Keep loving nature and care for its blessings
Then you can see divinity all over
I t was 24 July 2007, the last day of my presidency. It was a day filled with many engage- ments. In the morning I was busy with personal work. Later in the day, starting from 3.25 p.m., there was a short interview with Rajdeep Sardesai and Dilip Venkatraman from CNN-IBN, followed by a meeting with E.S.L. Narasimhan, governor of Chhattisgarh. After this I was to meet Dr Ramesh Pokhariyal 'Nishank', minister of health and family wel- fare and science and technology, Uttarakhand. There was a meeting with Ms Charishma Thankappan, a student of Delhi's Hindu College, along with her parents and five others, and then at 4.00 p.m. with Sunil Lal, chief of protocol, Ministry of External Affairs, along with his wife, Gitanjali, and their daughter, Nitika. And so it went with several other farewell calls un- til 8 p.m., when I was to host a dinner for the President-elect, the Vice President, the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers.
In all the round of farewells and meeting callers, speaking to friends and seeing to it that my few belongings were packed - the two suitcases, so to say, that I had said was all I would take away with me - there was an unspoken thought that was in the air. Whosoever met me or talked to me had one question uppermost in their mind: What would I be doing? Had I worked it out? Would I go back to teaching? Would I retire from active life? Unlikely as this last was to anyone who knows me. For now the last five years at Rashtrapati Bhavan were fresh in my mind. The welcoming flowers of the Mughal Garden, where Ustad Bismillah Khan gave his last performance and many other musicians also performed, the fragrance of the herbal gardens, the dancing peacocks, the guards who stood alert under the hot summer sun and in the biting cold of winter - all had become part of my daily life. What a rich experience these five years had been!
People from every field and walk of life had poured out their ideas for the development of the nation to me. They vied with each other to tell me how they had contributed their mite. Politicians at every level shared their vision for developing their constituencies. Scientists showed their hunger to help solve pressing issues. Artists and writers expressed eloquently their love for India. Religious leaders shared a common platform to speak on spiritual har- mony and unity of minds. Specialists from different fields shared their thoughts on building a knowledge society. The legal and judicial communities frequently offered their ideas on many current topics like fair treatment for all citizens, fast-track disposal of cases and e-judi- ciary. The non-resident Indians whenever they met me, showed a desire to give back to the country of their birth whatever they could to see it develop and improve.
My visits to different parts of the country always provided me with unique experiences, which made me understand the aspirations of the people, the good work done by many, and above all, the power of the youth.
My interaction with the medical fraternity was wide-ranging, be it in their efforts to ex- tend affordable medical care to every rural citizen, encourage research, ease the life of differ- ently abled people, promote the care of senior citizens or spread the message of lifestyle changes for preventive health care. Nurses who met me both in India and abroad volunteered to set up centres of high quality care, particularly for people in villages.
My interactions with farmers, including cotton farmers in distress, enabled me to under- stand the problems and challenges they face and helped me formulate and convey my ideas to agricultural scientists.
My meeting with postmen triggered the thought that the postal system could play a piv- otal role in a knowledge society with postmen becoming knowledge officers in rural areas.
Policemen met me and gave their ideas on police reforms, improving police station infra- structure and the application of information technology to police functioning, ideas which I could share in the forum considering police reforms.
The panchayat presidents, particularly the women presidents, explained their plans and programmes for improving their villages and the hurdles they faced.
