MILESTONES 2015-16

What can I learn from the life of Abdul Kalam?
“Great dreams of great dreamers are always transcended”, this was one of the many
revolutionary quotes said by the missile man of India--Abdul Kalam. Born to a poor
TamilianMuslim family in Rameshwaram on the 15th of October and elected as the
11th president of India and being called the missile man of India is just a simple
history of his. Abdul Kalam was a goal oriented and congenial leader often acclaimed
as the people’s president. He always believed in educating youth augmenting the
development of the nation. He reflected his aspirations for India through his civilian
life of education and writing. As an aeronautical engineer and a passionate scientist, he
has helped the nation long strides towards better space research and nuclear power.
The 27th of July was a grief stricken day in the history of our nation with the sad
demise of Abdul Kalam at IIT Shillong while delivering a speech to students. Abdul
Kalam is no longer among us but he has become an inspirational icon for us. His
words of freedom and his personality has behind innumerable morals and values to
learn from.
I have always considered him as a role model to admire and follow. His ideologies are
always applicable to my life and make a difference to what I am. Firstly, simplicity and
determination is what I can learn from his life story. From a boy selling newspapers to
supplement his family income to battling obstacles and becoming India’s president just
exemplifies the saying “nothing is impossible”. I must have a big goal to accomplish
and must be determined to realize my dreams. Everything is possible only if we have
the will to do it, showed his will power to take his motherland towards a progressive
direction.
Abdul Kalam also emphasizes on “simple living, high thinking”. He believed that
education could do wonders and you can only begin your journey by thinking
big. Abdul Kalam once said “let me define a leader”, he must have a mission and
passion and not be afraid of problems. Instead, he should know how to defeat it. Most
importantly, he should know how to work with integrity.
Abdul Malam is a great example of a true leader whose life has been an open book
guiding millions of young minds all its ways. I can learn from him what being a true
leader is. He had always been committed to his work and took pride in doing it; this
signifies the importance of being completely involved in doing what you are passionate
about. An important lesson from his inspirational quote “each setback teaches us a
new facet of life and something about our personalities” is to learn from our mistakes
and boost up my confidence to overcome hardships. We must be optimistic and learn
from our failures.
Inspirational icons like Abdul Kalam, play a major role in our life--they shape our
personality. Leaders like him are true role models to admire and learn from. Though
Abdul Kalam is no more, his legacy will continue inspire millions of kids like me.
SHRUTI KRALETI, VIII Mountains
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