Hope, language of life

One person whom I look forward to meeting every day is the lift operator, who in spite of his physical limitations, has a welcoming spirit and cheerful outlook. He greets people and is courteous.  He radiates politeness.  Although I like climbing the stairs, I take the lift in the morning to have a contact with him.

He is an avid reader and, I often find him with a book. During the in  between times, when lift is not in operation, he would return to reading. He has a collection of 200 books at home and buys two books every month from his meagre income.He got married recently and his wife, who is a teacher, is an encouragement to him in his reading habit. 

I wanted to hear about the origin of his reading habit. As he has some physical limitations, he could not participate in sports and games or move about  easily with friends. So from his early days, books became his companion. It is after he began reading the books authored by Dr. Abdul Kalam, the former president of India, he began to feel inspired about opportunities awaiting him in life, no matter what may be the immediate obstacles.

Dr. Kalam is an unusually inspiring role model. I had an occasion to visit the Rashtrapathi Bhavan to meet Dr.Kalam six years back. He spoke of his childhood, and the teachers who influenced him. One teacher, who taught Physics used to convey principles of physics by demonstration, nature visits and experiments, which he allowed the students to conduct. Dr. Kalam said of his teacher, 'as one who trusted in our abilities and planned a future for us. That is how I took physics for my further studies'. 

Anyone will be drawn by the illustrative career of Dr. Kalam who triumphed over his circumstances to become  a world renowned missile scientist. 

For this lift operator, life and circumstances are a tremendous challenge. He effuses confidence and wants to learn further through distance education. He finds work as an opportunity to meet and greet people. For him, each day is an invitation to reach out to others through acts of kindness. He gives coaching to children, who are studying in the local school and helps them in their home work. He is learning spoken English.

He has embraced hope as his anchor and faith in God as his security.