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The Teacher I Never Met

Eshan Sharma

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“The Teacher I Never Met” Author and Publishing Copyrights ©

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© Copyright, Author

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written consent of its writer. eshansha@gmail.com www.eshansha.blogspot.in

Interior Design by Sharda Singh Cover Design by Raghav Sharma Illutrations by Raghav Sharma, Dayal S, Vilas Nayak

First Edition July 2017 ISBN: 978-93-86518-07-1

Price: 225.00 D

The opinions/ contents expressed in this book are solely of the author and do not represent the opinions/ standings/ thoughts of Idea Publishing or the Printing Press.

Printed in India by Idea Publishing

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CONTENT

X CHAPTER PAGE NO.

Introduction 1

1 Dreaming is the birth right 7

2 Tackling the problem 19

3 Effort never dies 29

4 Mission I M Possible 41

5 Leader‟s! Stain 53

6 First Attempt In Learning 65

7 Knowledge Powerhouse 73

8 Be You, Unique 83

9 Immortal Humanity 95

Short Biography of

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam

109

Oath for the Students 115

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Eleven Point Oath for

Teachers

117

v

About The Author

X ESHAN SHARMA was born

in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh on

20th June, 2000 and grew up

in IIT Kanpur. Ever since his

childhood he is an avid reader

which motivated him to focus

his expressions and pen it

down. It is not only his hobby

but also his passion to write. He passed class 10th in

2015 from Kendriya Vidyalaya IIT Kanpur with flying

colors and currently he is in class 12th with Humanities

stream in Delhi Public School, Kalyanpur, Kanpur.

He is a blogger, writer, poet who can write in both

English and Hindi. He enjoys learning foreign languages

as well as Indian regional language. He has also written

many essays and articles for many competitions. He

enjoys participating in competitions regardless of

winning. School magazines gave him the platform for

writing.

He started writing from the age of eleven; his first poem

was on his grandmother. He generally writes poems in

Hindi as he think that the beauty in words can be

expressed in one‟s own language. He has titled more

than 20 poems, essays, articles till now, in five years. He

vi

is a jovial, carefree and fun loving person. His self-belief

and selfless attitude are just few good points about him.

He firmly believes that if our country wants to be

developed we have to make certain changes in our

education system, and youth personality development.

He is also a good painter, awarded third prize in Kanpur

region Postmaster General Stamp making competition

and he is continuously winning prizes in GK Quiz

organized in IIT Kanpur. He also got a prize for

encouraging Hindi language named as Akhil Bharatiya

Rashtrabhasha Vibhushan.

vii

About The Book

X „The Teacher I Never Met‟ is a book written by one of

the youngest writer in India, Eshan Sharma. Children

tend to write fairy tales or fiction stories at the age of 16,

but Eshan authored a book on former president and

scientist Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, whom he regards as his

mentor. This novel focuses on an 11 year boy who

started exploring Kalam and at the age of 16 penning

down his emotions, Kalam‟s lessons and a teacher who

the boy never met.

The extraordinary adventure of a boy named Eshan and

you (the reader) who become invisible and goes out to

an adventure in Kalam‟s childhood till his last breathe at

IIM Shillong in 2015.

How a small village boy, named Kalam explored his

inner capabilities and talent found his way from the

small streets of villages to the Rashtrapati Bhawan and

then switching back to educate India about what is Life?

How can we achieve whatever we want? What is the

mantra for success? How can we as children of this

country can help in Nation Building?

His book has been appreciated by former railway

minister Dinesh Trivedi, Rajat Sharma, Balaji

Vishwanathan, Arsh Shah Dilbagi and many others.

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According to Eshan, he thought of writing a book on Dr.

APJ Abdul Kalam, who took his last breath among the

students of IIM Shillong when he saw news on

Television about the protest in Jawaharlal Nehru

University and then in Ramjas College. According to

him, Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam never wanted the youth to be

in opposition of nation‟s interest. Kalam always tried to

maintain peace in the world, as once in European Union

he addressed, “Where there is righteousness in the heart,

there is beauty in the character. When there is beauty in

the character, there is harmony in the home. When there

is harmony in the home, there is order in the nation.

When there is order in the nation, there is peace in the

world.”

“Learning gives creativity

Creativity leads to thinking

Thinking provides knowledge

Knowledge makes you great.”

― Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

“It was a sunny day of the month of June 2012 that

really changed my life. I live in IIT Kanpur, not as a

student but as a resident of the campus. That day a VVIP

Movement happened. I was merely 11 so was totally

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unaware about what was going on there. I was in school,

the sun was burning my skin, I saw 10-12 ambassadors,

blue and red beacons and police jeeps running here and

there and lots of people standing and waving hands.”

“That was the first time I met my Teacher, who taught

me how to live in this world. What is the real meaning of

Nationalism? The teacher was none other than Former

president of the republic of India, Dr.APJ Abdul

Kalam.”

The Teacher I Never Met

~ 1 ~

Introduction

We are as young as our faith and as old as our doubts.

We are also as young as our self-confidence and as old

as our fears. We are as young as our hopes and as old as

our despairs.

– My Guru Kalam

Eshan Sharma

~ 2 ~

It was a nice day of October 2012 that really changed my

life. I live in IIT Kanpur, not as a student, but as a

resident of the campus. That day a VVIP Movement was

taking place. I was merely eleven and my age was a

reason of unawareness about what was going on there.

I was in school, the sun was burning my skin, and I saw

about twelve ambassador cars, blue and red beacons and

police jeeps running here and there and lot of people

standing and waving their hands.

After my school got over, my father asked me:

“Eshu, do you know today we have former President Dr.

Kalam in our IIT for a talk organized by Golden Jubilee

of Student Gymkhana. Would you like to come with

me?”

“Yes, sure, but who is Kalam?” I curiously questioned. I

was totally blank about him.

“Come to my office. Put your bag and have some snacks

and then at three we will go to the auditorium. There I’ll

tell you about our missile man, Dr. Kalam.

“See Dr. Kalam is the former president of India. He is a

teacher and a lover of book and music.

The Teacher I Never Met

~ 3 ~

He is known as the Missile Man of India for his

contributions in missiles like Agni and Prithvi. He is

honored by the highest civilian award Bharat Ratna and

other international recognition.” My father told me.

As we reached the venue, I saw a big hoarding that

stated:

Golden Jubilee Celebrations Student Gymkhana, IIT

Kanpur, 25th October 2012 Welcomes Dr. APJ Abdul

Kalam, Former President of India, Scholar and Scientist.

Suddenly an announcement was heard:

Please rise from your seats, Dr. Kalam is going to arrive

which will be followed by National Anthem.

When he entered in the hall, I literally got Goosebumps

at that moment. That was the first time I saw my

Teacher, who taught me how to live in this world. He

taught me Nationalism, it in the sense of serving the

country.

The teacher was none other than Former president of our

great nation India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.

Eshan Sharma

~ 4 ~

After coming back from the talk, before going to bed, I

decided to write a diary entry about the talk given by

Kalam Sahab.

Dr. Kalam was much more than a political figure. He

was a scientist, writer, inspirational speaker and

motivational figure.

Kalam was nominated for the Youth Icon of the Year

award by MTV in 2003 and 2006. His age was 73 and

76 respectively back then.

Dr. Kalam was an inspiration to many, especially kids,

and always inspired them to dream big and achieve great

goals in life.

I will not be presumptuous enough to say that my life

can be a role model for anybody; but some poor child

living in an obscure place in an underprivileged social

setting may find a little solace in the way my destiny has

been shaped.

– Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

The Teacher I Never Met

~ 5 ~

Dear Diary,

25th Oct’12 10:30 PM

I am very fortunate that I saw our

former president, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam

today in IIT Kanpur auditorium.

Kalam got Bharat Ratna in 1997 and

many other awards till now. He was

here as the chief guest in Golden Jubilee

Celebration of Student’s Gymkhana.

When I saw him, I felt as if some

radiation was entering into my body

and that was the radiation of

knowledge.

He inspired me a lot and from now on

he is my teacher forever. Whether I will

be able to meet him again or not, it

doesn’t matter, but he will remain a

teacher in my heart.

Good Night!

Eshan Sharma

Eshan Sharma

~ 6 ~

“Where there is righteousness in the heart, there is

beauty in the character. When there is beauty in the

character, there is harmony in the home. When there is

harmony in the home, there is order in the nation. When

there is order in the nation, there is peace in the world.”

- Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

The Teacher I Never Met

~ 7 ~

1

Dreaming is the birth right

"Look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe

is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to

those who dream and work."

-Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Eshan Sharma

~ 8 ~

That night I was only thinking about Dr. Kalam’s speech

in IIT Kanpur. But today after a span of nearly five

years, when I think about that night, I find that, the night

had changed my life. I have you as a friend of mine who

will be a part of my life changing journey along with Dr.

APJ Abdul Kalam.

I am continuously talking about myself. Who is your

ideal? Is he/she an Indian? If yes, then thank you for not

relying upon foreigners. I am not saying they are bad.

I like Barack Obama and I admire Mandela, but still I

like Kalam the most.

So, you should feel proud of being an Indian. That’s

what Kalam wanted us to believe in. We should be

patriotic, like Japanese do. We should take pride in

speaking Hindi. You should respect your nation,

national anthem.

One day I asked a boy of my age about the script we use

in Hindi. He replied, “Obviously Hindi!”

Little did he know, like most of the Indians, that the

script we use is Devnagari Script (Devnagari lipi in

Hindi)

The Teacher I Never Met

~ 9 ~

Kalam never sentenced death penalty to anybody

because he believed that we are not God so we do not

have any right to decide when one should die.

Have dreams, follow them, fight for them, live for them

and anyhow achieve them.

Oh! I forgot to tell you about one thing that after

returning to home, I Google-d almost everything about

my teacher.

Dreaming is the birthright of every individual. As

Aryabhatta saw a dream with open eyes that numbers

could be expressed in decimals, he researched a lot,

focused and gave the world, the concept of dashamlav

(decimals).

Bhagat Singh, Mahatma Gandhi, Sukhdev, Rajguru,

Sardar Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, they all had a

dream that was making India an Independent Republic

state. They fought and made India of their dreams.

A young boy Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Kalam from a

middle-class Tamil family in the Island town of

Rameshwaram in Madras saw a dream which led him to

Rashtrapati Bhawan from the streets of Rameshwaram.

He saw India emerging as a super power.

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