Given below are the three quotations of great thinkers. What do each of these quotations convey to you in the present context? (a) "If you want to shine like a sun, first burn like a sun." – A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Based on 30 evaluated answers to this question on CollectorBabu: here is what aspirants most often missed, the mistakes that cost marks, and a model answer.
What most aspirants missed
- Kalam's own life as the central example: modest origins in Rameswaram, years of setbacks in rocket programmes, then ISRO and DRDO success
- Burning as sustained daily discipline, not only recovery from failure, with an example such as Edison's repeated trials
- Link to purposeful learning under NEP 2020: skill-based, vocational and problem-solving education rather than rote learning
- Economic chain: patient R&D and startup support (Startup India, Atal Innovation Mission) to innovation and GDP growth, with R&D spending as a share of GDP
- Vivekananda's concept of service as spiritual practice, or the sacrifice of ISRO scientists such as Vikram Sarabhai's generation, as present-day illustration
Common mistakes
- Drifting into unrelated quotations or thinkers, or treating the quote as a general motivational line without linking it to the present context
- Naming concrete examples without explaining how each one shows 'burning before shining'
- Making vague claims about 'innovation' or 'development' without data, schemes or institutions
- Ending with a generic conclusion that restates the quote instead of stating what it means for individuals and the nation today
What the better answers did
- Direct mapping of the quote: burn means endure hardship and sustained effort, shine means recognition and lasting success
- Using Kalam's own biography as the anchor example, then extending to students, scientists and public servants
- Naming specific schemes and institutions (NEP 2020, Startup India, ISRO) and linking each to a clear outcome
- Structuring the answer in clear stages (meaning, present relevance, conclusion) with a visual or flow-like progression
Introduction
Open by stating the quote's core idea, that lasting excellence is paid for in advance through sustained hardship, and signal that you will apply it to individuals and the nation.
Conclusion
Close by restating that shortcuts yield no lasting light and that sustained discipline is the precondition for lasting success for students, scientists and public servants.
Model answer
Kalam's line, 'If you want to shine like a sun, first burn like a sun,' says that lasting excellence has to be paid for in advance through sustained hardship. The sun shines because it burns continuously, not because it is rewarded for shining. In the present context the message applies to students, professionals, scientists and public servants alike.
Meaning for the individual
- Recognition follows discipline. The 'burning' is daily, rigorous practice, not a one-time act of endurance.
- Kalam's own life shows the pattern. From a modest family in Rameswaram, he spent years on unglamorous work at ISRO and DRDO, including failures in early rocket programmes, before success.
- Edison's repeated trials for a workable filament illustrate the same principle: shining comes after sustained effort.
Relevance to youth and the economy
- NEP 2020 stresses purposeful learning, skill-based and vocational training, and problem solving over rote memorisation.
- Startup India and the Atal Innovation Mission reward long-term R&D and patient capital. India's R&D spending of about 0.7 per cent of GDP shows how much sustained effort the innovation economy still needs.
- Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan were built on years of quiet work by ISRO scientists before global recognition.
Relevance to public service
- Aspirants who prepare for years and then serve with steady commitment embody the quote. Vivekananda's idea of service as spiritual practice reinforces that visible success rests on unseen effort.
The quote is a reminder that shortcuts yield no lasting light. For individuals and the nation, the burning, meaning sustained discipline and hard work, is the precondition for the shining.
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