Lessons beyond the classroom

Author Srijan Pal Singh begins his book What Can I Give: Life lessons from My Teacher by saying, “Throughout the rest of 2008, and till my graduation from IIM-A in April 2009, I was in regular touch with Dr Kalam over email and occasional phone calls. We would discuss the topic that we had chosen for research during class —Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA).” Srijan’s inspiration behind the book is to bring forth the values of Dr Kalam as seen from the inside — and let readers discover what made him the person we adore.

His philosophy of always asking — ‘What Can I Give’ inspired the title and much of the content of the book. “His humility, impeccable dedication to integrity, and his ability to let go of short term opportunities for lifelong values influenced me the most. It is a composition from personal experiences I had with Dr Kalam — working with him, learning from him while travelling to many different places across the world,” states Srijan.

Dr Kalam always gave a mission to everyone — that of a home library. “He made people take an oath about this — and stressed on the emphasis of it. He told the youth about the importance of reading. His philosophy was that a great society is built upon knowledge-driven citizens. Hence, to take forward his mission to give every youth access to the best of books, my team and I started the Kalam Library Project. This mission strives to start community-driven libraries across the nation, especially in villages and in urban under-developed economic zones. These libraries are completely free and operate in multiple stages — Trishul, Prithvi and Agni. With the resources from the book What Can I Give and a few friends of the Project, we have established 25 Kalam Libraries all over India including Gujarat, Delhi, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh,” shares Srijan.

An ardent believer of Kalam’s works, Srijan has penned three books with Dr Kalam. Talking about his three books, he adds, “Target 3 Billion (Penguin, 2011) is based on our research work on rural development and innovative solutions to address issues of poverty across the world. Roughly half of the world (3 billion people) is living in moderate or extreme poverty, hence, the name of the book. Reignited (Penguin, 2015) was targeted towards younger readers. It was an account of how the world will shape in terms of science of technology, and how can the youth position their careers in a changing world. Advantage India (2015) was Dr Kalam’s final book. It was an account of our ideas on the path India needs to take in its quest to become an economic superpower and a socially equitable nation.”

When Srijan is not writing or researching on his books, he likes to let his hair down by spending time with kids, who are the future of our nation. “I enjoy interacting with children and sharing their ideas. I also love playing the drums and reading about history and science,” he shares.