Live
- MLA inaugurates development projects in Chittoor
- SBI offers collateral-free loans to empower farmer groups
- Dist police annual sports meet begins
- UN experts urge US to end 'double standards' on Israel-Palestine conflict
- Police recovers 220 lost mobiles
- Former Minister Avanti Srinivas Resigns from YSRCP, Citing Personal Reasons
- 3-judge Special Bench of SC to hear today pleas against Places of Worship Act
- MP CM to lay foundation stone for Rs 1,700 crore Sondwa irrigation project in Alirajpur
- Garena Free Fire MAX Redeem Codes for December 12, 2024 – Get Free Rewards
- Vinay Kumar Yaragani’s Strategies to Reduce Unpaid Transactions in E-Commerce
An Emperor and a People's President
An Emperor and a People\'s President. Dr Abdul Kalam (AD 1931-2015) is rightly hailed as the People\'s President: a great scientist, an inspiring thinker and as conscious and conscientious administrator. He penned his ideas with authenticity, sincerity and sagacity.
It is indeed fascinating to see how the two reflecting minds cognised alike, ideated alike and expressed alike
Dr Abdul Kalam (AD 1931-2015) is rightly hailed as the People's President: a great scientist, an inspiring thinker and as conscious and conscientious administrator. He penned his ideas with authenticity, sincerity and sagacity.
The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD121-180) composed his spiritual reflections in Greek (Meditations, (Tr) Martin Hammond, Penguin Books 2006). The Emperor and the President, both, reveal minds of 'great humanity' and 'natural humility'. The Emperor's ideal of a human being with god seated in him and who is committed to social good seems to be answered by the President.
The great qualities cherished by the Emperor and relished by the President are the following: decency, mild temper, integrity, manliness, generosity, avoidance of wrong-doing, simplicity of living, avoidance of empty enthusiasm, pretentious language and malicious gossip, tolerance of pain and of plain speaking, affinity for philosophy, having Reason as the sole guide to living one's life, blending intensity with relaxation, kindly disposition, unaffected dignity, complete freedom from obsessive passion, wearing great learning lightly, speaking of one's teachers with whole-hearted gratitude, a genuine love for children and an immovable adherence to decisions made after full consideration.
It is indeed fascinating to see how the two reflecting minds cognised alike, ideated alike and expressed alike. The Emperor wanted us to give vigorous attention "to the performance of the task in hand with precise analysis, with unaffected dignity, with human sympathy, with dispassionate justice." We are to perform our actions "freed from all lack of aim, from all passion-led deviation from the ordinance of reason, from pretence, from dissatisfaction with what fate has dealt you".
Man is essentially a rational and social being made up of flesh, breath and directing mind guiding us to stick to justice, truth, self-control and courage – all made possible by the Divinity guiding our mind and reason. Both the Emperor and the President seem to have the constitution of the same spiritual self. Dr Abdul Kalam's ideas of luck and auspicious days were anticipated by the ideas of Marcus Aurelius: "But luck is the good fortune you determine for yourself: and good fortune consists in good inclinations of the soul, good impulses and good actions."
How the Emperor derides pride and defines salvation again anticipates the President’s mindset: The pride that prides on freedom from pride is the hardest of all to bear.... The salvation of life lies in seeing each object in its essence and its entirety, discerning both the material and the causal: in applying one's whole soul to doing right and speaking the truth."
How great indeed! We should be happy that we have seen, heard and read the philosopher-scientist who dreamt for India's might.
Dr V Prakasam
C-30/1,East Kakatiyanagar,
Neredmet'
Secunderabad 500056
9848484161 040-27221389
By Dr Vennelakanti Prakasam
