A fitting gift, Kalam releases President Patil's biography

Her biography 'An Inspirational Journey President Pratibha Devisingh Patil' was released by none other than her predecessor A P J Abdul Kalam who said today's youth should take inspiration from her five decades of public life.

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, senior Congress leader Karan Singh, former Union Ministers Bhisma Narain Singh and Vasant Sathe, who attended the function, along with Kalam wished Patil, the country's first woman President, on her birthday and prayed for her long life.

Kalam used the ocassion to call on the country's youth to fight the hardest battle, which any human being can ever imagine to fight and never stop fighting until "you arrive at your destined place, that is, a Unique You".

He also quoted extensively from the book written by Rasika Chaube and Chhaya Mahajan and said Patil had the "courage, perseverence, and mental discipline" to focus towards the goal of getting herself a good education in the midst of several restrictions during her childhood.

The former President also narrated a number of incidents from the book like how Patil's father struggled to get his "educated and a MLA daughter" married.

President's spouse Devisingh Shekhawat was also present at the function.

The book, foreword for which has been written by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, traces the life history of Patil from her childhood in Jalgeon in Maharashtra to the pinnacle of glory when she became India's first woman president in 2007 when the country was celebrating 60 years of its independence.

Karan Singh said the country is going through a very difficult phase and rued that Parliament was not allowed to function.

Kumar said the book has a special significance as this deals with the life of a "special personality."

Noting that poverty persists in the country, she said it is beacuse the progress has not reached to all sections of society.

She said there is a "social crisis" in the country and a confusion of values exist.

The proceedings of the book will be donated to an NGO Shram Sadhna Delhi Trust, managed by Patil's daugther Jyoti Rathore.