Book Review- Wings of Fire

Book: Wings of Fire

Author: Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam with Arun Tiwari

Genre: Autobiography

I had been meaning to read this book ages ago but somehow engrossed in the daily run of the mill activities, finding time to do anything related to reading was proving to be a big difficulty. Then one fateful day, while dusting the family bookshelf I came across this this book lying untouched beckoning me.  I was looking for inspiration. My life seemed mundane. The spark gone. Setbacks in life to your dreams often make you look for sources to rejuvenate you. This book was perfect and the lesson's I learnt I'm sure will add immense value to my career and personal life.

The first and foremost aspect I loved about this book was that it was the best account I have ever had the good fortune to read not only of Dr Kalam's life but also of my motherland's odyssey into space.

The depth and the details were truly insightful and I felt so connected to each of the events.

Through the course of reading the book I marked out a few pages that resonated with me on a deeply emotional plane. I'd like to share them with you and hope you will too appreciate the wealth of wisdom hidden in these words. 

In the second chapter Dr. Kalam mentions to the readers how he learnt at a very early age the key to influencing events in one's own life by mastering desire, belief and expectation. This truly is a very important criteria for success which the sooner ingrained in our beings, the larger the trajectory of our victories and accomplishments in life.

Another inspirational section I have marked out is the conversation Dr. Kalam had with Von Braun; the father of modern rocketry -a world renowned aeronautical engineer and architect.  Their conversation about hard work really had some important lessons to learn from. Most of us spend our lives working hard, breaking our backs no different than mules. The real hard worker's efforts are accompanied by a strategic goal and vision. This would mean total involvement in envisioning the outcome. For it is working toward a chosen goal and not just aimlessly working hard that makes the real difference. 

We have always heard and read that it is our thoughts that manifest themselves into objects we desire. Dr. Kalam's entire life is the perfect example of how he saw endless possibilities in every project he chose to undertake. His vision, and undeterred dedication no matter what hardship befell him coupled with passion for realizing the dreams of a nation is truly the most moving saga.   

 The part where Dr. Kalam talks about his love for his work he touches on a very important topic- 'Workaholism'. Being a workaholic myself I was very keen to learn his views on the subject. Dr Kalam opined that loving your work and being passionate about your work is a very important part of having a successful career. Yet the word workaholic seem to suggest otherwise. As if people who truly love what they are doing suffer from a dreaded disease that should be avoided at all costs. I totally agree. For some of us, it is our work that guides us, is a driving force and something which we truly enjoy doing. It shouldn't mean addiction in any sense.

Each and every page I turned in this book had something new to teach me and I believe this is one of the best and most inspiring autobiographies I had the good fortune to read.   

I've written this poem to depict what this book meant to me and gave me- it gave hope new wings so I've titled it  New Wings to Hope.

The poem is mine. The image has been sourced from here.