A has-been, Abdul Kalam was the 'A' team. His stint as the prime minister of India left him humiliated and in exile. When the time came for his retirement, Kalam was left with no choice but to return to IIT. But why is Abdul Kalam's life important to us today?
He became a symbol of hope and inspiration for the young IITians who were not willing to make the same mistakes that he had made. They took lessons from him and never did the unthinkable again. Kalam and the IITians were the first to learn that it does not matter what you study, the first step in achieving greatness is not to be afraid of failure.
Abdul Kalam gave the IITians the strength to forget their past and focus on the future. He worked with them in order to bring out an IIT catalog that could be bought by the students. It was the first IIT catalog to include a focus on technology. Kalam even went to the extent of creating an IIT computer magazine so that the young generation would have something that was useful and interesting to read.
The ideals of Kalam are still relevant in today's world. Kalam taught the young generation that they should not follow a failed path just because they were young. A didn't want the rest of his life to be the same. He wanted to give his students something that was worthwhile and exciting.
Today, IIT has its own co-curricular activities (CCA) that play a vital role in improving the academic performance of the students. The best part about the CCA is that the students have the opportunity to interact with Kalam himself. In addition, the students also get to interact with him on a personal level. This has resulted in the creation of an environment where the students really feel part of the IIT administration.
Kalam himself was a keen observer of the moods of the students. And if you look at his picture, you can see that he looked at IIT as if he was looking at his own child. So it is no wonder that Kalam says that life's greatest gift to a child is the gift of education.
Kalam used to tell his students that he believed in the philosophy of karma. You reap what you sow. The students now refer to the term as karma. As far as we are concerned, we are only busy learning from our mentors and learning from their example.
Nowadays, IIT is alive and kicking as a much talked about institute of higher learning. Our country has become a hub of innovation and has changed the way we think.
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