A Saint moves on...

It is surprising to note how some faceless, yet familiar men's passing affects us deeply, sometimes even more than that of people we've known...

The only such experience I can recount is the passing of Dr. R. D. Sharma, the messiah of school students. And today, it came down as nothing short of a shock to me when my mother called to tell me that Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdin Abdul Kalam had breathed his last. Not a faceless man to me - in fact, I've had the fortune of seeing this man, this seer at the very college where he studied, where I studied....

Words fail to come forth, I have been urged to meet this man by my well wishers, and I have ruthlessly postponed my doing so, for years - all this now adds cumulatively to the regret that engulfs me, choking me...

The man who pushed the boundaries of engineering in India, of rocket science, the father of India's missile programme.... an unforgettable President, and exemplary human being and a beloved teacher...

It hurts - hurts like a near family member has gone.. There will be time to recollect his contributions to India, his speech at Hangar I, MIT, his interaction with students, but all I can think for now is that we can never hear that sweet voice again....

This may be news to many, but it is a personal loss to us, students of MIT, to the country and the world as a whole.. A simple, honest, sincere, brilliant man whose mortal coils may have been wiped from the face of the planet, but his memories shall stay in our hearts forever..

I was told that he had collapsed while talking to students - the very shoulders that supported the country, gave it hope... Nothing less that an icon for every Indian... Nothing less than a saint..