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'Unity of minds' to be Kalam's theme

President A P J Abdul Kalam will continue to stress the "unity of minds free from all forms of communal and other strife" and on nobility of leadership during his five-year term, his confidant and senior government scientist Y S Rajan has said.

Yagnaswami Sundara Rajan, executive director of the government's Technology Information, Forecasting, and Assessment Council, was Abdul Kalam's scientific secretary when the latter was principal scientific adviser to the government. The two have co-authored a book, India 2020 -- A Vision for the New Millennium.

Rajan also accompanied the President on his recent two-day, high-voltage visit to Gujarat. The President's call for 'nobility of leadership' on that visit was significant, given that he had expressed similar sentiments before becoming President when asked about the riots in the state.

It is not known, however, what exactly President Kalam told Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi during their interactions. Rajan said he wasn't privy to their discussions.

Rajan told rediff.com Gujarat was selected for the President's first visit for a variety of reasons, primary among them being the fact that it was the home state of two of modern India's greatest visionaries -- Mahatma Gandhi and Vikram Sarabhai -- and that it had witnessed terrible communal riots.

Rajan pointed out that in the book co-authored by him and Abdul Kalam, the very first chapter deals with the Mahatma's teachings. "The Mahatma has always been on top of his mind," Rajan said of Kalam. The spirit of Gandhiji's vow never to return to the Sabarmati Ashram unless India had won complete independence and the Dandi March had all inspired Kalam since childhood.

He said the "nobility of leadership" that the new President has been stressing was "embodied by Mahatma Gandhi".

Rajan said that because of his busy schedule, the President could not "visit all places" and had to restrict himself to a few chosen areas. "But wherever he went, people spoke to him frankly, many gave him petitions." The scientist recalled how a group of people told the President at one camp that the first instalment of compensation was distributed only on the morning of his visit.

The President was most disturbed by the plight of children in the refugee camps. "Wherever he met children whose normal activities, especially studies, were disrupted, he was deeply anguished," Rajan recalled.

Overall, during the visit to riot victims, the President's "heart went out to them", Rajan said, adding that Abdul Kalam had expressed his sentiments in the statement that he issued after his visit.

Rajan said the President was overwhelmed by the "empathy and emotions of the people", who thronged the streets and meeting places to catch a glimpse of Abdul Kalam.

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