Category Famous Personalities

WHAT IS DR. ABDUL KALAM’S VISION OF INDIA?

A person of exemplary calibre and fierce patriotism, former President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam embodied the best of what an Indian can aspire to be. Let us look at one of his most memorable addresses titled, ‘My vision for India’.

On May 25, 2011, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam gave one of his greatest speeches at the IIT Hyderabad campus, titled ‘My vision for India.’ His simple and self-explanatory inaugural address for the IIT TechFest outlined his aspirations for his motherland and highlighted the need to increase meaningful public participation in nation-building activities.

A man of action

One of India’s most celebrated scientists Dr. Kalam was an aeronautical engineer by training. His 1998 project The Technology Vision 2020′ was an action plan that sought to achieve economic growth through technological development, with special emphasis on facilitating agriculture and increasing the accessibility and quality of healthcare and education. During his tenure as the 11th President of the country(from 2002 to 2007), India’s ‘missile man, as he was popularly called in the media, promoted the advancement of the national nuclear weapons program, and under his leadership. India developed strategic missiles like ‘Agni and Prithvi’ and tactical missiles like ‘Aakash’ and Thrissur’.

Even after the end of his official term Dr Kalam’s passion for education and societal transformation came to the forefront in his addresses across various cross-sections of society from school children to policymakers.

His visions for India

“In 3,000 years of our history, people from all over the world have come and invaded us, captured our lands and conquered our minds… Yet, we have not conquered anyone. Because, we respect the freedom of others, and this is why my first vision is that of freedom. I believe that India got its first vision of this in 1857, when we started the war of Independence. It is this freedom that we must protect and nurture and build on.” (an excerpt from My vision for India)

Dr Kalam sought the freedom that nurtured creativity and independent thinking. Freedom that instilled the courage to stand one’s ground against all odds. He wanted India to be confident in its identity, and progress towards becoming a developed nation, self-reliant and self-assured.

“We have been a developing nation for fifty years… my second vision for India is development. (an excerpt from My vision for India) In his public addresses, he often asked his audiences to repeat the dictum “Dreams transform into thoughts and thoughts result into action”. He really believed that the day we as citizens recognised our duties towards the development of our nation (dismissing all the personal biases) and joined forces to work towards identifying and meeting the needs of ‘all’ India will truly become developed.

“I have a third vision. India must stand up to the world. Because I believe… Only strength respects strength. We must be strong not only as a military power but also as an economic power. Both must go hand-in-hand.” (an excerpt from My vision for India) He ends his speech by echoing J.F.Kennedy’s words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians… Ask what we can do for India and do what has to be done to make India what America and other western countries are today.” (an excerpt from My vision for India)

QUICK FACTS ON KALAM

  • Born in a humble household of Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, Dr. Kalam distributed newspapers as a 10-year-old to supplement his family’s income.
  • Dr. Kalam was the project director of the SLVIII, the first satellite launch vehicle that was both designed and produced in India.
  • Dr. Kalam was fondly called People’s President because of his simplicity and love for his countrymen.
  • Dr. Kalam was the first Asian to be honoured with Hoover Medal. America’s top engineering prize for outstanding contribution to public service on April 29, 2009
  • In 2012, Dr Kalam launched a campaign called What Can I Give Movement, to develop a “giving” attitude among the youth and to encourage them to contribute towards nation building by taking small but positive steps.

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WHO TOLD “CRISIS OF CIVILIZATION”?

WHO TOLD “CRISIS OF CIVILIZATION”?

Rabindranath Tagore’s artistic genius endeared him to millions around the world. A man of prodigious literary and artistic accomplishments, Tagore is recognised as one of the architects of modern India. Let us look back at his iconic last public address, “Crisis in civilisation”.

Despite his failing health, Rabindranath Tagore attended his 80th birthday celebration in Visva -Bharati. Shantiniketan, West Bengal, on May 7, 1941. His public address for the occasion titled ‘Crisis in civilisation’ was not only his last speech in his beloved university, but also his last public pronouncement. His parting message to the world dealt with the state of modem civilisation and how it had been shaken to its foundations by war and oppression.

Tagore’s activism

Tagore’s involvement with various issues pertaining to social reform began quite early in his life. By the time the poet turned 20, he had already authored several essays commenting on the burning issues of the day. The writer’s engagement with the idea of nationalism changed throughout his life.

In the first decade of the 20th Century, Tagore emerged as one of the strongest proponents of the Swadeshi movement. The years leading up to the movement came under the writer’s pro-nationalism phase.

He withdrew from the movement in 1907. His work during this period showcased his disillusionment with the ideology of the nation and the Indian nationalist movement as a whole.

What is a nation?

The late 19th Century witnessed the idea of a nation emerge in the Indian consciousness. It was chosen and propagated by Indian intellectuals and political activists to invigorate a sense of unity among the citizens. At the time it was seen as a necessary tool to fight against the colonial forces.

But Tagore fiercely denounced this idea. He felt a nation-state was only a representation of organised power and had a mechanical function.

The nation as a machine

Tagore argued that a nation fundamentally prioritised commercial expansion and economic profit over humanity and moral values. The poet elaborated how this western idea was the reason our people and natural resources were exploited in the first place by the European invaders.

His thesis on the topic asserts that the mechanisms of a nation transform men into one-dimensional units of machinery whose purpose in life is limited to the creation of surplus wealth at the expense of the weak.

The nation as a machine, fine-tuned for profit-making, disturbs the spirit of harmony which is the quintessential feature of Indian history and culture.

Crisis in civilisation

Tagore began his address by commenting how old age is a time for reflection and recollection. Looking back at the vast stretch of years that lay behind him, he finds himself shocked by the change in his attitude and that of his countrymen.

Even at his weakest moment, Tagore was anguished by the state of the country as he said. “The wheels of fate will one day oblige Englishmen to give up their Indian empire. But what kind of a country will they leave behind them? What stark wretched misery?…. What wasteland of filth and hopelessness?” (an excerpt from Crisis in civilisation)

The writer recalls how educated Indians of his generation who studied English literature and liberalism once foolishly believed in the magnanimity of the English, and their idea of enlightenment. He utilises this opportunity to announce that the West has failed in establishing itself as the emissary of light and knowledge, and now all hope lies with the East.

“As I look around I see the crumbling ruins of a proud civilization strewn like a vast heap of futility. And yet I shall not commit the grievous sin of losing faith in Man…Perhaps that dawn will come from this horizon, from the East where the Sun rises. A day will come when unvanquished Man will retrace his path of conquest, despite all barriers, to win back his lost human heritage” (an excerpt from Crisis in civilisation) According to Tagore, the defining feature of Indian civilization which we are on the verge of losing is sympathy. Referring back to the ancient text of Manusmriti and the idea of ‘sadachar (proper conduct), he suggests that the Indian interpretation of the word civilization has always sought to establish a relationship with the world not through the cultivation of power but through fostering sympathy. To attain true liberation, Indians must first become aware of their heritage and the spirit of India, which has been suppressed by the wholesale acceptance of western education.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. Tagore was the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913.

2. Tagore was the founder of Visva-Bharati, a public central University, located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal,

3. The preface of Tagore’s most acclaimed work, Gitanjali, was written by another great poet of the 20th Century. W.B. Yeats.

4. On 14 July 1930, Rabindranath Tagore visited Albert Einstein’s house in Caputh, near Berlin. Their conversation was recorded and published as “The Nature of Reality” in the Modern Review magazine’s 1931 January issue.

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WHO WAS THE SPEAKER OF TITLED SPEECH “I AM PREPARED TO DIE”?

“I Am Prepared to Die” is the name given to the three-hour speech given by Nelson Mandela on 20 April 1964 from the dock of the defendant at the Rivonia Trial. The speech is so titled because it ends with the words “it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die”.

April 20, 1964, saw Nelson Mandela, a 45-year-old member of the anti-apartheid movement, testify at the Pretoria courtroom as part of the Rivonia Trial. In his defence statement, the young lawyer declared that freedom and equality were the ideals for which he was prepared to die.

This speech became the rallying cry of the masses that shook the apartheid regime and set Mandela on the path to becoming the country’s first democratically elected president 30 years later.

Apartheid

Apartheid was the most extreme kind of racism that the world witnessed. It started from 1652 when the Dutch East India Company landed in the Cape of Good Hope and established a trading colony in what is now known as Cape Town. This was a rest stop for ships travelling between Europe and India.

The Dutch colonists went to war with the natives to establish their control. This ultimately led to the creation of a new set of laws to enslave the aboriginals. When the British took over the Cape colony, the descendants of the Dutch settlers trekked inland and developed their own language, culture, and customs eventually becoming the Afrikaners, the first white tribe of South Africa.

The fall of the British Empire saw the Afrikaners claim South Africa for themselves. But to sustain their supremacy over the country’s restless black majority, they needed new stringent laws. A formal commission was set up and an expedition was sent to different parts of the world including the Netherlands, Australia, and America with the purpose of studying institutionalised racism and its application. The government used this knowledge to build the most advanced version of racial oppression ever created.

Apartheid (means ‘apartness in African language) was a police state, a system of surveillance meant to keep the black people under control. This policy was in place for nearly 50 years.

The art of persuasion

Most leaders are known for their rhetoric. Philosopher Aristotle lays emphasis on the art of persuasion through speech in his treatise on the subject. According to the philosopher, the true means of introducing change in a society can only be accomplished by deliberative rhetoric. A deliberative speech focusses on the future rather than the past or the present. Here the speakers present their audience with a possible future and try to encourage them to lend their support to their vision.

What cements the appeal of this kind of persuasive speech is the use of ethos (credibility), logos (logic and reason), and pathos (emotional connect), and Mandela’s speech is an excellent example of this.

The appeal of Mandela

1 am the First Accused I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts and practised as an attorney in Johannesburg for several years in partnership with Oliver Tambo. I am a convicted prisoner serving five years for leaving the country without a permit and for inciting people to go on strike at the end of May 1961. (An excerpt from the speech “I am prepared to die”) By beginning his defence statement with an announcement of his educational qualification and contribution to the anti-apartheid movement, Mandela established his credibility. He took full responsibility for his actions and the disruption they led to. His demeanour exuded confidence in himself and in the cause he was fighting for.

“…The complaint of Africans, however,  is not only that they are poor and whites are rich, but that the laws which are made by the whites are designed to preserve this situation” (An excerpt from the speech “I am prepared to die”)

This part of the oration justified the need for a movement against a government that used racial segregation as a weapon to divide society. His sincere dedication to the struggle of the African people and his willingness to sacrifice himself for the fundamental principles of freedom and equality made him a man of mythical proportions.

“I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die. (An excerpt from the speech 7 am prepared to die”)

DID YOU KNOW?

  • Mandela’s birth name was Rolihlahla Mandela. The name Nelson was given to him by his primary school teacher.
  • In August 1952, Mandela and Oliver Tambo established South Africa’s first black law firm, Mandela and Tambo.
  • July 18 is celebrated as Nelson Mandela International Day each year.
  • As the first black president of South Africa, Mandela took it upon himself to unite the country that had been divided along racial lines. According to him, sports like rugby promoted unity and fostered national pride.

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Who was Joseph Stalin?

Joseph Stalin was the iron ruler of the U.S.S.R, who made the country a formidable military and industrial superpower.

Born in Gori, Georgia in 1878, he played an active role in the Russian Revolution of 1917. Lenin chose Stalin to head the Workers’ and Peasants’ inspectorate, which made him a powerful man. He was appointed the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on 3rd April, 1922.

In the beginning he acted as part of a collective leadership. But by the 1930’s Stalin had become a dictator. He consolidated his absolute power by shrewdly manoeuvring and isolating those who stood in his way, and by using police terror. Towards the end of the 1920’s, he had established a totalitarian rule that prohibited all sorts of opposition. His brutal reign is held responsible for the deaths of millions.

He made clever use of nationalism to strengthen his rule and promoted some aspects of Russian history, some national heroes and the Russian language.

Joseph Stalin ruled the country from 1929 to 1953, until his death.

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THE SPEECH THAT REMADE AMERICA

A self-taught lawyer, legislator, and a strong opponent of slavery, Abraham Lincoln is considered to be one of the greatest presidents of the U.S. Let’s relive the moment this American hero gave his monumental speech, popularly known as the “Gettysburg Address.”

On November 19, 1863, before an estimated 15,000 spectators President Abraham Lincoln dedicated a new soldiers National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. Here he delivered a 272-word speech famously known as the Gettysburg Address, with the hope that it would guide the Nation through the war and towards healing.

Civil War & the Republicans

The Republican Party came into existence in 1854, seven years before the Civil War. Initially there were only two political parties in the U.S. namely the Whigs and the Democrats.

America was quickly expanding westward and the debate as to whether or not the new states should permit slavery was intensifying.

In the Northern states, manufacturing and industries formed the economic base, unlike the South where people depended on plantation farming of crops like cotton and tobacco for their livelihood. Agriculture heavily depended on black slave labour, and the Democratic Party, with its strong support in the South, was growing increasingly pro-slavery. But the Whigs were divided on the issue.

In 1854, unable to come to a solid resolution on the topic. the party collapsed. The former Whigs in the North came together to form a new party called the Republican Party. with abolition of slavery as their mission statement.

By 1860. this party established a strong foothold in the North. enough so that its member Abraham Lincoln. won the 1861 presidential elections.

This led to 11 Southern states breaking away from the union to form the confederate states of America. The Northern states decided to fight to keep the union together and the Civil War began. The result was, victory for the North and abolition of slavery nation-wide.

The Battle of Gettysburg

One of the bloodiest battles fought during the American Civil War took place in Gettysburg from 1st to 3rd July 1863. It claimed the lives of thousands of soldiers from both sides. The union’s victory here marked a turning point of the war, which officially ended in 1865.

The Address & The Greek Influence

According to literary research done on this piece, Lincoln’s elegiac speech at Gettysburg was modelled on the ancient Greek politician and general Pericles’ epitaphios logos (Athenian funeral speech). Even though his address was brief (in comparison to the Greek format), he still successfully managed to encapsulate the essential reference to the circle of life (as birth, death, and rebirth).

“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” (excerpt from Gettysburg Address)

The Gettysburg Address begins with a recollection of the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the birth of America. It alludes to the struggles of the founding fathers who built this nation on the principles of universal equality and freedom.

Paying his homage to the deceased, he then proceeds to declare that the thousands lost to death on this battlefield have replenished the American soil with their selfless sacrifice. This sacrifice has not only prolonged the nation’s life, but also presented it with a fair chance of renewal.

Lincoln further reinforces the idea of rebirth when he says that this second chance must not be taken for granted, but incentivise us to work together “that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” (excerpt from the Gettysburg Address)

Beacon of hope

With the struggle of war at its climax Lincoln’s speech was a beacon of hope for the thousands who were gripped by the feeling of impending doom. It revived the national ideals of freedom, and justice amid circumstances that had torn the country into pieces.

Since delivered this speech in particular has gone on to become one of the most powerful statements in the English language. Its brevity and intelligent word play has enabled it to cement its place as one of the most important expressions of liberty and equality.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. While giving this iconic speech the President was interrupted five times with the audiences’ applause.

2. Edward Everett (the featured speaker for the event) immediately afterward wrote to Lincoln: “I wish that I could flatter myself that I had come as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours as you did in two minutes.”

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WHO WAS CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN?

Charles Robert Darwin was the father of evolution. The English naturalist, biologist and geologist may have devoted his lifetime to science, but he was also a romantic, a doting father and possessed a gentle disposition.

Darwin’s journey to being history’s favorite  biologist, however, had strange twists and turns. He tried to study medicine, but gave it up to pursue theology at Christ College. Cambridge.

But the study of the divine could not contain his ever inquisitive mind. While in college, he devoured journals and books in botany and geology in his free time. He loved gardening and had a special interest in collecting beetles. He learnt physics and geometry with great enthusiasm and noted down his observations diligently.

Darwin took great delight in William Wordsworth and ST Coleridge’s poetry, claiming to have read Wordsworth’s long poem Excursion twice. His favourite work of literature, however, was Paradise Lost by John Milton, which he carried along with him on his first voyage to South America in 1831 as a scientist in training to assist his mentor, botanist, geologist and priest John Henslow.

He nurtured a habit of writing, too. A meticulous diarist, he kept recording daily events, both scientific and personal. For six years of his life – between 40 and 46 years – he even made notes of his illnesses. He wrote about battling insomnia, restlessness, stomach pain, dizziness, rashes and melancholy among other issues.

He married the love of his life, Emma and had ten children with her. “Children are one of life’s greatest joys,” he wrote to a friend. The cover pages of the original manuscript draft of his iconic work, On The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, contain a number of doodles by his children. While many are caricatures of Darwin himself, one depicts a vegetable war – turnips, carrots, eggplant and more engaged in a fierce battle, while another shows a bright green frog, wearing pink shoes on an outing, carrying a blue umbrella. These drawings have been digitized by the American Museum of Natural History.

It took Darwin 20 years to publish his momentous work, On The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. On November 24, 1859, it appeared in bookstores in England. Priced at 15 shillings a copy, all the 1,250 copies were sold out on that very day. The book is considered to be the foundation of evolutionary biology, a revolutionary work that changed the course of science.

What truly kept Darwin going was his unrelenting passion for the natural world: He took in everything with childlike interest. On his first journey to South America, to study the natural world, he was extremely sea-sick. But he religiously collected birds, plants, skeletons, lizards, fossils and small animals, converting the ship into a museum of specimens.

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