Shall I talk to you on...?: Kalam

New Delhi, Jan 25 (UNI) ''Shall I talk to you on...?'' This question was posed as many as eight times in a single sentence by President A P J Abdul Kalam today in the beginning of his address to the nation, citing a dozen issues and subjects that he pondered over for detailed analyses.

Finally, the President did not choose any of these and settled for the theme of ''What Can I Give,'' perhaps taking a cue from the famous slogan -- Ask not what your country can do for you; Ask what you can do for your country -- from the January 20, 1961 address of then US President John F Kennedy.

Explaining the reason for not going for any of the issues suggested in his poser ''Shall I talk to you...,'' the President said he had already shared with the people about these and ''other beautiful experiences that have made the Indian Republic proud. Such beautiful events and people have been changing the fabric of the nation.'' While Kennedy had coined the slogan in his inaugural address, for Dr Kalam this was his last address to the nation on the eve of the Republic Day during his present five-year tenure. Russian President Vladimir Putin will be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day Parade tomorrow where Dr Kalam will take salute from the marching contingents of the three wings of the armed forces.

Following is the relevant sentence: ''Friends, when we are celebrating the 58th Republic Day, I was thinking what thoughts I can share with you. Shall I talk to you on what message I got during my visits to various parts of our country and my interactions with the people particularly the youth with their dreams or shall I talk to you about the proud feeling I had when farmers in Punjab succeeded in doubling seed cotton productivity in tune with the world record or shall I talk to you how a village in a North-Eastern State has become prosperous by developing its core competence in native silk production or shall I talk to you about the elation of Gujarat farmers celebrating the arrival of electricity in all the villages of the State or shall I talk to you about many great human beings whom I met in various parts of the country such as, one great soul providing leadership for transforming a polluted rivulet into a clean river in Punjab through the efforts of pilgrims themselves or about another divine soul who has connected the hears of the people of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu through the flow of water or about another divine personality, building a bridge connecting the peninsular region to the mainland near Kochi over the backwaters of the Arabian Sea in the Tsunami affected area or shall I talk to you on how 65 villages with a population of one lakh in Tamil Nadu have generated a self-sustaining economy through PURA or shall I talk to you about the way that the judicial system of the State became a partner for on the spot disbursal of compensation to the victims of an earthquake in Jammu and Kashmir for ensuring timely compensation to the right persons or shall I talk to you about the bravery of our Armed Forces.'' UNI