Munger: (Bihar) The missile man of India, President A P J Abdul Kalam found peace in the company of yoga guru Swami Shivanand after failing the test for fighter pilot of the Indian Air Force (IAF).

"Dejected and lonely, I sat among the crowd at Swami Shivanand's ashram in Rishikesh after failing the test.

Swamiji called me and narrated chapter 11 of Bhagwad Gita and my life was changed for ever," Kalam said while interacting with yoga students and teachers at the Bihar school of Yoga, the only yoga university in the world.

"The Swami narrated to me the 11th chapter, Vishwaroop Darshan, where Lord Krishna gives sermon to Arjun on how to defeat the defeatist tendencies.... that sermon has exercised great influence on my life", Kalam recalled.

The President, who spent an hour mingling with yoga teachers and residents of 'Yoga Mitra Mandal' asked them never to accept defeat.

Later, addressing a gathering at the historic 'Khankah Rehmani', the President said it was only through education and unity that India could be made strong.

He recalled the contribution of 'Khankah Rehmani', an institution set up in 1901 by famous Sufi saint Maulana Mohammed Ali Mungeri, in the freedom movement.

The President also offered fateha at the institute engaged in imparting education in Islamic theology.

PTI