ATHENS: President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on Friday wrapped up his three-day tour of Greece with a visit to the Acropolis hill, the `Sacred Rock' of Athens and by far the most important historical site in the city.

The President, along with an official delegation, spent about 40 minutes at the Acropolis hill, which is home to the monuments such as the Parthenon, the Erechtheum, the Temple of Athena Nike and the Propylaea, all constructed around 420 BC.

Walking through the stone-paved pathways, Mr. Kalam freely mingled with the visitors there and was delighted to meet a group of schoolchildren.

He asked them to recite after him "Dream, Dream, Dream because dreams transform into thoughts and thoughts lead to action."

The elated children responded whole-heartedly, reciting the lines and clapping joyously.

In yet another spontaneous gesture, Mr. Kalam greeted the tourists and visitors around the hill. Both Indian and Greek security personnel kept a vigil, but they did not interfere when Mr. Kalam shook hands with many visitors. He also went around the museum and posed for pictures.

Archaeologist Bennerie Ionne, who showed the President around the Acropolis, got a pleasant surprise when Mr. Kalam gave her an autographed copy of his bestseller Ignited Minds.

Earlier, Mr. Kalam visited children afflicted with cerebral palsy at a rehabilitation centre here. There were about 100 children in the age group of six to 12.

Mr. Kalam presented 10 computers to the rehabilitation centre and told the teachers there that they were performing "God's mission" in serving the special children, managed for the past 40 years by the Social Work Foundation.

The President also visited the Hellenic Aerospace Industry, which is one of the major State-owned defence companies in Greece. He saw for himself the expertise of the HAI in assembling and modernising fighter jet Mirage 2000.

Areas of cooperation

His address on `Convergence of Technologies' at the National Centre for Scientific Research Demokritos highlighted half-a-dozen research areas where Greece and India could work together.

These areas are: energy, nuclear power generation, research on vaccines to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS, stem cell research, global monsoon research.

Mr. Kalam called upon the young researchers in two countries to take up the challenge.

During his 50-minute power-point address, he touched upon India being on the way to becoming a knowledge society where 540 million youth were determined to make the nation prosperous, happy and a safe place to live in before 2020.

Taking recourse to scientific terms, found only in science glossary, he referred to the benefits of nano-technology, silicon electronics, photonics and convergence of various technologies.

In a gesture marking the warmth and closeness of ties between India and Greece, President Karolos Papoulias, who had learnt Sanskrit while studying in Germany, attended a reception hosted in honour of Mr. Kalam by Indian Ambassador B. Balakrishnan.

Members of the Indian community in Athens, officials and members of the diplomatic corps were present at the reception.

Mr. Kalam's message to the Indian community here was succinct — "Work tirelessly for the country in which you live. Make your mark and be instrumental in achieving all round progress of Greece."

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