A standing ovation, thunderous applause and loud cheers welcomed him every time he walked into a packed hall. The former Indian president A P J Abdul Kalam ignited the imagination of thousands of his young fans in the UAE, urging them to read more, plant trees and sharing his mantra of world peace: making your mother happy.
A noted scientist and prolific author, the 82-year-old Kalam addressed three separate sessions at the Sharjah International Book Fair on Thursday, liberally citing ancient Indian texts, Syrian poets and Nelson Mandela. He started the morning with a keynote address at a seminar titled Birth of an Author in You, where he said “we all have authors inside” that are yet to be discovered.
An author of several inspirational books including Wings of Fire, Ignited Minds and Turning Points, Kalam revealed how he had visited a few book stalls earlier with the Ruler of Sharjah, Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, whom he hailed as a cultural scholar who knew the importance of knowledge dissemination.
Titled Great Books are Born out of Great Minds, Kalam’s talk focused on how human beings are wired for stories, as the worlds we imagine in books let us experience what we haven’t experienced in the real world.
Saying that the first step to enrich oneself was reading, Kalam administered an oath to students and parents, which they repeated after him: “Today onwards I will start a home library with at least 10 quality books, of which five will be children’s books. My son/daughter will enrich this library and my grandchildren will have a great library with 1,000 books. I consider our library as a lifelong treasure. We will spend at least one hour every day reading books.”
Kalam also urged parents to watch less television and read more instead to inspire their children who emulate them.
He firmly believed that storytelling is a central component of leadership and cited two people who inspired him: India’s own Mahatma Gandhi and South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, who used the power of the written word to reach out to masses when there was no electronic media.
He recited a verse from the ancient Tamil classic Thirukkural, dating back more than 2,000 years: “For those who do evil, the best punishment is to do good to them”, a principle followed by both Gandhi and Mandela.
Popularly known as India’s Missile Man for playing a key role in developing India’s missile system, Kalam’s life mission now is to meet as many young people as possible, instil in them values of cultural excellence and encourage them to dream big. “I have interacted with 16 million youth in 15 years,” he said with a big smile, addressing nearly 2,000 students at the Sharjah Expo Centre.
Time and again he pointed out that the starting point of a great individual was righteousness: “Where there is righteousness, there is beauty in the character.” But above all, the key to your success is making your mother happy, urging children to repeat after him: “Today onwards, I will make my mother happy. If my mother is happy, then my home is happy, if my home is happy, then society is happy.”
Asked a question on India’s mission to Mars, Kalam said: “India’s Mars orbiter Mangalyaan hopes to reach Mars orbit by September 2014 to know more about its atmosphere. It gives a lot of hope. My dream is that maybe 50 years later Earth, Moon and Mars will become a single economic entity.”
The children couldn't stop asking him questions and finally Kalam said: "Email me your questions on apj@abdulkalam.com and I will reply in 24 hours."
Visit www.sharjahbookfair.com for more Book Fair events
artslife@thenational.ae
Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.
He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
Medicus AI
Started: 2016
Founder(s): Dr Baher Al Hakim, Dr Nadine Nehme and Makram Saleh
Based: Vienna, Austria; started in Dubai
Sector: Health Tech
Staff: 119
Funding: €7.7 million (Dh31m)
Financial considerations before buying a property
Buyers should try to pay as much in cash as possible for a property, limiting the mortgage value to as little as they can afford. This means they not only pay less in interest but their monthly costs are also reduced. Ideally, the monthly mortgage payment should not exceed 20 per cent of the purchaser’s total household income, says Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching.
“If it’s a rental property, plan for the property to have periods when it does not have a tenant. Ensure you have enough cash set aside to pay the mortgage and other costs during these periods, ideally at least six months,” she says.
Also, shop around for the best mortgage interest rate. Understand the terms and conditions, especially what happens after any introductory periods, Ms Glynn adds.
Using a good mortgage broker is worth the investment to obtain the best rate available for a buyer’s needs and circumstances. A good mortgage broker will help the buyer understand the terms and conditions of the mortgage and make the purchasing process efficient and easier.
How the bonus system works
The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.
The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.
There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).
All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
