----------------------------------------------------------- New Message on BDOTNET
----------------------------------------------------------- From: DOTNETMahesh Message 1 in Discussion > Speech by - President Abdul Kalam > > "I have three visions for India. > In 3000 years of our history, people from all over the world have > come and invaded us, captured our lands, conquered our minds. From > Alexander onwards. The Greeks, the Turks, the Moguls, the > Portuguese, the British,the French, the Dutch, all of them came and > looted us, took over what was ours. Yet we have not done this to any > other nation. We have not conquered anyone.We have not grabbed their > land, their culture, their history and tried to force our way of > life on them. Why? Because we respect the freedom others. > > That is why my first vision is that of FREEDOM. > I believe that India got its first vision of this in 1857, when we > started the war of independence. It is this freedom that we must > protect and nurture and build on. If we are not free, no one will > respect us. > > My second vision for India is DEVELOPMENT. > For fifty years we have been a developing nation. It is time we see > ourselves as a developed nation. We are among top 5 nations of the > world in terms of GDP. We have 10 percent growth rate in most areas. > Our poverty levels are falling. Our achievements are being globally > recognized today. Yet we lack the self-confidence to see ourselves > as a developed nation, self-reliant and self-assured. Isn't this > incorrect? > > I have a THIRD vision. > India must stand up to the world. Because I believe that, unless > India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. Only strength > respects strength. We must be strong not only as a military power > but also as an economic power. Both must go hand-in-hand. My good > fortune was to have worked with three great minds. Dr. Vikram > Sarabhai of the Dept. of space, > Professor Satish Dhawan, who succeeded him and Dr.Brahm Prakash, > father of nuclear material. I was lucky to have worked with all > three of them closely and consider this the great opportunity of my > life. > > I see four milestones in my career: > Twenty years I spent in ISRO. I was given the opportunity to be the > project director for India's first satellite launch vehicle, SLV3. > The one that launched Rohini. These years played a very important > role in my life as a Scientist. > > After my ISRO years, I joined DRDO and got a chance to be the part > of India's guided missile program. It was my second bliss when Agni > met its mission requirements in 1994. > > The Dept. of Atomic Energy and DRDO had this tremendous partnership > in the recent nuclear tests, on May 11 and 13. This was the third > bliss. The joy of participating with my team in these nuclear tests > and proving to the world that India can make it, that we are no > longer a developing nation but one of them. It made me feel very > proud as an Indian. The fact that we have now developed for Agni a re- > entry structure, for which we have developed this new material. A > Very light material called carbon-carbon. > > One day an orthopedic surgeon from Nizam Institute of Medical > Sciences visited my laboratory. He lifted the material and found it > so light that he took me to his hospital and showed me his patients. > There were these little girls and boys with heavy metallic calipers > weighing over three Kg. each, dragging their feet around. He said to > me: Please remove the pain of my patients. In three weeks, we made > these Floor reaction Orthosis 300-gram calipers and took them to the > orthopedic center. The children didn't believe their eyes. From > dragging around a three kg. load on their legs, they could now move > around! Their parents had tears in their eyes. That was my fourth > bliss! > > Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so > embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are > such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we > refuse to acknowledge them. Why? > > We are the first in milk production. > We are number one in Remote sensing satellites. > We are the second largest producer of wheat. > We are the second largest producer of rice. > > Look at Dr. Sudarshan, he has transferred the tribal village into a > self-sustaining, self driving unit. There are millions of such > achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and > failures and disasters. > > I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It > was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had > taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the > newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years > had transformed his desert land into an orchid and a granary. It was > this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of > killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried > among other news. > > In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why > are we so NEGATIVE? > > Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign > things? > > We want foreign TVs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign > technology. Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not > realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance? > > I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl > asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She > replied: I want to live in a developed India. > For her, you and I will have to build this developed India. You > must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly > developed nation. > > Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance. > Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, > choice is yours. > > YOU say that our government is inefficient. > YOU say that our laws are too old. > YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage. > YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke, > The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their > destination. > YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the > absolute pits. > YOU say, say and say. > > What do YOU do about it? Take a person on his way to Singapore. > Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS. YOU walk out of the > airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you > don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU > are as proud of their Underground Links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. > Rs.60) to > drive through Orchard Road(equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder > Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU comeback to the parking lot to > punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or > a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity. In Singapore > you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during > Ramadan, > in Dubai. > YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah. > YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in > London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to, "see to it that my STD and > ISD calls are billed to someone else." YOU would not dare to speed > beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic > cop, "Jaanta hai sala main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am > so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost." > YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the > garbage pail on the beaches in Australiaand New Zealand. > Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo? > Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in > Boston? > We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform > to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You > who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch > Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in > an alien country, why cannot YOU be the same here in India? > > Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of > Bombay, Mr.Tinaikar, had a point to make. "Rich people's dogs are > walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the > place," he said. > "And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the > authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they > expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog > feels the pressure in his bowels? > > In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done > the job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?" He's > right. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that > forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and > expect the government to do everything for us whilst our > contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean > up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place > nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper and > throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean > bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms. > We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food > and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least > opportunity. This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass > on the service to the public. When it comes to burning social issues > like those related to women, dowry, girl child and others, we make > loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at > home. Our excuse? "It's the whole system which has to change, how will it > matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry." So who's going > to change the system? > What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists > of our neighbors, other households, other cities, other communities > and the government. But definitely not ME and YOU. When it comes to > us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock > ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into > the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come > along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we > leave the country and run away. > Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in > their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure > we run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take > the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we > demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. > Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of > feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money. > > Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a > great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too....I am > echoing J.F.Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate to > Indians..... > "ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA > WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY" > > Lets do what India needs from us. Forward this mail to each Indian > for a change instead of sending Jokes or junk mails. > > Jai Hind > > Abdul Kalaam > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ Need more e-mail storage? Get 10MB with Hotmail Extra Storage. http://join.msn.com/?PAGE=features/es ----------------------------------------------------------- To stop getting this e-mail, or change how often it arrives, go to your E-mail Settings. http://groups.msn.com/BDOTNET/_emailsettings.msnw Need help? 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