ARUN TIWARI

author • scientist

ARUN TIWARI

author • scientist

ARUN TIWARI

author • scientist

ARUN TIWARI

author • scientist

ARUN TIWARI

author • scientist

INTRODUCTION

Starting my life from an old city mohalla in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, where I was born in 1955, I would have remained inconsequential and unknown to others, as well as blind to my potential, had I not met Dr APJ Abdul Kalam in 1982. I joined the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) as a scientist, a euphemism for an engineer in the Indian missile laboratory.

My first break came when Dr Kalam asked me if we could replace missile air bottles, made of 15 CDV6 steel, with Titanium alloy and assigned me this work. This took me to France in 1985, boarding an aircraft for the first time in my life, and making me realize that extraordinary people, as they are known to the world, are indeed those ordinary people who do extra work. Moreover, this extra work must come to you, not be chased by you. Life is all about give and take, in that order. There are no entitlements; only privileges, blessings and grace. We are changing every moment – quantum self – now a particle, now a wave living in a conscious universe; picking and discarding people with a purpose – to make this planet a better place to live in!

This website is all about the first person experiences of this ‘nobody’, who briefly became a ‘somebody’, but is back to being a ‘nobody’ again, as is the cycle of life. It is meant for all those who are willing to let their identities, masks and makeovers drop for a while and touch the ‘nobody’ inside them – waiting for attention, frustrated, and almost passive. I invite all ‘nobodies’ to connect to and whistle at this grand show of Divine Comedy which we call the world, with ‘minds without fear and heads held high’, as envisioned by Gurudev Tagore about India, but which nobody heard.

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The purpose of this effort is to heighten the perception of the way our lives move forward, to become conscious of those chance events occurring at just the right moment, bringing forth the right individuals, sending our lives into new trajectories and important directions. This would help us become more conscious of that Presence in our lives, the force that steers us towards the purpose of our lives.

Because we are not mere bodies, but souls; eternal, immortal and embodied with a purpose – very specific, very precise, part of an orchestra most melodious and extremely fine-tuned. This purpose can be linked to our own evolution as a human being, as well as being an instrument to help others on their path; but may be beyond our comprehension. To quote a stanza from The Great Invocation;

From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men–
The purpose which the Masters know and serve
Let us then enjoy together a spiritual unfolding that is both, personally as well as universally enriching…

– Arun Tiwari

My Books

 

SELECT TITLES

Latest

Uddhava Gita

by Arun Tiwari
Published by Sakal Publications

Latest

Anugita

by Arun Tiwari
Published by Sakal Publications

Latest

How To Grow The Moral Way

By Arun Tiwari & Suresh N Patel

Published by Universities Press

Wings of Fire

By APJ Abdul Kalam & Arun Tiwari

Published by Universities Press

My Blog

The Unfulfilled Promise of Healthcare

Recently, I had the opportunity to spend nearly three hours in conversation at the Care Foundation, graciously hosted by its CEO, Mr. S. G. Prasad, whose quiet commitment to accessible healthcare has sustained many meaningful initiatives over the years. The meeting brought together Mr. B. V. Satya...

Kafka in the Age of the Gig Economy

In my youth, when I first read Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, published in 1915, it seemed to belong to a distant, shadowed landscape of European modernism—strange, unsettling, intellectually luminous, yet safely contained within literature. One reads differently at twenty, differently again at...

Those Who Transcend the Known

The best part of my career has been meeting eminent people and learning—often quietly—about the many facets of human excellence—something missed by those who pursue excellence in their own fields and live within their silos and echo chambers. Even now, when I travel less, Providence seems to...

The Alchemy of the Balcony

I have been deeply engrossed in reading Shakespeare for a while. It remains one of the most astonishing paradoxes in literary history that Romeo and Juliet—a drama pulsing with murder, deception, impulsive rebellion and ethical transgression—has been remembered across continents and centuries, not...

A Scientist and a Gentleman

In every civilisation, there are two measures of success. One is public and noisy—titles, awards, positions, headlines, and the temporary glow of importance. The other is almost invisible: the quality of a human being. History remembers the first for a moment and the second forever. The tragedy of...

Learning the Art of Writing by Reading

I enjoy reading quite a lot—sometimes as much as ten hours a day, though on average about eight. Reading has become my primary pastime—not as a leisure activity, but as a discipline. I read good books, chosen carefully, ordered online and added to a personal library built slowly and meticulously...

From Disease to Wellness: Time for a Paradigm Shift

Modern medicine is magnificent at one thing: it rushes heroically to the battlefield after the war has already been lost. When the coronary artery is blocked, a stent is inserted. When the pancreas fails, insulin is administered. When cancer erupts, it deploys surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy...

A Hero’s Journey of Taking Cognition Beyond Mortal Neurons

In an age mesmerised by rankings, metrics, and loud declarations of success, the most consequential journeys often unfold quietly. They are not propelled by brilliance alone, but by curiosity, humility, and an unyielding fidelity to truth. The exploration of consciousness—the deepest and most...

Science, Service, and the Long Goodbye to Leprosy

It was already evening when they arrived, and I sensed a good feeling. The light had softened, retreating gently from the edges of objects, as though the day itself wished to listen to what came next. Dr. Gangadhar Sunkara came with Dr. Chinnababu Sunkavalli—both close friends, healthcare...

Empire Without Flags

Still in her twenties, Rebecca F. Kuang has emerged as one of the most incisive literary voices examining empire’s afterlives. Born in China, raised in the United States, and educated at Cambridge and Oxford, she broke through with The Poppy War, a novel rooted in China’s wars, colonial trauma and...

On Social

My Journal

February 07, 2006

Dr. Jung-Ok Lee, a 51-year-old professor of Sociology at the Catholic University at Daegu, met Dr. Kalam and proposed to translate the book, ‘Guiding Souls’, barely a year after she had translated ‘Wings of Fire’. When Dr. Kalam asked…

March 27, 2014

Although I am a mechanical engineer, Dr Kalam’s decision to develop civilian spinoffs of defence technology led me to work with doctors and biomedical scientists. I was involved in developing a special stainless…

November 21, 2016

Accompanied by my wife, Anjana, the young Kenyan-Indian, Dil Patel, and our Swiss host, Stefan Müller, I visited the Einsteinhaus (Einstein House), a former residence of Albert Einstein in Bern, Switzerland, which has been…

December 04, 2005

Bhadant Nagarjun Arya Surai Sasai (b. 1935), a Japanese-born Indian Buddhist monk who came to India in 1966 and made it his home, released my book, ‘Peerless Benefactor of Humanity: The Life and Thought of Gautam Buddha’ at…

October 20, 2006

Dr. B. Soma Raju and I visited the Bethune Military Medical and Nursing College, Shijiazhuang, China. We were invited to mark the release of ‘Guiding Souls: Dialogues on the Purpose Of Life’, penned by Dr. Kalam and I…

October 14, 2002

I accompanied President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to Arunanchal Pradesh. We flew in from Delhi to Guwahati and shifted to Mi-8 helicopters, which majestically rise to 15,000 ft to cross over the Sela Pass…

July 24, 2016

I met the American economist, Joseph Stiglitz (b. 1943), in Seychelles. Winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, Joseph Stiglitz declared that that capitalism and globalization had failed to sustain standards of…

January 26, 2004

Meeting President Lula De Silva of Brazil was a great personal experience. He was invited as
the Chief Guest of India on the occasion of the Republic Day 2004 and President APJ Abdul
Kalam had hosted a dinner for him at the Rashtrapati Bhavan…

December 03, 2004

President Kalam hosted a ceremonial banquet for the Russian President, Vladimir Putin. I was given a seat on the 44-member dining table, with 22 guests on each side; the Presidents facing each other in the middle…

February 20, 2004

Sachin Tendulkar visited the Care Hospital with his wife, Dr. Anjali. He came to see me; a great gesture on his part. I have been a cricket fan since childhood and had earlier met Sachin in 2003, when President…