Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was a prolific writer. I worked with him on four books, and with each, there was something new to know and remember about him. During my last meeting with him, which was in May this year, I arrived at his office to find that the waiting room was packed with visitors. I settled down to look over my points for the meeting. After a while, when I entered his office, he was sitting behind his large desk that was usually completely clutter-free, and greeted me with his twinkly smile. We talked about the book that was just out, and about the next one that was coming up. Then, he started talking about the group of schoolchildren who had met him earlier that evening.
"One boy asked me a question and I am not happy with the reply I gave him," he said. He seemed genuinely distressed. "He asked me what has been my contribution that is truly unique, and I was not sure I knew the answer," he worried. I was astonished. Here was a man who had walked and talked with the most important people of the land. He had sent satellites into space, and worked on plans to bring about changes in the lives of people in the smallest villages. His concerns were large and important. But to him, even this was important - to reply properly to a schoolboy's query.
The fact that he met so many children and students of various ages was one of his greatest joys. He told me at every meeting how he had met a million children, and intended to keep adding to that number. Answering questions, urging them to think, telling them to open up their wings and look at the world around them-these were the things he loved to talk about, and in doing so, no question was too inconsequential, no questioner was too small or too important. In a school system where asking questions is not encouraged, I can only imagine what kind of windows he opened after each of his sessions.
The impact he had with his words and his books was always wonderful to experience up close. After his book
My Journey was published, it received many good reviews. We, as his publishers, as well as his office received numerous letters from people saying how they were touched by it. But the one letter that he was extremely pleased with came from a packaging firm in Bangalore. It was signed by 18 executives of the firm. It said one of the Directors, a keen reader of his books, read this one and was so impressed by it that he wanted to share it with his colleagues. The group read the book together, one chapter at every monthly meeting, and when they were done they had a discussion and came up with a pledge:
"Everyone agreed that with hard work, positive attitude and dedicated efforts we can improve ourselves. We came to the conclusion that we had to be the creator not the victim...We want to achieve our goal by improving our performance with hard work and improving our inner strength on a daily basis."
I imagined a group of men and women perhaps after talking about the sales figures of the month, putting aside matters of profit and loss, and talking about this book instead with each other, discussing it in detail, drawing their interpretations and believing they could make a change in themselves because of it. The letter was one of many testaments to how far and wide a book can travel and take the author's essence with it.
Dr Kalam's appeal clearly overrode various barriers. This was the time I was working on the book
Governance for Growth in India. We were planning to publish it to coincide with the culmination of the general elections in 2014, and were on a tight deadline. I had gathered all the material, put it in order and done my editing. I now needed to sit with him and go over all the queries and changes that were required. It was going to be a long day and I called our office cab to take me to his residence and office on Rajaji Marg. The driver was a young Sikh man, more a boy perhaps. He was quite chatty but I was too busy looking through my notes to talk much. As we drove in to the bungalow with its sprawling lawn and large old trees, he turned to me and asked,
"Madamji, yeh kiska ghar hai? (Whose house is this?)" "A.P.J. Abdul Kalamji's," I replied.
Dilliwalas are immune to any awe for those in the political spectrum, so I was surprised to see the driver's eyes become round as saucers. "
Madamji, I would like to just say
namaste to him, will it be possible?' I wasn't sure so I promised to ask and went into my meeting.
Dr Kalam sat with me for a while going over the page proofs, then he handed over the minutiae to his trusted secretary Sheridon, and walked out to the lawn to stretch his legs. By the time I was done, he was walking on the lawn, deep in thought. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my cab driver nodding and smiling. "Sir," I asked Dr Kalam, "the driver of my taxi wants to say Hello to you." He readily agreed and beckoned the boy to him. He shook hands and asked his name, gave him a pat on the back. I was juggling the sheafs of paper in my hand and didn't hear the rest. All the way home, my companion raved about his good fortune because (in Hindi) "He is not like a
neta. He actually believes in us, he wants to do something for us and he is doing it. Thank you,
Madamji, that you went there and I got to meet him. Your company makes books, no? When will this one be out?"
What do you say when you see such raw admiration for a public figure? Dr Kalam was a scientist, a person with a vision and a writer who wrote to make people aware of his ideas. Mostly, he was a man who cared. He cared without any artifice. He cared as much for India as he did for me and the cab driver and the number of children he met almost daily.
To me his last words at the end of every meeting were, "God bless you. Reach home safely".
I can feel happy that he reached his home too, while doing what he loved best-on his feet, talking to young people, articulating his thoughts.
(Sudeshna Shome Ghosh is an independent publishing consultant and has a special interest in children's books.)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.