The Immortal President
I haven’t read a single book by Abdul Kalam. I’ve heard him speak only a handful of times. I don't know much about his politics.
Yet, I absolutely loved him.
The mere concept of him. A Presidential Indian President. Whose life was dedicated to his country, to inspiring its people and spreading happiness, education and hope. His quotes are inspirational and sometimes his achievements make you feel exhausted in comparison! I get tired playing Criminal Case on my phone - forget doing the 300 things this phenom managed in a day.
He was also cool. Of the innumerable quotes of the man online - my favourite would be: "Sometimes it’s better to bunk a class and enjoy with friends, because today when I look back, marks never make me laugh but, memories do…"
That is so cool.
Dude, it’s the President of India telling you to skip classes!
That is the ultimate proxy.
‘Prakash, you didn’t come to school yesterday.’
‘Yes, my proxy is the President!’
'OK. My apologies. Take these 20 extra marks from my side. I hope they make you laugh!'
On a side note: my marks always did make me laugh but, my parents wished they were just a memory.
Adults loved him but, it's no wonder that children loved him even more. Everywhere he went - these horde of school children would be listening attentively, smiling, catching on to his every word - like he were a desi Santa Claus. Of course, going by the current atmosphere of idiocy in our country - presumably someone will find a religious bone of contention even to that comparison! So, let's just go with the norm and say he was our Einstein.
Abdul Kalam was not a politician. He was a motivational speaker for a billion people. He was a trader in hope. He was a trader in humanity and love and self-belief and the power of dreams and all those mushy things. Things that we usually forget somewhere around the time our first boss corrodes our joy and inserts this permanent chip of cynicism into our CPUs. Lord Abdul Kalam (honorary Lord in my book) was the antonym to cynicism.
You looked at his face and you just felt a surge of joy, which is not only a rarity but, an impossibility for Indian politicians. Probably the only that came close was AB Vajpayee and Dr. MMS in his first term before he was consumed by his first boss and and then had his chip of cynicism (and submissiveness) inserted into his CPU. But, let’s not bitch. Count Kalam (add that title too, please) would not approve of cynicism.
Abdul Kalam’s face was electric, his eyes were burning and his long, curly hair - as a man devoid of long curls on any part of his body I feel additional jealousy - all brimmed with energy. The sparkle of those eyes could have powered NCR's electricity for a a couple of years - I'm sure Kejriwal missed a trick there. Those long curls honestly made him appear like Snape in that 7th Harry Potter book, when you found out Snape was the good guy all along. Even after all these years? Yes, Mr. Kalam. Yes.
He did a lot. We hear about the American Dream, Dr. Kalam was THE Indian Dream. He rose from a humble background, studied desperately hard, worked even harder, wrote books, gave lectures, obviously shampooed regularly and then rose to the office of the second most powerful post in India. He was also more or less apolitical which obviously meant he served just one term as Indian President and was replaced by a woman who took the Presidency to basically be a deal with housing.com to immediately usurp as much property as she could. But, damn it - again my cynicism chip is activating.
Today is the day after Dr. Kalam’s death. Rightly so, it's inspired a country. Because, this can not be a holiday. It would be an affront to the man. Rather we should all spend all of Tuesday working our butts off to a man who effectively spent over three decades working toward uniting India in adoring him and ourselves.
R.I.P. Dr. Lord Count King His Excellency Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.
We should not rest in your wake.
P.S. As a comedian, I plan to take the A.P.J. part of his name and make a bunch of those today. Probably not a good homage but, the best I can do!
Yet, I absolutely loved him.
The mere concept of him. A Presidential Indian President. Whose life was dedicated to his country, to inspiring its people and spreading happiness, education and hope. His quotes are inspirational and sometimes his achievements make you feel exhausted in comparison! I get tired playing Criminal Case on my phone - forget doing the 300 things this phenom managed in a day.
He was also cool. Of the innumerable quotes of the man online - my favourite would be: "Sometimes it’s better to bunk a class and enjoy with friends, because today when I look back, marks never make me laugh but, memories do…"
That is so cool.
Dude, it’s the President of India telling you to skip classes!
That is the ultimate proxy.
‘Prakash, you didn’t come to school yesterday.’
‘Yes, my proxy is the President!’
'OK. My apologies. Take these 20 extra marks from my side. I hope they make you laugh!'
On a side note: my marks always did make me laugh but, my parents wished they were just a memory.
Adults loved him but, it's no wonder that children loved him even more. Everywhere he went - these horde of school children would be listening attentively, smiling, catching on to his every word - like he were a desi Santa Claus. Of course, going by the current atmosphere of idiocy in our country - presumably someone will find a religious bone of contention even to that comparison! So, let's just go with the norm and say he was our Einstein.
Abdul Kalam was not a politician. He was a motivational speaker for a billion people. He was a trader in hope. He was a trader in humanity and love and self-belief and the power of dreams and all those mushy things. Things that we usually forget somewhere around the time our first boss corrodes our joy and inserts this permanent chip of cynicism into our CPUs. Lord Abdul Kalam (honorary Lord in my book) was the antonym to cynicism.
You looked at his face and you just felt a surge of joy, which is not only a rarity but, an impossibility for Indian politicians. Probably the only that came close was AB Vajpayee and Dr. MMS in his first term before he was consumed by his first boss and and then had his chip of cynicism (and submissiveness) inserted into his CPU. But, let’s not bitch. Count Kalam (add that title too, please) would not approve of cynicism.
Abdul Kalam’s face was electric, his eyes were burning and his long, curly hair - as a man devoid of long curls on any part of his body I feel additional jealousy - all brimmed with energy. The sparkle of those eyes could have powered NCR's electricity for a a couple of years - I'm sure Kejriwal missed a trick there. Those long curls honestly made him appear like Snape in that 7th Harry Potter book, when you found out Snape was the good guy all along. Even after all these years? Yes, Mr. Kalam. Yes.
He did a lot. We hear about the American Dream, Dr. Kalam was THE Indian Dream. He rose from a humble background, studied desperately hard, worked even harder, wrote books, gave lectures, obviously shampooed regularly and then rose to the office of the second most powerful post in India. He was also more or less apolitical which obviously meant he served just one term as Indian President and was replaced by a woman who took the Presidency to basically be a deal with housing.com to immediately usurp as much property as she could. But, damn it - again my cynicism chip is activating.
Today is the day after Dr. Kalam’s death. Rightly so, it's inspired a country. Because, this can not be a holiday. It would be an affront to the man. Rather we should all spend all of Tuesday working our butts off to a man who effectively spent over three decades working toward uniting India in adoring him and ourselves.
R.I.P. Dr. Lord Count King His Excellency Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.
We should not rest in your wake.
P.S. As a comedian, I plan to take the A.P.J. part of his name and make a bunch of those today. Probably not a good homage but, the best I can do!
Comments
Post a Comment