Working towards a better world

Dr. Kalam’s recent Sydney visit focussed on inclusive development, reports GAURAV PANDEY

There is something wonderfully endearing about Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. His recent visit to Sydney at the invitation from the University of Sydney bore testimony to the affection people from all walks of life feel for him. If there was ever a people’s president, it was him.

At a reception held in his honour at Hotel Shangri-La in Sydney, Dr. Kalam engrossed a packed ballroom gathering of Indian diaspora, students and children.

Indian High Commissioner Sujata Singh described Dr. Kalam as “one of the great figures of modern India, who has met 11 million youngsters in the course of the last 10 years.”

It is well-known that Dr. Kalam enjoys interacting with the youth, and this occasion was no different. “Ignited minds of the youth are the biggest assets,” he stressed, advising them to “work towards a better nation, and a better world.”

Dr. Kalam highlighted the need to inculcate the spirit of ‘what can I give’ in people, which, he said, would lead to a society which is compassionate, environmentally conscious and caring.

“We are making significant progress in all directions in our quest to become an economically developed nation by 2020. But we also have many challenges to overcome. They include corruption and moral turpitude in the nation, environmental degradation and the need to build a compassionate society. These are evils which need to be defeated by the goodness of the citizens,” he stated.

Dr. Kalam quoted Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar, “The important elements that constitute a nation are: being disease free; high earning capacity; high productivity; harmonious living and strong defence.”

“I will work with integrity and succeed with integrity,” he asked the crowd repeat after him. They readily complied.

Sydney Ideas lecture

The following day, Dr. Kalam was invited to deliver a lecture under Sydney Ideas, the University of Sydney’s premier public lecture series programme that aims to bring some of world’s leading thinkers to the wider Sydney community.

The event saw an overwhelming turnout, and many had to be persuaded to leave the overfilling hall. The disappointment in the crowd was palpable: some protested, some pleaded, and many continued to wait outside the hall, hoping to catch a glimpse of him.

Dr. Kalam’s lecture Empowering 3 billion, peppered with anecdotes and examples, focussed on the need to bring inclusive growth and integrated development to the nations of the world.

Today when the world is connected through environment, people, economy and ideas, problems are no longer confined to individual nations, he said.

“The economic turbulence originating in one part of the globe shook the whole world, and a volcanic eruption in an island country brought the entire airline industry and more than 5000 commercial flights to a halt,” he said.

Dr. Kalam said that the flow of ideas has also led to increasing importance of global human rights and the idea of democracy.  He recalled an experience: “When I walked into a multinational software company in Bangalore, I was fascinated to find that it truly presented a multicultural environment. A software developer from China, a project leader from Korea, a software engineer from India, a hardware architect from the US, and a communication expert from Germany, were all working together to solve the banking problem in Australia.”

He cited the pro-democracy movements in the Middle East – which started three months ago, when a Tunisian fruit vendor lit a match, starting a fire that spread throughout the Arab world – as an example of how a seamless flow of information and people meant that local or regional issues will invariably gain global prominence, and unaddressed problems can mutate rapidly into global terrorism.

“In such times,” he said, “the empowerment of rural regions of the world is critically important from the perspective of inclusive development, sustained peace and shared prosperity of the world.”

Dr. Kalam concluded his talk with a quote from Maharishi Patanjali: “When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bounds, your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, you will find yourself in a new great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.”

Honorary doctorate

A day later, Dr. Kalam received his 41st honorary doctorate from the University of Sydney.

“I am impressed with the objectives of the University towards creation of an Australian society where individuals, regardless of their backgrounds and circumstances, have equal opportunity to realise their full potential,” he said in his acceptance speech.

Later, he spoke on Global Energy Independence Platform, focussing on the need to find innovative methods to reduce the consumption of the electric power from fossil fuel.

Dr. Kalam advocated a three dimensional approach to achieve global energy independence: first, to ensure affordability in access to quality energy for all; second, to ensure that the dependence on depleting fossil fuels is minimised thereby giving stability to the energy supply; and third, to focus on developing green energy.

“Historically there has been a distinct correlation between energy availability and economic prosperity of a nation or a society. In the future, the emerging trend is that there is also a strong bond between quality of energy and environment,” he stated.

Indo-Oz relations

Dr. Kalam highlighted the need for the two nations to evolve a plan of action for a thorium-based nuclear reactor using thorium reserves available in the world with “adequate safety systems in place.”

He said that India and Australia can jointly initiate a campaign to stimulate research, development, marketing, deployment and maintenance of customised and cost effective solutions in green energy domain for the two nations.

Dr. Kalam’s visit to Sydney was timely, as a session of the Australia-India joint ministerial commission convened in Canberra with a focus on free trade agreement aimed at achieving greater economic integration between the two countries.

Dr. Kalam’s visit was hosted by the University of Sydney, Engineering and Information Technology faculty.