Simple, secular and compassionate: Wasn't he the Mahatma Gandhi of our times?

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam who died in Shillong on July 27 was all about passion and compassion. A personification of Gandhian simplicity, Kalam was the epitome of secular values, upholding and exemplifying the wisdom of all faiths.

In the latter part of his life, Kalam had devoted himself to the twin missions of working for the uplift of rural India and inspire children and the youth who constituted India's future generations.

Loved, respected and admired by all, the gentle Kalam worked silently in our midst, and without our knowing, emerged as the Mahatma Gandhi of our times.

For decades together, India has desired a leader like Mahatma Gandhi who could lead, inspire and transform the country -- if not physically, at least psychologically and philosophically. Was Kalam the man who did this silently as the Mahatma Gandhi of our times and moved on?

There is arguably no equivalent to Kalam, since Mahatma Gandhi, in terms of a leader who personifies Gandhian values of simplicity, high thinking and secularism and who has inspired the youth to dream big dreams and work for the nation.

When was it the last time that we saw a man as simple as Kalam who lived out of two suitcases and never once assumed a high moral ground about his simple habits and lifestyle? After an illustrious career as a missile and rocket scientist and technologist, Kalam, as the 11th President of India, led the nation in his own way from the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He used that high ceremonial office, not to sit on a high pedestal as an ornament, but to mingle with the masses, especially children and inspire them to dream big and pursue great goals for the nation.

Paradoxically, for all his love for Gandhian values of peace, non-violence, secularism and rural development, Kalam was the man who played a key role in weaponising India's nuclear capability in 1998 and was instrumental in developing the missile delivery system for nuclear bombs. This did not clash with his Gandhian ideals as he believed in the power of deterrence and a strong defence capability to defend the nation.

This emerges very clearly in his 2007 televised interaction with young collegians on NDTV when anchor Prannoy Roy asked him pointedly, "Are you in favour a nuclear bomb?"

Kalam was evasive initially but finally replied, "You cannot do tapas (pray and count beads) when there are nuclear weapons all around you." He then said, "Strength respects strength" and asked the students to repeat this after him.

The question that followed was about world peace and nuclear weapons and Kalam said that world peace was possible with a "three-dimensional approach": education with values, removal of poverty and transformation of religion into a spiritual force.

Wanting to provoke Kalam into saying something sensational, Roy had asked Kalam "whether a president should be a politician". Irritated and also amused by that question, Kalam said, "A president should be a good human being."

In his interaction with the Delhi collegians (India Questions Dr Abdul Kalam), the former president gave his email id and asked the students to write to him and tell him what they would like to be remembered for. The students did not lose that opportunity to tell Kalam that he would be remembered for his Gandhian simplicity and high thinking and for teaching the youth to dream big. Carrying his former presidency very lightly on his shoulders, Kalam advised Roy not to address him as ex-President but as professor.

Ever the optimist, Kalam explained the importance of a vision for national development and said that India could become a great nation by 2020 if she achieved 10% growth consistently for a decade. This, he said, was possible by paying attention to and developing agriculture and agro-processing, education (especially for women) and healthcare, information and communications technology (ICT) and self-reliance in critical technology.

Kalam was at his inspiring best whenever and wherever he spoke to children and the youth, which he did quite often after becoming the president. It was very clear that he had reposed his hopes for a better India in the youth who would constitute the future citizenry of India, and therefore, spent maximum time in trying to inspire them to work for the country. This was so right unto his last breath when he had addressed the students of IIM-Shillong and wanted to deliberate with them to find a mechanism or a solution to overcome the politics of logjam in Parliament.

Kalam would always tell children and the youth not to lose hope, no matter what. At one event, he told children to always remember: "Whatever happens, happens for the good; whatever has happened, has happened for the good, and whatever will happen, will happen for the good." With these simple words, he was trying to convey to the children, never to lose hope for a better future, no matter what.

Drawing from his own experience as a school boy in Rameshwaram, he always told children not to have small ambitions and to always respect their teachers, as it is they who could provide a direction to their lives, as had happened in his own case.

Almost everyone who interacted with Kalam has a story to share of his simplicity and gentle demeanor, as in the case of a lady administrative officer at a DRDO (Defence Research & Development Organisation) establishment in Pune. On being asked whether he needed anything during his stay at the DRDO guest house, Kalam indicated with a finger, "One small bottle of coconut oil and a small bar of soap."

A very telling episode of Kalam's commitment to Indian secularism is from his presidency when he undertook an official visit to Gujarat in the aftermath of the 2002 Godhdra riots in which 1,200 people had been killed. The Vajpayee government was not keen on his visit.

As Kalam revealed in his book Turning Points, he explained to Vajpayee that he considered his visit "an important duty so that I can be of some use to remove the pain, and also accelerate the relief activities, and bring about a unity of minds, which is my mission, as I stressed in my address during the swearing-in ceremony".