President A. P J. Abdul Kalam in Lexington - A Night of Contrast and Parellels

I had the pleasure of attending the dinner for Dr. Abdul Kalam, 11th President of India last night, organized by the Bluegrass Indo-American Civic Society. It was a night filled with messages for the leaders of the world, and for the hearts of individuals. The room was filled with Kentucky’s most influential people, mixed with some of the region’s diverse Indian community with their families…a spectral array of native dress and beaming smiles. Standing in the Marriott vestibule, it was easy to imagine I was at a celebration in Hyderabad or Jaipur, and it was intoxicating.

Kalam, who served India as president from 2002-2007, moved India forward and set up an ambitious plan to create a fully developed nation by 2020 (see Technology Vision 2020 plan.)

Dr. Lee Todd of UK did a nice job of talking about diversity on campus and in Lexington, which I think is critical to the future of our community. During the presentation, a gift of $1M was given to the Gatton School of Business by Melappalayam S. and Sowmya Vijayaraghavan of Lexington to support professorships and research in India business studies. There was a commitment made to increase the ties between UK and universities within India.

As I have recently seen or read more about Abraham Lincoln, I couldn’t help but sense the parallels between he and Dr. Kalam. Towering intellect, compassion and humanitarian perspectives were shared between them. I was lucky to be there. I hope that someday I will see a leader in the USA offer the world a combination of attributes such as this.

Dr. Kalem said of Lincoln and Ghandi: “the two great souls who brought politics and nobility together.”

We were asked to repeat, with him, this message… it was the most memorable part of the evening to many.
“Where there is righteousness in the heart
There is beauty in the character.
When there is beauty in the character,
There is harmony in the home.
When there is harmony in the home.
There is an order in the nation.
When there is order in the nation,
There is peace in the world.”

With it, and most of his words, he managed to connect the heart of individuals with the entire world community.

He said of Kentucky

“Not only they are blessed with beautiful places, (but) beautiful minds.”

Thanks, Dr. Kalam, I hope you’ll come back to Kentucky soon.

PS: If you’re in Lexington, I’m told that there is an amazing exhibit at the UK Art Museum called “Miniature Worlds, Art from India.” I encourage you to check it out.

del.icio.us Digg it ma.gnolia Netscape reddit StumbleUpon Yahoo MyWeb

Leave a Reply