There are many emotions and opinions associated with the demise of a teacher, technocrat and president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. There are stories doing the rounds about his achievements, about anecdotes from his life and a lot of nationalistic emotions are flowing. Among all the outpourings and the millions of little pieces of information, one thing enlightened and inspired me. A close aide of the late Dr Kalam was asked by the man himself what he would like to be remembered for/as? The pupil was not too sure and shot the question back to Dr Kalam. Pat came the reply "as a teacher".
Isn't it surprising - for all the things he was known for he wanted to be remembered as a teacher rather than be acknowledged by the famous epithet of "Missile man" or as the "peoples president". A germ of an idea took root in me when I read this.One does not have to be a rocket scientist to feel a sense of achievement at the end of his life. One does not have to lead a bank or run a million dollar corporation, to one day after retirement, look at the mirror and feel a sense of contentment. One does not have to become president to have a peaceful retirement with the satisfaction of a life well lived! I think this is an important lesson we need to learn if we are to avoid dejection and regret about a life not lived successfully.
Some men manage to impact the society with a magnitude that 99% of the remaining people can never dream of. So does that mean the remaining 99% of the people have nothing to be remembered for? Does this mean that an average person has nothing to feel good about after he has taken reprieve from the world for his bit of rest? No! The 1% may have impacted the society by sending a space craft to Pluto or discovering a cure for AIDS, but do they carry my daughter on their shoulders to see the fair? Do they go the extra mile to earn the few extra rupees to make my families life a little better? Do they have the time to sit with a friend of mine who has lost his loved one and needs a shoulder to cry on? Do they feed the street dog that faithfully lies at my gate expecting me to feed it because I have been it's savior?
No, they cannot do any of this for the people that you do it for! So no matter how much impact they have made on society it's you that has made an impact in your families life,in your friends life, in the lives of the all the people that you touch. You will be remembered for the extra effort you put in to help that child learn in your class. You will be remembered for the extra time you worked to ensure that your customer got his insurance amount on time! You will be remembered for shaping the life of your child and for showing them the person they could be! You will be remembered for the loving and caring partner that you were and helping your partner grow personally. You will be remembered by the poor little sick brown dog that you fed every day in spite of a busy life style!
An average man has a lot to his credit. No human being needs to feel they have not achieved in life. Achievement/success in today's mainstream media definition is limited to money, position/power and fame. They are the things being sold and therefore they are the things that are yearned for. Success does not have a static representation. It is different to different people. One mans success ends at a million and another's begins at it. One man's success is all about a happy family and another man's is all about a happy penguin.
If a man of Dr Kalam's stature with so many achievements under his belt could choose teaching as his most important achievement in life over all the other things that are deemed important by others, I don't see why we cannot choose what is closest to our heart and do our best at it and feel satisfied about a life well lived.
Our achievement could be as "trivial" as educating our children as much as their potential deems fit to see them excel in their lives or as "magnificent" as a cure for AIDS. Both of these are successful, only difference is how you choose to see it.
Isn't it surprising - for all the things he was known for he wanted to be remembered as a teacher rather than be acknowledged by the famous epithet of "Missile man" or as the "peoples president". A germ of an idea took root in me when I read this.One does not have to be a rocket scientist to feel a sense of achievement at the end of his life. One does not have to lead a bank or run a million dollar corporation, to one day after retirement, look at the mirror and feel a sense of contentment. One does not have to become president to have a peaceful retirement with the satisfaction of a life well lived! I think this is an important lesson we need to learn if we are to avoid dejection and regret about a life not lived successfully.
Some men manage to impact the society with a magnitude that 99% of the remaining people can never dream of. So does that mean the remaining 99% of the people have nothing to be remembered for? Does this mean that an average person has nothing to feel good about after he has taken reprieve from the world for his bit of rest? No! The 1% may have impacted the society by sending a space craft to Pluto or discovering a cure for AIDS, but do they carry my daughter on their shoulders to see the fair? Do they go the extra mile to earn the few extra rupees to make my families life a little better? Do they have the time to sit with a friend of mine who has lost his loved one and needs a shoulder to cry on? Do they feed the street dog that faithfully lies at my gate expecting me to feed it because I have been it's savior?
No, they cannot do any of this for the people that you do it for! So no matter how much impact they have made on society it's you that has made an impact in your families life,in your friends life, in the lives of the all the people that you touch. You will be remembered for the extra effort you put in to help that child learn in your class. You will be remembered for the extra time you worked to ensure that your customer got his insurance amount on time! You will be remembered for shaping the life of your child and for showing them the person they could be! You will be remembered for the loving and caring partner that you were and helping your partner grow personally. You will be remembered by the poor little sick brown dog that you fed every day in spite of a busy life style!
An average man has a lot to his credit. No human being needs to feel they have not achieved in life. Achievement/success in today's mainstream media definition is limited to money, position/power and fame. They are the things being sold and therefore they are the things that are yearned for. Success does not have a static representation. It is different to different people. One mans success ends at a million and another's begins at it. One man's success is all about a happy family and another man's is all about a happy penguin.
If a man of Dr Kalam's stature with so many achievements under his belt could choose teaching as his most important achievement in life over all the other things that are deemed important by others, I don't see why we cannot choose what is closest to our heart and do our best at it and feel satisfied about a life well lived.
Our achievement could be as "trivial" as educating our children as much as their potential deems fit to see them excel in their lives or as "magnificent" as a cure for AIDS. Both of these are successful, only difference is how you choose to see it.
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