Former Indian President Dr A P J Kalam, who was the chief guest at the
anniversary celebrations of the JSS Spiritual Mission, USA, here on October 15 at
its 51-acre site in rural Maryland, exhorted the more than 2,500 people who
flocked to hear him that it was incumbent upon them to give their adopted
country their all, and then some.
Kalam said that apart from spreading the spiritualism and bringing together
a unity of minds, the JSS Mission had a unique mission in that it "should
spread the message that whichever country Indian populations are there,
particularly the USA, you must always give to that country your best of knowledge,
you best of work, everything you do, you have to give to that country."
The erstwhile president, who flew in from New York to Baltimore and then
visited with some leading scientists at the NASA Center in Greenbelt, Maryland,
before coming over to the JSS Mission to meet the enthusiastic throngs who had
waited hours to meet and greet him, emphasized that this giving off one's
best for one's adopted country was "very important. Today, Indian's population
of nearly 23 million people are abroad. Either, they are citizens of other
countries or they are working there."
"So it's essential that whichever country you go, you make that country a
winner," he said, and added, "that is your mission. I am sure the JSS
Spiritual Mission in USA will definitely spread this mission."
Kalam also recalled the "power of association," citing the example of the
meeting between "industrialist and saint—this is between Swami Vivekananda and
Jamshed Tata."
Text: Aziz Haniffa | Photographs: Paresh Gandhi
Image: Autograph-hunters flood APJ Abdul Kalam in Gaithersburg, Maryland
Also read: Kalam in Silicon Valley
Advertisement
