When the divine moment arrives

There are moments when the Spirit moves among men and the breath of the Lord is abroad upon the waters of our being; there are others when it retires and men are left to act in the strength or weakness of their egoism. The first are periods when even a little effort produces great results; the second are spaces of time when much labour goes to the making of a little result...
Unhappy is the man or the nation which, when the divine moment arrives, is found sleeping or unprepared to use it, because the lamp has not been kept trimmed for the welcome and the ears are sealed to the call. — Sri Aurobindo (The Hour of God)

A few well-known journalists and quite a few members of the Opposition are of the opinion that A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, though a scientist of no mean stature, is no politician and that hence his being the President of the Republic has to be viewed with reservation. And this all the more so because the President is not only a "political institution," but also the supreme head of the country's armed forces. Another contention is that since Dr. Kalam has spearheaded India's missile technology, satellite programme and nuclear weaponisation, such a "Missile-Man" will send a "wrong signal" to the world at large.

Whatever that may be, I see the event in a totally different light. At this juncture of our nation's history when criminalisation of politics is a fact, when corruption is rife in almost every branch and aspect of the country's activity and when the so-called "national leaders" — politicians, puny men with no vision, no imagination nor backbone — of every hue appear to have thrown overboard all values of decency, discipline, honesty, rectitude and a sense of duty to promote their own narrow, petty selfish ends, Dr. Kalam now at the head of the nation seems to be the man of the hour, almost a godsend.

Dr. Kalam is an idealist. He has a vision for the country. A man of integrity, he is universally acknowledged as a simple, humble, honest and hard-working man. His thirst for knowledge is huge and his pursuit of it limited to no one field but many. He is dynamic and a successful monitor of teamwork in the area of his specialisation...

Whatever that may be, suffice it to know that there are more things in heaven and earth than our surface outward petty view can scan or gauge and that men are only "playthings" — instruments — in the hands of those things (read forces) that work behind this apparent reality for the evolution of an individual, a nation, mankind or the earth as a whole. BIBHAS JYOTI MUTSUDDI The Hindu Open Page Tuesday, Aug 27, 2002