CHICAGO: In the death of Dr Abdul Kalam, India not only lost a well respected scientist but also a sagacious secular political leader and a humanitarian. He excelled as a scientist no doubt, but he proved himself equal to the task when elected President of India – the highest position one can achieve in Republic India. The tributes, homages and Shraddhanjali that he continues to get from Indians everywhere prove that he has emerged greater in death than in life.
Niranjan Shah, a foremost community leader remembering this great son of India said “I had the privilege and pleasure of meeting Dr Kalam in India on more than one occasion. The first time that I met Dr Kalam was in early 2000 during President Clinton’s State Visit to India. Prime Minister Vajpayee had hosted a State Lunch for President Clinton, which I was privileged to attend.
Dr Kalam was there at the reception. At that time he was the Science Advisor to the PM. I recognized him from photographs that I had previously seen in newspapers. I approached him and introduced myself, and asked him if he had said “hello to the President.” He said, “No, I leave that for the political people.” I then asked him if he’d like to, and he said yes.
I took him to the front of the line and introduced him to President Clinton as one of the most important people in India, second only to the Prime Minister. I introduced him as the person responsible for India’s nuclear test. President Clinton invited Dr Kalam to have a private meeting with him in his hotel room, and of course he happily obliged. If I understand correctly, the President did in fact meet with him.
In turn, Dr Kalam invited me for a breakfast in his office the next day. We talked about many science-related issues. In a few years time, he became the President of India. I had the privilege of meeting him a few more times, including when I received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award in 2006.
Dr Kalam was a simple yet very brilliant human being. It’s a great achievement that India can elect someone like Dr Kalam as President. On the day of his funeral, the New York Times did a story on a Muslim man who was hanged for the Mumbai terrorist attack by the Indian government. They neglected to provide significant coverage of the fact that India is the greatest democracy where Dr Kalam was the second Muslim to become President of India, and the fact that the entire country came together to mourn the death of Dr Kalam.
Niranjan Shah, is a front ranking Indian community leader and CEO of one of the top engineering consulting firms – Globetrotter Engineering Corporation Chicago.
Ramesh Soparawala
India Post News Service
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