Ever wondered what kind of superstars influence our lives? Particularly in a positive sense? Ideally, you would assume such people to be from the political system of the country, because they define and design our country’s current and future. They could even be inventors, wealth creators, artists, or even absolute common beings. What makes them superstars is that they influence human conduct, inspire their generations and become objects that are emulated, all in a good sense. Their vocations, culture and nurturing do not matter.

When I reflect on who in India have been hailed as superstars particularly in the current societal dynamics, I only get 2 categories of them – cricketers and movie stars. And how do they impact our lives? Cricketers seem to promote material objects more than playing cricket; and the movie stars are all over to a nauseating extent. With a few exceptions, all of them just live in the glory that fades away with their age, form or charm. While they are loved by people for what they do, they are not role models for the society, they cannot influence the human life and are forgotten very soon.

For its size, diversity and complex social constructs, India definitely needs superstars; and several of them. We need people who can influence us positively, give us reason to live and generate dreams for us that we can fulfill. It is indeed shameful that we just do not have too many of them in India.

And of the very few that we had, we lost one earlier this week. President Abdul Kalam. Enough has already been written about how he rose from poverty to head India’s nuclear programme to be a President, how he was such a noble and yet a humble human. To me, none of this makes him a superstar of our society.

President Kalam had a passion to invigorate the youth of this country, to show them the dreams that they can fulfill; and to build a harmonious and peaceful society. He crisscrossed the length and breadth of the country to address the young generation, to have ‘ignited minds’ that can shape the future of this nation. His commitment to this cause was absolute and selfless. I have never seen such love and respect for any person in India across the regions, religions and creed. People believed in him and looked forward to him to generate this passion amongst them. Building a modern yet an idyllic society is a long-drawn process, often taking generations. I am hopeful that President Kalam has planted enough seeds to grow and blossom into more Kalams even after his death.

One superstar lost when there is already a dearth. Please do not rest in peace, President Kalam. We want you back, and quickly.