BELIEVE IN YOURSELF by Dr.A.P.J.ABDUL KALAM

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF  by  Dr.A.P.J.ABDUL KALAM

SUMMARY

OUTLINE OF THE ESSAY:

·        INTRODUCTION

·        KALAM’S VIEWS ON INDIANS’ INTELLIGENCE

·        INDIANS’BROADMINDEDNESS

·        INDIANS’NEGATIVE ATTITUDE

·        CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION:  Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was born in Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu on October 15, 1931.  He was the 11^th President of India from 2002-2007. Dr. Kalam was a recipient of several prestigious awards.  He was awarded India’s highest civilian honour ‘Bharat Ratna’. He was the first Asian to be bestowed with Hoover Medal Top Engineering Prize, by America, for his outstanding contribution to public service on April 29, 2009.  The essay ‘Believe in yourself’ is taken from his book “India 2020”, Chapter Two, ‘What Other Countries Envision for Themselves’.  

KALAM’S VIEWS ON INDIANS’ INTELLIGENCE:  Dr.  Kalam had always wanted Indians to have faith in themselves.  He felt unhappy to see Indians having negative attitude about India.  He asks the people to remember, that only the Indian Remote sensing satellite was used in the superbly made German Calendar with maps of Europe and Africa.  He recalls a dinner meeting with his guests in which they had discussed the early history of rocketry. When they only glorified about the Chinese invention of gun powder, Dr.Abdul Kalam, rightly spoke about Tippu’s military rockets kept in the London Museum.  But a senior Indian said that the French would have imparted the knowledge to Tippu.  Dr. Kalam was unhappy about this kind of negative attitude among most of the Indians.  Dr. Kalam proudly stated that our rockets were the first rockets used in the world.  He added that the British had been so impressed that they wanted to study those rockets and improve upon them. They used the improved versions for their warfare. 

 INDIANS’ BROADMINDEDNESS: Kalam stresses the fact that India has never opposed to welcome anything from outside be it people, ideas or technology. We have received them and adapted them to suit the needs of the country and the people. Similarly, Indians have gone abroad and spread our culture and knowledge.  He recalls how India was glorified in the yester years. He also stresses that any new idea was accepted as an innovation. However, in recent times we only want to imitate or follow what others have done. Dr.Kalam had even taken the efforts to authenticate that the book by the British scientist Sir Bernard Lovell, was a credential for Tippu’s rockets.

INDIANS’ NEGATIVE ATTITUDE:   When Dr. Kalam had referred to the description of Tippu’s rockets by a British writer, the Indian guests at the dinner had only made a brief remark “interesting”. He claimed that Indians often forget the pride of their country and people. He also says that they have a blind admiration for anything just because it is outside `our borders’. He stresses the fact that Indians should always remember that their heroes have always been creative and have very often contributed to the development in technology.

CONCLUSION:  India has high calibre scientists and technologists who enrich the economies of foreign countries.  Dr. Kalam asks the people of India to overcome the defeatist mentality that Indians cannot do anything new for India. He concludes that people of India should generate documents which express their future vision for the country and the world at large. 

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN     - ROBERT FROST

OUTLINE OF THE ESSAY:

*INTRODUCTION

*UNCERTAINTY IN THE CHOICE

*POET’S JUSTIFICATION

*FACTS ABOUT THE CHOICES

*CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION: The poet Robert Frost was born in San Francisco on March 26th, 1884. He developed a particular interest in poetry. In this poem he speaks about how an individual has to make choices in the different stages of life. The poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom.

UNCERTAINTY IN THE CHOICE: One morning the poet stood in a junction of two roads. The roads split to two different directions into a forest.  The poet wants to travel on both the roads.  Since it is impossible for him to travel on both the roads, being a single traveller , he decided to choose one. He stood long and felt sorry that he could not travel on both the roads.

POET’S JUSTIFICATION:  The poet considers both the paths and concludes that each one is equally well-travelled and appealing. He says that the first road was quite often travelled and so it would be good. He thought the second road, was better as it was new, grassy and not travelled much. So he decided to choose the second road. It is possible that our poet is the first to travel to this place on that day. The paths are covered with leaves which have not been turned black by feet crushing them. This selection suggests that he has an independent spirit and does not wish to blindly follow the usual crowd.

FACTS ABOUT THE CHOICES: The poet remains committed to his decision to take the road he had previously selected, saying that he will save the other road for another day. He observes, however, that he probably will never pass this way again and thus will never have an opportunity to take the other road. In the years to come, the speaker says, he will be telling others about the choice he made. While doing so, he will sigh either with relief that he made the right choice or with regret that he made the wrong choice. Whether right or wrong, the choice will have had a significant impact on his life.

CONCLUSION: The poet could firmly say that his choice made all the difference. Hence he took the road less travelled by and that made the difference. In life, it is important to overcome obstacles and to overcome the fear of the unknown. Without determination, Christopher Columbus would not have discovered America and Neil Armstrong would not have walked on the Moon.