Journal
The writings of Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher Carl Gustav Jung (1875 –1961) have been my personal guidepost. Inspired by his autobiographical ‘Memories, Dreams, Reflections’ published in 1957, when he was eighty-one years old, I am presenting here a record of my significant experiences in public life and sharing feelings, emotions, and reflections that sprung up from these events. They offered me help in
March 7, 2007
President George Bush came to India. Dr. Soma Raju and I were invited by President Kalam to the ceremonial reception, held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The horse-mounted Presidential bodyguards, in their royal regalia…
November 21, 2006
Chinese President Hu Jintao (b. 1942) visited India and President Kalam invited me to meet him. His calm and poise was compelling. He looked at me like a sage and heard with interest the interpreter conveying my praise…
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…
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…
February 04, 2006
The President of the Philippines hosted a banquet in honour of President Kalam, in the Rizal Hall of the Malacañan Palace. The word ‘Malacanang’ in Tagalog, a Filipino language, means , ‘there is a noble man there’…
February 01, 2006
I met Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (b. 1952; I share my birthday with him), the third and current Prime Minister of Singapore since 2004, in Singapore. Lee is the eldest son of Singapore’s founding father and the first Prime Minister…
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…
April 18, 2005
Sampooran Singh Kalra, popularly known as Gulzar (b. 1934), met President Kalam to present the audio version of our book, ‘Wings of Fire’, that he had translated and narrated in Hindustani, with the title, ‘Parwaz’. When asked…
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…