Thursday, September 17, 2009

Dr. Abdul Kalam at USC


Dr. Abdul Kalam, the former president of India visited USC on September 15, 2009, to give a talk on how the Indian youth can lead their country. He outlined his bold vision "Lead India 2020" and talked about what strengths a leader should have. He answered quite a few questions from the audience which was mostly comprised of Indian students. I wish the talk had been organized at Bovard Auditorium so that more students and professors could come and hear him speak. The students were cramped in a small classroom in the Mudd Hall of Philosophy. I think that Dr. Abdul Kalam's visit to USC was organized at the very last minute, and that's why they couldn't find a bigger venue. Regardless, I enjoyed his talk and his sense of humor. The students asked him various questions ranging from India's current problems with corruption, poverty, and infrastructure, to nuclear energy solutions to Indian's growing energy needs. Toward the end I asked him what he did for fun when he wasn't working, or collecting accolades, to which he replied, "I write poetry." He then proceeded to read a translated version of a poem that he had written in Tamil to the audience. It was quite a day for me!

2 comments:

Bharathwaj said...

Hey,

Nice article. Just wanted to confirm your line about the arrangement. This event was organized in the last minute and AIS wasnt able to find a single classroom at USC. More info in my blog http://theonestop.blogspot.com .

Cheers.

Bharathwaj

The Quantum Poet said...

Bharathwaj,

When I first read through the AIS (Association of Indian Students) that the event was being held in MHP 101, I realized that the talk must have been arranged at the last moment.

I'm glad that AIS took charge and did their best with limited resources.