Defeat the defeatist tendency: Sivananda & Kalam

Do you know what changed Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam’s life after his failure?

“Defeat the defeatist tendency” are the words from a monk which changed Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam’s life after his greatest failure.

“Motivation is temporary and inspiration is permanent because motivation passes away after some time, while inspiration stays for the lifetime.”

The lines proves true in respect of the real life story of Dr. Abdul Kalam which is also penned down in his book #WingsOfFire.

The mentor who changed Dr. Kalam’s life is none other than Rishikesh Swami Sivananda who was born at Pathamadai in Tirunelveli district, but settled in Rishikesh.

Kalam was fond of flying high since his childhood and wanted to become a pilot. He took up aeronautical engineering and graduated in 1957. Kalam applied to the Air Force and completed his interview at the Air Force Selection Board at Dehradun in 1958. Out of 24 applicants, eight were to be shortlisted but after four days of difficult tasks, nine were selected — the ninth being Kalam. Since the Air Force wanted only eight, Kalam was left out.

A highly dejected Kalam decided to take a bus to Delhi via Rishikesh and Haridwar. At Rishikesh, some intuitive force made him take a dip in the River Ganges, and spotted an ashram. Kalam sat at the last row as Swami Sivananda, the founder of the ashram, was giving a discourse on Bhagavad Gita.

After his speech, the Swami chose two persons from the audience to ask questions and Kalam was one of them. In his book Wings of Fire, the former President recorded the moment — I introduced myself to Swamiji. My Muslim name aroused no reaction in him. Before I could speak any further, he enquired about the source of my sorrow.

In a deep voice, the Swami said, “Accept your destiny and go ahead with your life… Forget this failure, as it was essential to lead you to your destined path. Search, instead, for the true purpose of your existence. Become one with yourself, my son! Surrender yourself to the wish of God,” the Swamiji said.

Further, quoting ‘Bhagavad Gita’, the Swami recalled the advice of Lord Krishna to Arjuna when the latter was afraid of fighting in the Kurukshetra war — “Defeat the defeatist tendency.” That is a great message. The mantra “Defeat the defeatist tendency” is always with me and it comes to me whenever I’m in trouble, he wrote.