Dec 25, 2009 04:56 PM
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Wings of Fire- An Autobiography of APJ. Abdul Kalam by Arun Tiwari
I have always been fascinated by the lives of big people, big not in terms of what they achieved in their lives but big in terms of the dreams they had.
“Wings of Fire” is one such autobiography of a person who had the courage to dream big and the passion to keep striving till he achieved them.
A lot has been said and written about Dr. Kalam in magazines, articles etc but this book is undoubtedly the best insides that one can get about the life of a small town boy who made India a superpower. I would like to give a huge credit to the co-author Mr. Arun Tiwari, whose writings have just come alive through this book, one of the best autobiographies that have been written till date. The way in which Mr. Kalam’s life has been divided into stages of a development of a technology product makes the book even more appealing.
The book is a journey of dreams, hopes, successes and failures. I have always thought that what kind of lives such big personalities have had and after reading this book I have realized that it is none different from that of a normal person. What is different is – how they perceive the world around them. How they are willing to go that little extra to achieve their dreams, how they are willing to sacrifice everything they possess for a common good and how they never forget who they truly are.
Although “Wings of Fire” is an autobiography of APJ Abdul Kalam, it is story of courage, inspiration and motivation. The book has these small anecdotes, life altering experiences which tell us how important it is to value the people around us in order to grow as a person. The book talks about the millions of people who have contributed to the life of Mr. Kalam, which tells us that a great personality is just not one person but a collective effort of many. Not only that, the autobiography has many lines from poems that Mr. Kalam himself loved and ones that he himself wrote at different stages of his life, that are truly refreshing to read.
Other than the journey of Mr. Kalam, the book is also the journey of India’s technological advancement. The strides that Indian technology has taken under the guidance of many great men, is totally unquestionable. There was a time when continued attempts of taking off the Agni missile failed and there was a lot of hue and cry from the nation about huge money being pumped in for war purposes when half of the nation is below the poverty line. I too thought that such kind of advancement brings no good. But when I read this book from a scientist’s point of view I realized that sometimes it is necessary to solve the puzzle to complete the picture. The hardest battles are those when you are fighting with your own family and indeed the scientists were fighting for a cause for which the nation gave them the least support. Through this book, Mr. Kalam states that missiles were not build to bring war but to become self reliant, to show the world that one cannot rule over others just because they are superior in warfare. It was his dream “to make India strong and prosperous – a DEVELOPED Nation. “
This book is not a story of self praise or personal feat but about a normal person who had the fire in him to give his dreams wings to fly. Through this book he wants the youth to know that no efforts can go waste, no goals can remain unfulfilled and no life can be ordinary. Each of us needs to realize our potential, give away the feeling of being inferior and fight our own battles in order to fly high up in the sky with our WINGS OF FIRE!
One of the lines in the book that is truly motivating:-
“So when your hopes and dreams and goals are dashed, search among the wreckage, you may find a golden opportunity hidden in the ruins.”
