TOI
 
Bangalore, Dec 14: Students waited eagerly to meet the missile man of India, former President A P J Abdul Kalam. Amd, when they saw the lively and enthusiastic Kalam, they couldn't stop cheering.

Kalam was the guest of honour at the closing ceremony of the sesquicentenary celebration of St Joseph's Boys' High School and felicitated past principals. He said ignited minds of the youth are the most powerful resource. "Chandrayaan, which was launched in October, is successfully orbiting around the moon. Chandrayaan is not just to study the moon's features but it had a greater purpose. In future, it might be used as an intermediate base for a Mars mission," he said. Missions like Chandrayaan should inspire youngsters to dream, he added.

Kalam said in another 15-20 years, there is a need for astronauts to land on the Moon and Mars and said that aspiring astronauts should get ready for it. He stressed three qualities --- righteousness, creativity and courage. He said that youth have to be equipped with creativity and courage. "Learning gives creativity; creativity leads to thinking; thinking provides knowledge and knowledge makes you great," he said. One should have the courage to think different, invent and travel on an unexplored path.

The former president said students should acquire knowledge through good books, home and from good human beings and teachers. He also made students to take an oath of nine points which included having a goal, working hard to achieve it, dreaming big, having a clean environment and enjoying success of others.