Ignited Minds

There are people like APJ Abdul Kalam who are truly a blessing for the nation. An out and out patriot, a scientist and our beloved former president of India, Kalam was no less an author than the bestsellers of today. His books always gained the praise and critical appreciation. Today, I will be talking about a book which ignited so many minds in the country – yes, Ignited Minds, published in 2002 and authored by Abdul Kalam.

“A true patriot’s guide to a better nation” this is the apt phrase to describe the book Ignited Minds in short. We all know like all others that any nation consists of its people. And with their collective efforts, a nation can accomplish toughest of its goals very easily. Kalam was always in love with the youth population of the country and he always aspired to inspire them to do something better for India. Ignited Minds, in a book form, is nothing but the embodiment of his ever-enchanting idea that Indian youths should come ahead and take the stead.

True, the book revolves around the ideas, thoughts, dreams etc… and it has been divided into eleven chapters. There are chapters which convey different messages to the readers but out of those eleven, chapter ‘To The Countrymen’ delivers an entirely personalised message of Kalam to the citizens of India – the youths in particular. Other chapters that I would like to discuss are – Patriotism beyond Politics and Religion and Getting the Forces Together. What do we see today? Our armed forces do surgical strikes and we have the politicians and religious self-proclaimed leaders who are there to question the army’s valour! This is exactly not what Kalam envisioned. He always wished that national machinery could function together, collectively, to ensure that we are protected against our outsider enemies. However, we seem to have lost the message and somewhat decoded it wrongly! Still, India is still in the need of nationalism which goes beyond politics and religion. Getting our forces together is another beautiful chapter that I liked. It gives us the ideas how can we collectively achieve even the bigger goals and fulfill our ambitions for the national interest.

In short and to conclude, the book Ignited Minds by APJ Abdul Kalam, our always beloved former president, gives us the message of motivation and moving ahead. It does not tell us to stop and wait for the opportunity; it propels us to grab the opportunity or to create the opportunity. We are a nation of billion dreams but we must have some common national goals that we must aspire for achieving. We are by the nation and so, we must do something good for the nation which has given us and our ancestors the shelter and a name – Indians! I loved this book and there is nothing which holds it back! A must read for the Indians and especially the young Indians.