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Thursday, September 28, 2006
The crowd-pulling poetry of APJ Abdul Kalam
"President's website sets a new record," screamed the Sify headline. On reading that, I instantly rushed over to the president's website, which reportedly got 2.4 million hits on September 12, somewhat more than my own supposedly well-read blog. What could it be, I wondered, that drives readers to Mr Kalam's blog while I'm putting up such lovely posts about cows?
After strenuous investigations lasting more than a minute, I have concluded it's the poems. Consider the gem titled "Our mission is water," which Mr Kalam ends with the immortal lines:
Previous posts on APJ Abdul Kalam: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
(Previous posts with Purplocity/Verniness: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19.)
After strenuous investigations lasting more than a minute, I have concluded it's the poems. Consider the gem titled "Our mission is water," which Mr Kalam ends with the immortal lines:
Oh humanity why not your hearts confluenceI kid you not. And then there's the poem titled "Soaring Dream," which begins:
And you blossom with happiness.
Fabulous air show of Paris in motionThis one ends with the line, "Sky can?t be limit for my nation in action !!" And consider "I am the Indian Ocean," which begins thus:
My thought too in flight and yearns for my Nation
When will the planes designed in my land
Pierce the sky as lightening in action
Surge of my waves and their mystical themesNo, no, it's not all an elaborate joke, this really is APJ Abdul Kalam's poetry, and I think it should be abundantly clear what the driving force of traffic to his site is: disbelief. I myself will go there eight times a day now, read his poems, and think, "This is our president?"
Embracing Bombay and Dar-es in hold
We all belong to the cradle of earth
Same human civilization pervades us all
Generations of life in these lands were like waves
Rising and falling and melting in time baobabs and
Banyans stood witness to these cycles
Previous posts on APJ Abdul Kalam: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
(Previous posts with Purplocity/Verniness: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19.)
