The Hindu : When the President ignited their minds

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Oct 29, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore

When the President ignited their minds

By Rasheed Kappan

BANGALORE Oct. 28. Donning the teacher's mantle, the President, A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, made a grand entry into Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium packed with 600 students from rural areas, 300 Samsung computers, and tricolour balloons galore, here on Monday.

The stadium's bad acoustics added a touch of irony to Mr. Kalam's talk of a "developed India". Still, his riveting focus on educating the gathered students endured. From the basics of the Internet to the Worldwide Web, he took them through an online world to his favourite rocket technology.

Asking questions, looking important, the uniformed children lapped it up all. "My dear young friends, join me to explore the world of Internet," he started with a flourish. A hundred balloons went up in tandem. "What is Internet?" he asked, and pat came his response on a giant screen: "It is a network of networked computers." The President was at his best: didactic yet humble, authoritative yet friendly.

From search engines to browsers, Google to online maps, Mr. Kalam talked and walked, helped out a student here and clicked on a mouse there. On the dais, the Chief Minister, S.M.Krishna, and the Governor, T.N.Chaturvedi, watched as the President walked all around. Enjoying the moment, basking in the public gaze, the students sat, clicking the mouse.

Three hundred computer screens flashed in unison as the Google window made the President smile. "Now," he told the gathering of eager students, "type `high schools in Bangalore' in the search space." For the students, most of them touching a computer for the first time, it was Mr. Kalam's entry pass to the world, a window of possibilities, and a breathtaking array of information, all at the click of a mouse. There were no formalities, no official welcome addresses, and no vote of thanks. At the end of the national anthem, Mr. Kalam was holding the mike, beginning his class on the dot. Protocols took the backseat and officialdom was passé. The President had to go on. A reference to his website (www.abdulkalam.com) — "when I completed 70 years, some of my friends came up with that website" — a practical demonstration on the helpful site (www.howstuffworks.com) , Mr. Kalam was eminently responsive. Answering queries, commenting on "nanotechnology" and "teleportation", he apparently loved it all. But for the hapless photographers, Mr. Kalam was no picture perfect model. "I have not come to see you, don't disturb, don't disturb," he said and simply shooed them away.

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