On Saturday, 25 July 2015 a grand celebration event for Dr. Kalam’s book "Transcendence - My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji" was held in at the Image Auditorium in Chennai. The event was graced by Justice S. Vaidyanathan, Dr Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti, Dr S. Subramanian, Dr M. Manickam, Dr N.R. Dave and over 800 dignitaries, well-wishers and devotees.
The event began with the traditional singing of the Tamil Thai Valthu, followed by Vedic prayers and the lighting of the inaugural lamp by Pujya Anandswarup Swami and Justice S. Vaidyanathan.
A giant 40ft by 10ft screen transported the audience back in time through an animation presentation of the stories of two boys – the journeys of how a boatman’s boy became a scientist and later the 11th President of India and how a farmer’s boy became the president of BAPS and a world-renowned spiritual leader.
Brahmavihari Swami then narrated some highlights of the 14-year friendship between Dr Kalam and Pramukh Swami Maharaj. This was followed by a video depicting some of these interactions and Dr Kalam presenting his book to Pramukh Swami Maharaj in Sarangpur, Gujarat, on 20 June 2015.
Thereafter, Prof. Arun Tiwari, the co-author of Transcendence, shared his experiences about writing the book. P.M. Sukumar, the CEO of HarperCollins, publishers of Transcendence, narrated the responses to the book. He also announced that the English version would be translated shortly into other languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Gujarati, Hindi and Marathi.
The celebration ceremony of the book took place amongst Vedic mantras and thereafter the stage guests inaugurated copies of the book and displayed them to the audience.
Dr N.R. Dave, Dr Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti, Dr S. Subramanian and Justice S. Vaidyanathan addressed the gathering, sharing their experiences of the evening.
Pujya Anandswarup Swami, Mahant of Swaminarayan Akshardham in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, enlightened the audience with a speech.
During the event, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi was remembered for having received the book at his office in New Delhi on 26 June.
The grand celebration event concluded with the Indian national anthem, 'Jana Gana Mana'.