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Religions are Beautiful Gardens - Rashtrapati A P J Abdul Kalaam

While assuming the office of the President of India, I had made two assurances, one was to work for transforming India into a developed nation; the other to work for unity of minds. Two hundred and sixty million of our people live below the poverty line. There are also 300 million youngsters below the age of 20.

These two groups are in need of social and economical development in any atmosphere of peace and harmony.

In my search for unity of minds, I have visited many great religious places, in our great country and abroad.

Tawang is a Shangri-La at an altitude of 3,000 metres in a misty corner of Arunachal Pradesh. The people there 

seem truly happy and tranquil, living under the kindly umbrella of one of the world’s oldest Buddhist monasteries. During a visit there, I asked the chief monk about the secret of Tawang’s tranquility.

© "Bhavan’s Journal" (February 29, 2004) published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Kulapati KM Munshi Marg, Chowpatty, Mumbai 400 007. Website: www.bhaans.info. Reprinted with permission.

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