and was admitted to amainstream Catholic school in 1990. Such is the power of collectivedeterminationtocureachild.

(fromInauguraladdressatNationalConventiononKnowledge,LibraryandInformationNetworking,Puducherry,9December2014)

TransformingtheFuture

Asyougrowup,youwillhavethechallengesandopportunitiesforsolvingmanyproblemsfacedbyhumanity.

I see inmyyoung friends somewhowill be astronauts andbeamongst thefirsttosetfootontheplanetMarsandevenbeyond—likeTitanthemoonof

Saturn.Youmaybethefirsthumantofindotherplanetsforustoliveandcreatethe first outer planet liveable zones. I see in you, friends, unique scientists ingeneticswhowill curediseaseswhichhaveaffectedus for centuries.Someofyoumayevengivetotheworldthesolutiononhowtoimmunizehumansfromallformsofdiseases.Mydiscussionherehencewillbeforfuturetransformersofhumancivilization.

Asyouhearaboutscientificchallengesforthefuture,asyoudiscusswithscientistsyourdreams,pleasekeeponemessageclear,ourutmostpriorityishowtousescienceandtechnologyforthebettermentofhumanlivesandtheEarth.

I recallwhenIwas inBeijing, thecapitalofChina in2014, thecitywasgetting ready to receive world leaders for the APEC (Asia Pacific EconomicCooperation)Summit2014whichwasbeingorganizedthere.Whatthestudentsshared with me was interesting information—the government had taken adecision toallowonlyhalf thecarson the roadbecause thepollution levels inthecityweretoohigh.

Of course, the Chinese government can simply order and do it, whichwould be difficult for a democracy like ours to follow. But, the point I ammaking here is that most of the pollution happens due to motor vehicles ofvarioustypesthatusefossilfuel.OnlysolutionforIndiaistogoforcleanerfueloptionslikeelectriccarsorfullyelectricpublictransportvehicles.

Every year, the factorieswhich give out smoke and ash, the carswhichburn fuel and other human activities generatesmore than 30 billion tonnes ofcarbondioxide.Thisisinjectedintotheatmosphereandcausesglobalwarming,risingsealevelsandpolaricecapmeltingasyouallknow.Theyouthwillhave

tofindsolutionsforthis.Myvisualizationofhumancivilizationbytheyear2050foraprosperous

andpeacefulglobeislikethis:

1. Every citizen will have access to adequate quantity and quality water forconsumption,sanitationandirrigation.

2.Agriculturewillenableconstantrenewalandenrichmentofthesoil.3.Therewillbeanadequateaccesstoenergytoall intheworldanditwillbe

basedongreensources.4. Information and communication technologywill penetrate and enable every

fieldofhumanendeavour.5.Educationwillbethetoolbywhichscienceandtechnologywillbedelivered

toall,leadingtothebirthoftheglobalknowledgesocietybackedbyvaluesystemandaspiritofcompassion.

6. Healthcare will witness an emphasis on preventive healthcare and tailoredmedical treatments for each individual leading to a disease free societywithincreasedlongevity.

7.Minimumguaranteedqualityoflifewillbeensuredtoeveryglobalcitizen.8.GlobalGreenHouseGasEquilibriumwillbeachievedandtheriskofclimate

changewillbeeliminated.9.HumanhabitationwillbeextendedtobeyondEarth.Multidisciplinaryglobal

leaders will emerge with a vision for sustainable development It isestimated that the population of India by 2050 will be one-fifth of theglobalpopulation.Hence,ourroleintheachievementofthesevisionsforthehumancivilizationwillbeimportantandotherswillhavetofollow.Friends,asyougrowup,youwillhavethechallengesandopportunitiesfor

solving many problems faced by humanity as well as discovering newphenomena in outer space or under the sea.Youwill also have challenges inbringing back a clean environment by replacing fossil fuels with renewableenergyfromsun,windetc.Thefollowingaresometypicalgreatchallenges,asweforeseetoday:1.Increasingtheagricultureproductionfromtheexisting200million tonne to 340million tonnewith reduced land availability from170 to100hectares,reducedwateravailabilityandreducednumberofpeopleworkinginfarming.2. Evolution of clean atmosphere by replacing fossil fuels by cost effective

renewableenergysystems.3. Exploring the human body, particularly gene characterization through the

proteomicsprojectfordevelopinggene-baseddrugs.4.Accurateweatherpredictionandearthquakeprediction

5. Evolution of multimedia application for meeting the communication needsusinghighbandwidthmobilewireless.

6. Evolution of unified field theory which may be the ultimate of physicsrevealinghowtheuniverseisbornandhowweareborn.

7.EvolutionofhabitatsoutsideEarthand tobringback toEarthnewmateriallikehelium3,andalsocreatealternativehabitatsandmeansofgenerationofsolarpower.

(fromAddressattheinaugurationof102ndNationalChildren’sScienceCongress,Mumbai,4January2015)

IntellectandEmpathy

Youthhasgotthepowerofideas,ambitionandability.

A syouallknowtheMarsOrbiterMissionwassuccessfully inserted intotheMartianorbiton24September2014.MyfriendsatISROtoldmethat

allthefivescientificpayloadswereswitchedonandthehealthofthespacecraftis normal including high voltages on two of the payloads. The Mars colourcamera has been sending pictures ofMarswhich are of very good resolution.Mostof theearlierhighresolution imagesofMarswereput together togiveapictureofthecompletedisc.ISRO’scamerahasalargefieldofviewofabout5degreeby5degreeanditcangetthecompletediscpicturewithhighresolution.YoucanseethesepicturesonISRO’sFacebookandTwitterpages.

IaskedmyISROfriends,didtheyhaveanyissueswiththeMarsOrbiterMission?Theytoldoneparticularincident.DuringthepassageofCometC/2013A1thespacecrafthadtobeshielded.Todothis,thespacecraftandsubsystemswereprotectedbytuningtheorbitsuchthatthespacecraftwasbehindtheplanetMars during the passage of the comet. All subsystems continued to functionnormally. The lesson here is that scientific minds need to be innovative andpreparedtohandleanyunknowndifficultyintheirmissions.

Thenationneedsignitedmindsoftheyouth.WhenIwasayoungboyofyourage,Ihadfewconcernsinmylife.WillI

ever go out of my village for high school studies?When I reached the highschool in small town and saw my colleagues well dressed, speaking goodEnglish,Iusedtoaskmyself,whenwillIentertheircompany?WhenIreachedninthstandardIhadaconcern,willIgetgoodmarkstogoforhighereducationparticularly engineering science or medicine? When I reached tenth class alltheseconcernsvanishedbecauseofthecompanyofagreatteacher.Hegavemethevisionformylife.Myteacher’snamewasSivasubramaniaIyer.Definitelyyourschoolswillhavegreatteacherswhowillhelpyourealizeyourvisionfor

thefuture.Alongwiththosewhounderstandandinspireyou,alwaysmakesuretohavethecompanyofgoodbooksandgreatminds.

For a happy and peaceful society, each citizen of the nation has to befacilitatedtodeveloptwouniquetraits.Oneisintellectandtheotherisempathy.Thiscanbeacquiredthroughgoodparents,goodteachers,goodbooksandbeinginthecompanyofgreatpeople.Ifthisisnotdoneattherightage,humanbeingscanbecomeaShaitan (devil)particularly if the intellectactswithoutempathy.We as a nation, have to take this message and develop our youth with thesetraits. Thinking of a good human being, I am reminded of the story of ImamGhazali.ThatwasnarratedtomebymyfatherwhenIwasfifteenyearsold.

ImamGhazali was a saint teacherwho lived in the twelfth century.Myfather narrated to me story where Imam Ghazali was tested by Shaitan, thetransgressedAngel.One day, ImamGhazaliwas unfolding his prayermat forMagrib Namaz. At that time, the Shaitan appeared in front of him and said,‘RespectedImamSahib,Iamjustnowcomingfromheavenwheretherewasadiscussion about great human beings and you have been judged as the besthumanbeing livingonEarth.Asa recognitionofyourgreat stature,youhavebeenexemptedfromthetroubleofperformingnamazinfuture.’

Imam Ghazali was restless as the namaz time was approaching. So helookedatShaitanandsaid,‘ShaitanSahib,firstofallperformingnamazisnotatroubleatallandwhenevenProphetMohammed(peacebeuponhim),wasnotexemptedfromperformingnamazfive timesaday,howcanapoor imamlikemebeexempted?’Hewenton toperform thenamaz.Whenhecompleted thenamaz, Imam Ghazali saw Shaitan was still standing in front of him. ImamSahib asked him what he was waiting for. Shaitan said, ‘O Imam, you haveexcelled even themost favoured Prophet Adam, who could not win over mydeception and Imade him eat the forbidden fruit.’Realizing that Shaitanwasflatteringhim,ImamSahibprayedtoAllah,‘OhAlmighty,helpmeandsavemefrom the deception of flattery.’ This made the disappointed Shaitan finallydisappear.Hismissionfailed.Butoneofthegreathumanbeingssucceeded.

Friends,whatisthemessagefromthisstory?Wenotonlyhavetodevelopintellect and empathy, but must also guard against temptations whilecontributing towards societal missions. Our own Father of the Nation has setmanyexamples inaccountingevenapaisaofpublicmoneyandworkingwithcommitmenttobringaboutpeaceandprosperityofthenation.

Isuggestthatteachersensurethattheyouthhavethreeuniquequalitiesoflife:

1.Realizingtheimportanceofthepresent,thatis,today.

2.Buildingconfidencesostudentsbelieve‘Icandoit’.3.Buildingrighteousnessintheheart.

India todayhasamissionof transforming itself intoadevelopednationwithastrongvaluesystem.Thisisagreatchallenge.Thiscanbeachievedthroughouryouth power. Youth has got the power of ideas, ambition and ability. ThisresourceoftheyouthisanimportantbuildingblockfortransformingIndiaintoadevelopednation.

Ifyouhaveanaiminlife,continuouslyacquiretheknowledge,workhardwithconfidencetowinandhavetheconfidencetodefeatproblemsandsucceedwitharighteousheart,youwilldefinitelysucceedinallyourmissions.Itdoesnotmatterwhoyouare.

Mybestwishestoallofyouforsuccessinyourlife’smissions.(fromAddresstothestudentsofAngul,Odisha,29November2014)

FromChildtoLeader

Aleadersays,‘WhatcanIdoforyou?’

I wouldliketotalktodayabouttheroleofateacher.I have interacted with more than 20 million school children and

millionsofteachersacrosstheglobe.WhereverIgo,beitIndia,China,UKoranypartofworld,thevoiceoftheyouthisuniqueandstronginarticulatingtheirvisionanddreamandtheyarewillingtoworkforit.Everyonedreamsoflivingin a prosperous nation, a happy nation, a peaceful nation and a safe nation.Prosperity,happinessandpeacealwayshavetocometogether.Whenallthreeofthemconverge,thenanationwilltrulybeaDevelopedNation.

Childrenworkintheschoolforabout25,000hoursduringthetwelveyearsof primary and secondary education. Teachers of excellence, with theirexperience, can become role models to the students. I will be discussing thecapacitiestobecreatedinthechildrenbytheschool.

Every one of us has gone through the various phases of education fromchildhood toprofession.Pleasevisualizeascene—achild,a teenager,anadultandaleader.Howdoeseachonereacttoaparticularsituation?Thesituationishumanneed.Thechildasks, ‘Whatcanyoudo forme?’The teenagersays, ‘Iwant todo it alone.’Theyoungpersonproclaims, ‘Letusdo it together.’Theleaderoffers,‘WhatcanIdoforyou?’

So,theteachershavegotatremendousresponsibilitytotransformachildintoaleader,thetransformationof‘whatcanyoudoforme’to‘whatcanIdoforyou’.Thatwilldemandateachertobeavisionarywithanabilitytoinspire.Also,theteachershastoimpartlearningtothechildreninsuchawayastobringoutthebestinthem.Thebestinstudentsemergesbytheintegratedinfluenceofteachers.

As young students, I had the opportunity at St. Joseph’s College insouthern India to witness a scene. A unique, divine looking personality was

walking through the college campus every morning teaching mathematics toB.Sc. (Honours) andM.A. (Mathematics) students. Young students looked athimwithaweand respect.Hewasapersonality symbolizingourownculture.When he walked, knowledge radiated all around. The great personality wasProfessorThothatriIyengar,thegreatteacher.Atthattime,CalculusSrinivasanwasmymathematics teacher.CalculusSrinivasanused to talkaboutProfessorThothatri Iyengar with deep respect. During those days, he and ProfessorIyengarhadanunderstandingtohaveanintegratedclassbyProfessorIyengarforfirst yearB.Sc. (Hons) and first yearB.Sc. (Physics). I had theopportunity toattendhisclasses,particularlyon thesubjectsofmodernalgebra,statisticsandalsoonceIheardhimteachingcomplexvariables.Whenwewere in theB.Sc.first year, Calculus Srinivasan used to select top ten students for theMathematics Club of St. Joseph’s, where Prof. Iyengar used to give lectureseries.Oneday,in1952,Istillremember,hegaveaone-hourlectureonancientmathematicians and astronomers of India and introduced three greatmathematiciansandastronomers.Hespokefornearlyonehour.Thelecturestillringsinmyears.

I was introduced to the pride of the nation: pioneers in astronomy andmathematicsAryabhata,Bhaskara andRamanujamwho gave to theworld thezero,computedtheorbitperiodoftheEartharoundthesunanddiscoveredmanystunningconceptsinnumbertheory.Theseincidentsandknowledgebecamethefoundationformyeducation,learningwithhopeandvaluesystem.Myteachersofprimary,secondaryandcollegeeducationhadputmeafewdecadesahead.Iamconfidentthattherearemanysuchteachersintheteachingprofessiontoday.Intheeducationenvironment teachersneedtoask,whatkindofhumanbeingsdo we want to make of ourselves? What capacities do we want to give ourchildren?Wewanttogiveourchildrenthecapacityforcontributingtoeconomicdevelopmentandnationbuilding.Howtoachievethis?Therearefiveareasforsimultaneous development: financial investment, education and healthcare,information and communication technology, infrastructure development andself-relianceincriticaltechnologies.

For achieving the above mission, the capacities required in schools andstudentsare:

•Thecapacityforresearchorinquiry• The capacity for creativity and innovation, particularly the creative

transferofknowledge•Thecapacitytousehightechnology•Thecapacityforentrepreneurialleadership

•Thecapacityformoralleadership

We have so far seen two dimensions of theworld. The first one is about thestunningevolutionof thehuman race, the technologicalmarvels thathaveandcontinue to improve the quality of the world and the integration of globalexpertise that can enable fast technological progress of the society. The otherdimension is the humongous challenges faced by humanity, particularlyinequality.Therearenaturalphenomenatobeunderstoodlikeearthquakes;thereareseveralsocialfactorstobetackled.Howeverwhenyoulookatallissuesinanintegratedmanner,youwillagreethatsolutionslieinfurtherlinkingsociety,technologyandeducation.Thecurrentchallengesneedtheapplicationofscienceandtechnologyforappropriatesolutions.Andthatrequireseducationthatmakesstudents appreciate the societal issues and technology requirements. Both thechallenges of society and disciplines of technology are borderless. Henceeducationalsohastohavethischaracteristic.

I firmly believe that the approach of research-education-research ismostvital.Theteachersinacademiceducationalinstitutionshavetobeenabledwithtimeandresourcestoenablethis.Professionalinstitutionsmaybeabletogiveathrust in this direction in identifying areas of research, enabling factors,encouraging research publications, visibility of research in work environmentand inculcating the idea of researchmindset frompre-school level. Theymaybring out easily readable booklets on research topics and inspiration throughexample of great research pioneers and their work impacting socialdevelopment.

Thereareanumberofengineeringcollegesinthecountryandwecometoknowthatseveralseatsdon’tget filled.Wealsohear thatwhenstudentscomeout of the college they do not get employment. The employing organizationsfrequently point out that the education they have received is not sufficient foremployability.

Onskilldevelopmentalso,onaday-to-daybasiswehear thatwedonothavesufficientlyskilledpeopleinourvillagesandtowns.Soitisaparadoxicalsituation; while the society needs large number of people with engineeringexpertiseandskill,inrealitytheoutputfromeducationalinstitutionsaresaidtobenotuptothemarkinmanycases.AndIndiahasthelargestyouthpowerintheworld.Ontheotherhand,Indianeedslargenumbersofqualifiedmanpower.There are two directions inwhichwe have towork.One is the type of skillsneeded at various levels and impart them.We need to review the content ofsyllabusandprovidesufficienttimeforthisaspect.Professionalsandinstitutionscanplayagoodroleinthis.Theskillstowhichthestudentsaretrainedhaveto

of global level. We also need to focus on imparting entrepreneurship to theyoung,sotheybecomeemploymentgeneratorsratherthanemploymentseekers.In summary, the education strategy has to address societal challenges andtechnological advances and focus on research, skills, along with strongfundamentalsintechnologyandcommunicationskills.

If all the attributes are inculcated in a student, by the Principal, by theteacher, by the parents, then he or she will have a burning desire to learnthroughoutone’s lifeandwillalsosetanexampleforothers.Aperfect learnerwillnotonlylearnfromtheclassroom,butalsofromtheenvironment.Ifirmlybelievethattheteachers’missionistogenerateperfectlearners.

Whatisthetypeofschoolthatcreatesperfectlearners?Learning through enquiry or research using the latest technologies to

acquiretheinformationisimportant.Creativity should flourish in the schools by students learning to teach

themselvesandbyteachingotherstudents.Thevalueofgivingtoothersshouldbecultivatedbyaskingthequestion

how my learning can benefit others. How can I contribute to my owndevelopmentandatthesametimetothedevelopmentofothersandthenation?

For imbibing moral development, values such as team work, fair play,cooperation, doing things right and doing the right thing, hard work andcommitmenttoacauselargerthanoneselfaretobeemphasized,whilekeepinginmindourculturalfabricandourownvaluesystems.

Friends,IamalsoateacherandIworkwithteachersandstudents.Basedongreatteachers,Iwouldliketosharesomethoughtsonteachers’mission.

The teacher’s task is to transformstudents tobecreativeand toexcel. Intheirclass,thereisnothinglikeaveragestudents.Everystudentshouldreachthepeak.Theteacher’snoblelifebecomesamessagetothestudents.

(fromAddressandInteractionwithprincipalsandteachersofIndianschoolsatIndianSchool,Bahrain,6February2015)

TheEvolutionofCreativeLeaders

Aleadershouldworkwithintegrityandsucceedwithintegrity.

M ybookIgnitedMindswasbornin2001outofmypersonalmissionto‘ignite and nurture creative, ethical scientific minds that advance the

human condition’. My professional responsibilities gave me opportunities tounderstand creative and evolving leadership traits at different levels fortechnology and missions. Biographies and articulation of world leaders, greatphilosophersandchangemakershavealwaysbeeninspiring.WhenIwaspartofanationalteamforevolutionofIndia’sVision2020,theperceptionofleadershipabout technology, society and nation was illuminating. Interaction with youthand their focused questions on development made me further reflect onleadershiptraits.Thepresidencyandthereaftergavemeopportunitiestointeractwith great leaders, nationally and globally. You would agree with me thatperceptivecreative leadershipat functional,organizational,national andgloballevels is an essential component to realize the aspirations of humankind forpeaceandprosperity.

Sohowtoevolvecreativeleadership?Tostartwith,thefollowingaretraitsofcreativeleadership:

•Envisioning•Perceptivemidcoursemanagement•Courageofconvictionandcompassion•Foresighttoanticipatesocialpotentialofanascenttechnologyandfocus• Scientific talent synthesisedwith farmers and administrators producing

greenrevolutionInstitutionalframeworkandorganizationalculture•Lifetimemissioninscience•Ableandhonestprojectadministration

LetmebeginwiththeexperienceofMahatmaGandhi,thefatherofournation.HeledournationtofreedomfromBritishruleusinghisinnovativedoctrineofnon-violence(ahimsa).Ihadauniqueexperience,afewyearsbackthatrevealshowasingleleadercaninspirealargepopulation.Ihappenedtomeet,inDelhi,thegrand-daughterofMahatmaGandhi,MrsSumitraKulkarni.Shenarratedtomeanincidentabouthergrandfather,whichshepersonallywitnessed.

Eachday,asyouallareaware,Gandhijiusedtohaveprayermeetingsatafixedtimeintheevening.Aftertheprayers,usuallytherewouldbeacollectionof voluntary gifts for the welfare of the needy. The followers used to collectwhateverwasgivenbythepeopleofallsectionsandthiscollectionwascountedandaccountedforbythesupportingstaff.

The collected amount would be informed to Gandhiji before his dinner.Thenextday,abankmanwouldcometotakethismoney.Once,thebankmanreportedthattherewasadiscrepancyoffewpaiseinthemoneyofferedtohimand themoney collected.Gandhiji, on hearing this,went on a fast telling thatthisisadonationforthepoorandwehavetoaccountforeverypaisa.

Dearfriends,suchanactofrighteousnessshouldbepracticedbyallofus.Asmanagers and leaders of tomorrow all of youmust dedicate yourselves topracticerighteousnessinallyourthoughtsandactions.

Irecallmytravellingon16September2004inafirstclasscompartmentinatrainof1900’svintageorganizedbyDurbanstateofSouthAfrica.Whenthetrain was moving from one station to another, Mahatma Gandhi’s struggleagainstapartheidsysteminSouthAfricawasgoingthroughmymind.

The train halted at Pietermartizburg, the station where the monster ofapartheidbiteGandhijionacoldwinternight.Hewasevictedoutofafirst-classcompartment because of the colour of his skin. When I alighted at thePietermartizburg railway station, I saw a plaque on the railway station,whichreadslikethis:

IntheVicinityofthisplaqueM.K.GANDHIwasevicted

fromafirstclasscompartmentonthenightof

7June1893.

Thisincidentchangedthecourseofhislife.

Hetookupthefightagainstracialoppression.Hisactivenon-violencestartedfromthatdate.

This was the rebirth of Ahimsa dharma after the Kalinga War in 300 BC.Gandhiji laterdevelopedtheAhimsadharmaandgaveIndiaapowerfultooltowinindependence.HewasinfluencedbyAbrahamLincoln’sGettysburgspeech.Teachings of Gandhi came to inspire non-violent movements notably in theU.S.A.underthecivilrightsleaderMartinLutherKing.

WhenIwasstandingat thePietermartizburgrailwaystationmy thoughtswerehoveringon twoscenes,which Iexperienced inSouthAfrica.Onescenewas in Robben Island where Dr Nelson Mandela had been imprisoned fortwenty-sixyearsinaverysmallcell,andtheotherscenewasatthehouseofDrNelsonMandela.

CapeTownisfamousforitsTableMountain;ithasgotthreepeakscalledTable Peak,Devil Peak and Fake Peak. Between the peaks it was a beautifulsight throughout the day, sometimes dark clouds and sometimeswhite cloudsembracingthepeaks.TableMountainisveryclosetotheAtlanticOcean.Iflewby helicopter to Robben Island from Cape Town in ten minutes. When wereachedtheIsland,exceptthesearoaring,thewholeislandwassilent.Thiswastheplacethefreedomofindividualswaschained.MrAhmedKathrada,aSouthAfrican, who was a co-prisoner with Dr Nelson Mandela, received us at theIsland. What surprised me was seeing the tiny room where sleeping and allhuman needs had to be fulfilled. It has to be remembered that Dr NelsonMandela,whowas6feettallwasimprisonedinthatroomfortwenty-sixyears—fightingagainsttheapartheid.Themajorpartofhislifewasspentinthissilentisland.Heusedtobetakenforquarryinginthenearbymountainforafewhoursinthebrightsun.Thiswasthetimehissightgotdamaged.Inspiteofhisbodybeing tortured he revealed to the world his indomitable spirit. He evolved amanuscriptoffreedomin tiny letterseveryday,whenthe jailwardenswent tosleep. This manuscript finally became the famous book A Long Walk toFreedom.

It was a great event for me to meet Dr Mandela in his house inJohannesburg.Whatamovingreception, themanat theageofeighty-sixgavewithallsmiles.Dearfriends,Iwouldliketosharewithyou,whenIenteredDrNelson Mandela’s house, I saw his cheerfulness—this mighty man who gotfreedomforSouthAfricafromthetyrannyofapartheid.

When Iwas leavinghewalkedmeout till theportico.Whilewalkinghe

discarded his walking stick and I became his support.While walking I askedhim, ‘DrMandela can you please tellme about the pioneers of anti-apartheidmovementinSouthAfrica?’Herespondedspontaneously,‘Ofcourseoneofthegreat pioneers of South Africa’s freedommovement wasM.K. Gandhi. IndiagaveusM.K.Gandhi,wegaveyoubackMahatmaGandhiaftertwodecades.’

Mahatma Gandhi was an apostle of non-violence. That is indeed thetraditionofIndia—toenrichwhichevernationwego,ourforemostresponsibilityis toenrich thatnation.Enriching thenation isnotonly in financial terms,butenrichwithknowledge,enrichwithsweataboveallenrichwithhonourandself-dignity.

DrNelsonMandelawhenhebecame thePresident ofSouthAfrica gavethepeoplewho specialized in apartheid and ill-treated andputhim in the jail,freedom tomove, freedom to live inSouthAfrica as equal citizens.WhenDrNelsonMandela,orMadiba,ashewascalledinlocallanguage,passedaway,hewasgivenaburialwiththepresenceofmanyheadsofnations.

AbiglessonthatwelearntfromDrNelsonMandelaisbeautifullycapturedinoneoftheThirukkuralswritten2,200yearsagobyThiruvalluvar:

Itsaysforthosewhodoilltoyou,thebestpunishmentistoreturngoodtothem.

Two political leaders,MahatmaGandhi andDr NelsonMandela, transformedIndiaandSouthAfricaintoindependentanddemocraticnations.Thisleadershiphaspavedthewayformanynationstowardsfreedom.

Iwill now talk aboutDengXiaoping, the architectwho saw themodernindustrial revolution of China.Under his leadership, China acquired a rapidlygrowing economy, rising standards of living, and growing ties to the worldeconomy. When Deng Xiaoping became pre-eminent leader of China inDecember 1978,Chinawas still in the process ofCulturalRevolution.By thetime he stepped down in 1992, several hundred million Chinese citizens hadbeenliftedoutofpoverty,andChinawasrapidlybecomingstronger,richerandmoremodern.

To prepare for modernization Deng developed closer relations with theleadingmodern countries.He paved theway for closer relationswithEurope,Japan and USA and various industrial nations. The economic vision of DengXiaopingforChinaisadmiredinternationally.

Letme now sharewith you India’s great visionary in space science andtechnologies, Professor Vikram Sarabhai, who was my guru. Very rarely, inlife’s journey do great human beings influence us directly. I was fortunate to

workwithProfessorSarabhai for sevenyears.Whileworkingwithhim, I sawthe dawn of the vision for the space programme in a one-page statement.Witnessingtheevolutionofthisonepagebymanyyearsofceaselessworkwasreallyagreatlearningforme.

The famous vision statement of Professor Vikram Sarabhai made in theyear1970states‘Indiawithhermightyscientificknowledgeandpowerhouseofyoung,shouldbuildherownhugerocketsystems(satellitelaunchvehicles)andalso build her own communication, remote sensing and meteorologicalspacecraft and launch from her own soil to enrich the Indian life in satellitecommunication, remote sensing andmeteorology.’When I look at this visionstatement now, I am overwhelmed to see the results of this statement. Today,Indiacanbuildany typeofsatellite launchvehicle,any typeofspacecraftandlaunchfromIndiansoilandalsoithasallthecapabilitywithitsmightyfacilitiesand powerful human resource. Through space technology and space science,India can be a partner in world space programme to enrich Earth and enablefurther exploration. I have seen myself how the international community inspace is applauding Indian capabilities in bringing the benefits of this hightechnologytocommonpeople.

M.S. Swaminathan is known as the ‘Father of theGreen Revolution’ inIndiaforhisleadershipandsuccessinintroducingandfurtherdevelopinghigh-yieldingvarietiesofwheat.Swaminathanchoseagricultureashisfieldbecauseof the Bengal Famine of 1943, in which an estimated 3 million died. Greedexacted a terrible price in that famine, as people hoarded food until pricesskyrocketed.

Swaminathan worked worldwide in collaboration with colleagues andstudents on a wide range of problems in basic and applied plant breeding,agriculturalresearchanddevelopmentandtheconservationofnaturalresources.In 1983, he developed the concept of Farmers’ Rights and the text of theInternationalUndertakingonPlantGeneticResources(IUPGR).HewaselectedpresidentoftheInternationalCongressofGenetics.HereceivedthefirstWorldFoodPrizeinOctober1987.Swaminathan’srelentlesseffortscreatedawarenessthathunger isnotanaturaldisasterbutadisastercausedbyhumanbehaviour.Problemscausedbyhumanbeingscanalwaysbesolvedbyhumanbeings.ThefirstGreenRevolutionofIndiawaspioneeredbyhimwithhisteam,guidedbythepoliticalvisionaryDrC.Subramaniamandsupportedby thefarmers.TheyliberatedIndiafromthesituationofwhatwascalled‘shiptomouthexistence’.Throughaneffortofhistoricalmagnitude,Indiaattainednearself-sufficiencyinfoodthrough‘seedtograin’mission.Ofcourse,farmersplayedapivotalroleinworkingwithagriculturalscientistsinmakingthishappen.

Chandrasekhar Subramanyan’s most famous discovery was theastrophysical Chandrasekhar limit. The limit describes the maximum mass(~1.44solarmasses)ofawhitedwarfstar,orequivalently, theminimummassfor which a star will ultimately collapse into a neutron star or black holefollowing a supernova. The Chandrasekhar Limit led to the determination ofhow long a star of particular mass will shine. In 1983, ChandrasekharSubramanyangottheNobelPrizeforthisdiscovery

Two of Chandrasekhar’s students in 1947 were the doctoral candidatesTsung-DaoLeeandChenNingYanginparticlephysicsresearch.EventhoughChandrasekharSubramanyanmaintainedhisofficeattheYerkesObservatoryinLakeGeneva,Wisconsin,hewouldregularlydrivethe100milestoChicagotoguide and teach Lee and Yang and others many a times in difficult weatherconditions.In1957,thesetwoofhisstudentswontheNobelPrizeinPhysicsfortheirwork.HisstudentsgottheNobelprizethreedecadesbeforehegotit.ThisalsobringsoutChandrasekharSubramanyan’scommitmenttoscienceandtohisstudents. Science indeed was a lifetime mission for Chandrasekhar. It is thischaracteristicwhichmakesyouthbecomepassionatetowardsscience.

Professor Satish Dhawan took over as Chairman, ISRO from ProfessorSarabhai.Abrilliantacademician,andashrewdtechnologymanager,hecreatedan institutional framework for Indian space research and development effortsinterlinking the organization, industries, academic institutions and applicationusers. He was instrumental in creating an organizational culture to managedevelopment,projects,programmesandmission.

Finally, I will share with you a recent leadership success story. E.Sreedharan is popularlyknownas the ‘MetroManof India’.He served as theManagingDirector of DelhiMetro between 1995-2012. InDecember 1964, acyclonewashedawaypartsofthePambanBridgethatconnectedRameswaram,my birth place, to mainland Tamil Nadu. The Railways set a target of threemonths for the bridge to be repaired. Sreedharan was put in charge of theexecutionandherestoredthebridgeinjustforty-sixdays.

In 1970, Sreedharanwas put in charge of implementation, planning anddesign of CalcuttaMetro, the first evermetro in India.Hewas appointed theChairmanofKonkanRailwaysoncontractin1990.Itwasthefirstmajorprojectin India to be undertaken on aBOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) basis. The totalproject covered760kmandhadover150bridgesand93 tunnels through softsoil.ThatapublicsectorprojectcouldbecompletedwithoutsignificantcostandtimeoverrunswasunprecedentedinIndia.Sreedharanrepeatedthesuccessstoryby creating the Delhi Metro by the target date or before, and within theirrespective budgets.He has emerged as a non-compromising perfectionist both

onworkstandards,timeframesandintegrityinfinancialmanagement.In2005,hewasawardedtheChevalierdelaLégiond’honneur(KnightoftheLegionofHonour)bythegovernmentofFrance.

Soweseethat:

a.Leadermustbeabletotravelintoanunexploredpath.b.Leadermustknowhowtomanageasuccessandfailure.c.Leadermusthavecouragetotakedecisions.d.Leadershouldhavenobilityinmanagement.e.Everyactionoftheleadershouldbetransparent.f.Leadershouldworkwithintegrityandsucceedwithintegrity.

I have been discussing these essential traits of creative leaderswith people ofeminenceindifferentareasandstudentsfromIndiaandabroad.ApartfromthiswhatisneededisthespiritamongtheyouththatIcandoit,wecandoitandthenationcandoit.Inaninterconnectedworld,wemayaddtheglobecandoitalsoforthebenefitofentirehumankind.Wehavetoconcentrateondevelopingtheleadershiptraitsandtheconfidencetoperformamongtheyouth.Thisqualityofleadershipwillcertainlyempowerthepeopleoftheworld.

(fromCourseon‘SustainableDevelopmentSystemandCreativeLeadership’PekingUniversity,Beijing,7November2014)

HealingwithHeart

Thisisagreatsynergybetweenmind-bodyandmedicine.

T he medical profession has many dimensions. Let me begin with anexperiencewithChoakyiNyimaRinpoche,thechiefmonkinKathmandu

andamedicalresearcher.Afternearlyakilometerofwalk,IreachedthewhiteKumbhawhere the chiefmonk and his disciples were waiting to receiveme.AfterthereceptiontheRinpochesaid,letusgotoourstudysoIfollowedhim.Heclimbedthefirstfloor,thesecondfloor,thethirdfloor,thefourthfloorandthe fifth floor, as easily as a young boy. Probably his healthy lifestyle had apositiveimpactonthemindandbody.AllalongIwasfollowingandfollowing.WhenIreachedhischamber,IsawitwasalaboratoryinaspiritualenvironmentoverlookingtheHimalayas.Whatsurprisedmewashisresearchstudentscamefromdifferentpartsof theworld.He introducedme tohis co-authorDavidR.Shlim,MD.HehaswrittenwithDrDavidR.ShlimabooktitledMedicineandCompassion. ChoakyiNyimaRinpoche andmyself exchanged a few books. IlikedtheirbookandreaditduringmyjourneyfromKathmandutoDelhi.Thisbook gives six important virtues which a medical practitioner has to possesstowardstheirpatients:

•Generosity•Pureethics•Tolerance•Perseverance•Cultivatingpureconcentration•Beintelligent

Thesevirtueswillempowerthecaregiverswithahumaneheart.Iamsure,thosewhowish tobedoctorsor are studyingalready tobecomedoctorspractice all

thesesixvirtuesasahabitwhiledealingwithpatients.Thisisagreatexampleofsynergybetweenmind-bodyandmedicine.

Theworld is facingagrowing threat fromnewdiseases thatare jumpingthehuman-animalspeciesbarrierasaresultofenvironmentaldisruption,globalwarmingandtheprogressiveurbanisationoftheplanet.Atleast45diseasesthathavepassedfromanimalstohumanshavebeenreportedinthelasttwodecades.

Science is an eternally evolving enterprise. It is a never-ending journeyacross generations of committed researchers. A good scientific institute,therefore,mustbeopentoreceivethenewfactsastheypresentthemselves.

Healthcare professionals work with the philosophy ‘what can I give’. Ipray that you are empowered with new thoughts, renewed enthusiasm andcommitmenttoyourtask.‘Letmybrainremovethepainandbringwell-beingtotheneedy’,mustbetheslogan.TheglobalhospitalatMountAbuinpartnershipwith twoDRDO laboratories had worked for few years on the application ofbody-mind-soulsynergyonallopathicallytreatedcardiacpatients.Scientifically,theyhaveestablished that a three-dimensional solutiondefinitely improves thecondition of the patients and prevents recurrence of cardiac ailment insubsequentyears.Thethree-dimensionalsolutionsare:fibrerichvegetariandiet,aerobicexerciseseverydayandmeditationalpractices.

A few years back, a friend of mine who is a scientist sent me a bookBiology of Beliefs by Dr Bruce Lipton. The author is one of the greatestscientistsofbio-scienceandaftertwentyyearsofresearchhehassaidtheoriginofhumandiseasesand theircurehaveabasis inour intrinsic thinkingand therelationship with our bio cells. The book talks about a new approach whichhighlights the importance of placebo effect and how it is actually a powerfulbelief. The author says, ‘Doctors should not regard the power of belief assomethinginferiortothepowerofchemicalsandscalpel.Theyshouldletgoofthebeliefthatthebodyanditspartsareessentiallystupid.’

MahatmaGandhihasenumeratedinoneofhisworks,howthoughts leadtodestiny.Hesaid:

‘YourbeliefsbecomeyourthoughtsYourthoughtsbecomeyourwordsYourwordsbecomeyouractions

Youractionsbecomeyourhabits

YourhabitsbecomeyourvaluesYourvaluesbecomeyourdestiny.’

Letmenowshareanewmedicalinventionwithallofyou.Medical experts and engineershave taken a leaf out of nature’sbookby

equipping an artificial hand with muscles. The new technology enables thefabricationofflexibleandlightweightrobothandsforindustrialapplicationsandnovelprostheticdevices.Themusclefibresarecomposedofbundlesofultrafinenickel-titaniumalloywiresthatareabletotenseandflex.Thematerialitselfhassensory properties allowing the artificial hand to perform extremely precisemovements.

WhenIwasinChina,IvisitedthePekingUniversity’scentreforRobotics.ThereImetanumberofexpertsworkingunderProfessorLiMichaelLiuwhoshowedmetheirnewdesignforanadaptiveprosthetic limbwhichrespondstopressuresandgradient change. I saw itsdemonstrationand itgavemobility tothosewhohadlosttheirleg.Professortoldmethattomakesuchasystemhehadtomakeateamofelectricalengineers,medicalspecialist,rehabspecialistandofcourse designers. Such is the integrated system where all work towardsconvergenceoftheirknowledge.

Sciencethriveswhenitconvergestosolvepressingchallengesoftheworldand this is the 21st century requirement from engineers.Whetherwe are in adevelopedcountryordevelopingcountry,therearecertaincommonissuestobeaddressedparticularlyinhealthcaresector,whichincludethefollowing:

1.Affordablecostofhealthcarewithoutcompromisingonquality.2. Preventive healthcare stressing on hygiene education, lifestyle care and

upkeepofenvironment.3. In a global world, nations cannot be just satisfied with good healthcare in

specificlocalitiesorgroupsofthenationorthenationitself.4.Shortageofcleanwaterandenergycancauseserioushealthcareproblems.5.Thereshouldbemechanisms tospreadgooddeedsofmedicalpracticesand

societalservicefromonepartoftheworldtoallovertheglobe.6. Research and teaching are crucial aids to clinical practice and vice versa.

Thereisaneedtobringinworldwideknowledgeplatformstofindtimelyandcosteffectivesolutionstohealthcareissues.

Recently,therewasameetingofpatients,theirdoctorsandafewsocialworkers.One important result was discussed. The relationship between the patient anddoctorextends to thepatients’ familyanddoctor inmedicalcare.This in turn,

transmits effective messages from one family to another family on how topreventdiseases,thenecessityofperiodicchecks,dietaryhabitsandtheneedforlifestylechangesincludingexercisesforgoodhealth.Thisgoodcontactbetweenthedoctorandpatientsiscomparabletothatofateacherandstudent.Whenyouareadoctor,Irequesteachoneofyoutoplaytheroleofateacherinadvisingevery family on disease prevention andmethods to maintain quality health. Ihopeyouallwillfindtimeforthisnobleaction.

(fromAddressatMysoreMedicalCollegeandResearchInstitute,Mysore,31March2015)