Leaflets From My Life - a Letter From President Dr. Abdul Kalam Poem by Geeta Radhakrishna Menon

After the traumatic event of floods
In Mumbai on 26th July 2005;
That devastated many lives in the city,
And changed the life of my family totally,
That's when we were compelled to focus on
Our existence first and the immediate needs
Of equipping our house with everything new,
From food, clothes, to finding a new house!

Perseverance and persistent effort enabled us
To move into a new house within a year!
My new house was full of light and air,
With coconut branches facing my windows.
By mid 2006, I renewed my writing work.
Before writing anything new,
I needed to complete my unfinished
Book of "Meditation on Ahimsa"!

When thoughts are pure and sublime,
Even floods or fire cannot destroy anything!
Miraculously, a file of my soft copy of
My book "Meditation on Ahimsa" was found
Floating above the dirty, muddy water.
What was astonishing was that my white file
With its content, remained untouched and unscathed.
Not a single word was erased from my book!

By the end of 2006, I printed and published my book.
The first twenty-five copies, I posted to press
And prominent writers and personalities of India,
I requested them to read and review my book.
Twenty-four of them never replied at all.
I have no idea what happened to those books.
But I was surprised, when I received one reply
From the President of India - Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam!

Dr. Abdul Kalam, in spite of his very busy schedule
And duties as the President of India,
Took time to read my book and wrote a personal letter,
Signed in ink by him. My joy was boundless!
He wrote that he studied the book and liked the chapter-
"Ahimsa - a path of love" and mentioned page 27.
This is the same poem as published in Poem Hunter
Under the title of "Love 1-Love is all Embracing"

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, - a great Teacher,
A gentleman, who practised what he preached!
A true leader, a role model, to millions of people of India,
An extraordinary human being, with virtues of utter humility!
I salute this wonderful Teacher - Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam!
I bow down before his simplicity and superior education,
And his unique philosophy of goodness, cheer, and nobility in life!

An Autobiographical Poem