Too good to be true !!!

I have been quite used to treating the phrase 'Dream come true' with quite a lot of skepticism. Nah...this stuff is always for fairy tales...I used to say. But two thousand and eight years, eight months and sixteen days after Christ was supposedly born, my cynicism about the aforementioned phrase has been put to rest.

It was the annual convocation at our college. The usual affair, you say. But when I counter you by saying that present in the function was none other than the Missile Man of India, arguably the worthiest President of India, the great Visionary, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, you have no choice but to stand and stare, which was exactly what I did as a matter of fact. Here was a man who had given Wings of Fire and Ignited the Minds of millions of Indians, no more than a cricket pitch's length away from me. Truly too good to be true!

One look at him and you could sense his aura; even though he is 76 "orbits" old, he has a concoction of enthusiasm and energy that suffuses through the air like the deadliest of viruses. And then comes his speech like one of his 'Agni's, with a perfect trajectory. He unfolds his Vision for a 'Developed India', as he puts it, which is pretty lofty for the average human being, which you and I are. Simply speaking, it is simply incredible to have a vision like that. And just when I start having another bout of skepticism, this time, about the practicality of his Vision, the great man brings forth his implementation policy, the Road Map, as some would call it. He identifies five core areas for development viz., Agro Business, Infrastructure, IT and Health Services, Railways and Ship Building. As though by magic (or logic for him), he links the economic development of India to the Creative Leadership that we all need to be displaying once we pass out of our institute. It would be absolutely scandalous to let him down. And the Prestige of the magical oration is an oath that he makes us take, saying that we would always think of how much we can contribute to whatever task we do, never compromising with our ethics.

Later, when the great man was asked whether India's political leaders have the mettle to carry out his Vision, he simply laughed. Very suggestive, isn't it?

And that's the way the Cookie Crumbles !