Great Men and Women

A lifetime is but eighty years, blessed is he who goes down in history, while the rest die without a trace of existence. Famous or rather extraordinary men and women have always intrigued me, an unexplained curiosity to know how they lived.

I began my quest with the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). An illiterate shepherd, he was orphaned at a very young age. Despite that he was well known for his noble character. In him, I learned about total submission to the will of God. I saw his great love for the Creator and his tireless worship even though he knew he had been promised Paradise. He wanted nothing for himself except to fulfill his duties to bring Mankind to the right path.

Though not in the same vein, Mahatma Gandhi constantly tried to cleanse his soul from carnal desires by practicing asceticism. Mahatma means great soul, an honorific term coined by Rabrindranath Tagore. And indeed he was a great soul who was able to unite the war-faring Hindus and Muslims to eventually gain Independence for Mother India. What really moved me was his filial piety. His father was getting rather ill and immediately arranged for young Gandhi to be married to Mira Bai. Gandhi and his brother used to dote on their ailing father. But unfortunately on the night his father died, Gandhi was with his wife. He never forgave himself for that and later became celibate.

The founder of Pakistan, Nawab Muhammad Ali Jinnah was from humble beginnings. He went to England to become a lawyer and later represented Muslims in the Indian political arena. What endeared me to him was his great integrity and strong principles. Nothing could budge him from what he thought was right and that did not make him very popular.But he stood his ground and achieved to get a land for the Muslims, which is not an easy feat.

Still in the same arena of Indian politics, we come to the charismatic Indira Gandhi. Indira Nehru was a serious child born into wealth. She was privileged to have grown a midst great thinkers ans reformers who constantly congregated at her parental home.Both her father and grandfather gave away most of their wealth tot he cause of the Indian people - Independence. They became astute followers of Mahatma Gandhi.She carried on her shoulders a heavy burden having been groomed by her father to inherit the political throne and later carry on the family tradition despite being a single mother of two boys. In her, I saw sacrifices made to keep the country together though it may not be her own desire and having to make truly crucial decisions which later resulted in her own death.I admire her strenght in facing adversities, her composure in handling personal tragedies and her wisdom.

Allama Abdullah Yusuf Ali, is well-known around the world as the translator of the Holy Quran to al Anglish speaking Muslims. He was well read and learned man, hence his title Allama (the learned), who served the Indian Civil Service for many years and who was a great contributor to the Indian education system. He studied in England and had a great penchant for all things European. But his great strength was in languages for he was proficient in English, Arabic, Latin and Urdu. Sadly his personal life was far from happy and he died a lonely man. To me, he was a man with myriad of talents, tried to educate the Muslim youths to enter intelligentsia and to bridge the gap between the East and the West.

Another man with a similar vision was Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel Laureate in Literature. His vision was to see the East and the West meet in a common place and learn its cultures and arts. This vision, he made reality in the form of Shantiniketan- a university for the arts. As a child, Rabi shunned the conventional learning by rote.He was lucky because his parents allowed the children to develop their creativity;all his siblings were inclined towards music, literature and art. Rabi's father was known as Maharishi as he was a very spiritual man with tendencies to meditate for many months. Rabi had his first spiritual awakening when his father took him along to the Himalayas. They would bathe and begin study in the Upanishads (religious scriptures) at sunrise, followed by geography, world history and language lessons. What an experience it would be to sit and learn on top of mountains, instead of the boring classrooms. Rabi never went to university but was writing plays, short stories and beautiful poetry in Bengali. His most famous was Gitanjali for which he received the Nobel Prize. Throughout his life and till his death he campaigned all over the world for the realization of Shantiniketan - a unification of the East and the West. All this is in the midst of World War Two. I was deeply mystified by his upbringing and his international recognition for his poetry, which has universal truth and his fire and zeal to see his vision come true. He was truly a man born many years before his time.

He is a boatman's son from a small fishing village in India. Due to encouragement from his parents and brother-in-law, he managed to join the Indian Ministry of Defense.But he was very much interested to become a pilot. So A.P.J Abdul Kalam philosophized with himself, if he can't fly a plane, at least he will make the plane! And so began his career, which resulted in the production of a hundred percent made in India rocket!Although the rocket is a result of teamwork, he was instrumental in making it a reality due to his sheer determination and focus in life. From him I learned that man can oversome all obstacles due to his circumstances if he had the determination to succeed.

Another example of will power to win over circumstances was the phenomenal Helen Keller. Imagine yourself in a dark quiet room. How long can you live like that?That is exactly how Helen Keller lived since her childhood when she lost her eyesight and hearing due to fever. Due to her utter helplessness, her parents appointed tutors to help her. She threw tantrums and was a difficult child because she felt frustrated she could not express herself. But she labored on and faced all trials and tribulations with sheer grit and determination. She was even accused of plagiarism. When she learns of a story, it is retained in her memory and she is unable to differentiate between her own thoughts and that of others. It was a great blow to her self-esteem and she stopped wiring all together. But with support from her friends, teachers and family , she overcame her obstacles with an iron-will, to obtain a college degree and write her autobiography.

Another woman with an iron-will and tremendous faith, on home grounds, is Sybil Karthigasu. She is midwife from Ipoh. Her doctor husband, two daughters and herself were living a normal life when suddenly everything was shattered with the Japanese occupation of Malaya. Her crime was helping the wounded who happened to be the Communist guerrillas  She was caught and tortured along with her family members. But she never succumbed to their beating, torture and humiliation. The atrocities that the Japanese did to her and other prisoners were abominable. She was strong in spirit even if they crushed her physically; kneeling all night in prayer. Her deep faith carried her through the entire ordeal until the Japanese surrendered. Unfortunately Sybil died two years later due to the injuries sustained under Japanese custody. here is an extraordinary woman who was forced to endure excruciating pain for something she believed in.

These are some of the people whom I have had the opportunity to read about and learn from. Of course certain elaboration of their lives may be the opinion of the biographer or of myself but the truth is they have certainly lived their lives to the fullest.