The Hindu Business Line : <I><I>The teacher and student </I></I>

Flying serenely at more than 40,000 feet above the Indian Ocean under a moonlit sky, the Presidential flight AI-1, the Jumbo-747 Tanjore suddenly dipped and danced, as though seized by a mild spasm. "Don't worry," a poised Mr Abdul Kalam, ever the man of science, assured the journalists. "It's only air turbulence, you know," he said, and went on to explain the phenomenon in his characteristic style.

Throughout his six-day visit to Myanmar and Mauritius, Mr Kalam did not so much don the mantle of the President of the world's largest democracy as the hat of the quintessential teacher that he is. He drew willing listeners wherever he went, from the military leaders of Myanmar to the democratically elected prime minister of Mauritius.

However, the teacher also learnt something about one aspect of India's freedom struggle — the part played by the father of modern Mauritius and its first prime minister, the late Sir Seewosagar Ramgoolam. During bilateral talks, the present Prime Minister, Dr Navinchandra Ramgoolam, told his guest that his father, Sir Seewoosagar, had been a member of the Indian National Congress and had helped publish Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's book India's Struggle.

The President was also shown a copy of the rare book in which Bose had, in his own hand, acknowledged the help of Sir Seewoosagar. The patriarch of modern Mauritius had also kept in touch with such Congress leaders as Jawaharlal Nehru. Mr Kalam was moved by these little-known bits of information on India's freedom struggle and thanked his host for putting him wise on a rare chapter in India's history.

(The author is a Delhi-based freelance writer.)

R. C. Rajamani

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