Become Responsible Indians by reading Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam's, "Wings of Fire"

The best inspirational book for any Indian is the autobiography of the living legend, Bharata Ratna Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam well known to us as "WINGS OF FIRE" and before we discuss about the same we need to discuss about some facts related to modern India.

What is happening in India today?

There are good Indians who work hard and are loyal to the country but these people are always in doubt about their own character and principles because they often encounter problems in their lives due to the stupid events happening around them, due to the Resident Non Indians.

Today the biggest danger faced by India is not by outsiders or anti social elements, but it is mainly due to the RNIs (Resident Non Indians) as mentioned by Mr. Shiv Khera in his book 'Freedom is not free' and try their best to destroy this country for their selfishness through their caste based politics, spreading religious intolerance because of their commitment to the vote bank politics, making money and saving it in Swiss banks.

And there are NRIs (Non Resident Indians) who worry a lot about India by comparing India to those countries where they live and work. India has an advantage with those people at least that they uphold the name of India in those countries.

What we can do to improve the situation in our country?

Finally you need to check with your inner self, what you truly are!

Are you a patriot who loves your country? Are you aspiring to become a Leader to change this country? Are you an RNI who want to spoil the country? Are you an NRI who can contribute to bring out the change in this country?

If you find yourself to be a good Indian, then there is a lot to do for India. The really useful people to India are those 'Good Indians' as mentioned above who are the 'strong men with good character' as desired by Swami Vivekananda.

But many people today are lacking the inspiration, the zeal to think bigger to become leaders to take responsibility like those of Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subash Chandra bose, Lalbahadur Shastri, Bala Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Rabindranath Tagore, etc.

For getting inspiration or courage, we need to have good leaders around us. In case we don't have good people around us to guide us, we still have their good books. At least we are fortunate for having such good books. We need to read these good books, follow the message of the great leaders so that we can unleash our potential to grow in our lives, to become leaders and to contribute to our nation.

The good people need proper guidance and they need to understand that those who follow the 'Sanathana dharma' (the everlasting principles) need not worry about the outcome and should only keep on fulfilling their responsibilities, and the rest is taken care ultimately by the Almighty.

You need to think about what you have done for your country, as leaders never expect to receive something from others but instead they try to give something to others - their fellow countrymen.

"Those who contribute are Leaders, those who just consume are followers or masses (similar to parasites)." And again "Readers are Leaders" as per the phrase coined by 'Robin Sharma', the top leadership coach in this world.

Essence of the Wings of Fire

Here below is the Essence of Wings of Fire as a short summary. Our intention to include these points here is not for any commercial interest but only to promote this book voluntarily to help people of India realize about the Authentic Great leaders of this country and follow their message.

This book must be read by all Indians to personally know about the life of our former President Mr. APJ Abdul Kalam, and to have a personal feeling of a direct chat with him while reading the book. I have collected those points which Mr. Kalam followed in his life and has believed them to be his guiding principles.

• This earth is His, to Him belong to those vast and boundless skies; both seas within him rest, and yet in that small pool He lies - Atharvana Veda.
• When you pray, you transcend your body and become a part of the cosmos, which knows no division of wealth, age, caste or creed.
• Adversity always presents opportunity for introspection.
• There exists a divine power that can lift one up from confusion, misery, melancholy and failure, and guide one to one true place. And once an individual serves his emotional and physical bondage, he is on the road to freedom, happiness and peace of mind.
• To succeed in life and achieve results, you must understand and master three mighty forces - Desire, Belief and Expectation. With faith you can change your destiny.
• He who knows others is learned, but the wise one is the one who knows himself. Learning without wisdom is of no use.
• One should never worry about one's future prospects instead it is more important to lay sound foundations, to have sufficient enthusiasm and an accompanying passion for one's chosen field of study.
• Desire, when it stems from the heart and spirit, when it is pure and intense, possesses awesome electric energy. This energy is released into the ether each night, as the mind falls into the sleep state. Each morning it returns to the conscious state reinforced with the cosmic currents. That which has been imaged will surely and certainly be manifested. You can rely, young man, upon this ageless promise as you can rely upon the eternally unbroken promise of sunrise…………… and of spring.
• When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.
• All beings are born to delusion, Overcome by the dualities which arise from wish and hate, But those men of virtuous deeds in whom sin has come to an end, freed from the delusion of dualities, worship me steadfast in their vows – BhagavadGita.
• The best way to win is to not need to win. The best performances are accomplished when you are released and free of doubt.
• One of the important functions of prayer is to act as a stimulus to creative ideas.
• You cannot expect a person to deliver results if you humiliate him. Nor can you expect him to be creative if you abuse him or despise him.
• Problems can be the cutting edges that actually distinguish between success and failure. They draw out innate courage and wisdom.
• Those who cannot work with their hearts achieve but a hollow, half-hearted success that breeds bitterness all around.
• The kingdom of God is within you in the form of this power, to help achieve your goals and realize your dreams.
• For all your days prepare, And meet them ever alike, When you are the anvil, bear, and, When you are the hammer, strike.
• The best way to prevent errors is to anticipate them.
• Three things that have to be stressed are (1) Importance of working capability, (2) Goal setting and realization, and (3) The strength to withstand setbacks.
• Beautiful hands are those that do Work that is earnest and true moment by moment, the day long through.
• Don't worry and fret, fainthearted, the chances have just begun, for the best jobs haven't been started, the best work has not been done.
• If you want to leave your footprints on the sands of time, do not drag your feet.
• What can one do to strengthen personal freedom? - First, by building our own education skills. Knowledge is a tangible asset, quite often the most important tool in our work. The more up-to-date the knowledge you possess, the freer you are. The Second way is to develop a personal responsibility, the sovereign way to develop freedom is to personal freedom is to help determine the forces that determine you.
• Be active! Take on responsibility! Work for things you believe in. If you do not, you are surrendering your fate to others. We can combat the forces that threaten to oppress us.
• We can fortify ourselves with the qualities and conditions that promote individual freedom. In doing so, we help to create stronger organization, capable of achieving unprecedented goals.
• One should always remember that we don't just build on successes, we also build on failures.
• Total commitment is not just hard work, it is total involvement. Total commitment is a crucial quality for those who want to reach the very top of their profession. Total commitment is the common denominator among all the successful men and women.
• The difference between an energetic and a confused person in the way their minds handle their experiences.
• Man needs his difficulties because they are necessary to enjoy success. All of us carry some sort of a super intelligence within us. Let it be stimulated to enable us to examine our deepest thoughts, desires and beliefs.
• Flow is a sensation we experience when we act with total involvement. During flow, action follows action according to an interval logic that seems to need no conscious intervention on the part of the worker. Flow is the byproduct of controlled creativity. The first requirement is to work as hard as you can, at something that presents a challenge and is approved by your heart. It may not be an overwhelming challenge, but one that stretches you a little, something that makes you realize that you are performing a task better today than you did yesterday, or the last time you tried to do it.
• The Second prerequisite for being in flow is the availability of a significant span of uninterrupted time. Every person may require his own time to get into the flow (For Mr. APJ Abdul Kalam, it was half an hour).
• The secret to get into flow is to analyze previous occasions when you have been in flow, because each person has his or her unique natural frequency which responds to a particular stimulus. You alone can identify the common denominator in your case. Once you have isolated this common denominator, you can set the stage for flow.
• What you imagine is what will transpire. What you believe is what you will achieve.
• Four basic factors that are involved in successful outcomes are – (1) Goal Setting, (2) Positive thinking, (3) Visualizing & (4) Believing.
• One must believe that through difficulties and problems, God gives us the opportunity to grow. So when your hopes and dreams and goals are dashed, search among the wreckage, you may find a golden opportunity hidden in the ruins.
• Great dreams of great dreamers are always transcended. Be more dedicated to making solid achievement than in running after swift but synthetic happiness.
• God has not promised skies always blue flower-strewn pathways all our life through. God has not promised Sun without Rain, Joy without Sorrow, and Peace without Pain. But God has promised Strength for the day, Rest for the labor, Light for the way.
• Unlike science, technology is a group activity.
• Your willingness to use your own inner resources to invest your life, especially your imagination, will bring you success.
• Scientists and technologists were never afraid of failures during their missions.
• Failures contain within themselves the seeds of further learning which can lead to better technology, and eventually, to a high level of success.

Facts about some scientists

• For Kepler it took nearly 17 years for formulating his third law after formulating the two laws about planetary motion around the run. How many failures and frustrations must he have gone through?
• The idea that man could land on the moon, developed by Russian mathematician Konstatin Trilkovsky was realized after nearly four decades – and by USA at that.
• Professor Chandrasekhar had to wait nearly 50 years before receiving the prize for his discovery of the 'Chandrasekhar limit' a discovery made while he was a graduate student at Cambridge in the 1930's. If his work had been recognized then, it could have led to the discovery of the black hole decades earlier.
• How many failures must Von Braun have gone through before his Saturn launch vehicle put man on the moon?

These types of thoughts help to give us the ability to withstand apparently irreversible setbacks.