Author(s): Yogadharshini Paramasivam

Abstract: This paper examines A. P. J. Abdul Kalam’s autobiographical essay “The Power of Prayer” through the theoretical lens of Gernot Böhme’s aesthetics of atmospheres. While Kalam’s narrative has conventionally been read as a testament to interfaith harmony or spiritual secularism, this paper argues that the essay’s deeper significance lies in its representation of how atmospheric spaces, rather than formal instruction or abstract ideology, shape ethical subjectivity. Drawing on Bohme’s concept of atmosphere as an “in-between” phenomenon that mediates between objective environments and bodily feeling, the analysis demonstrates how Kalam’s childhood in Rameswaram unfolds across multiple atmospheric registers: the domestic atmosphere of generosity and spiritual wisdom fostered by his parents; the sacred atmospheres of the mosque and the Shiva temple, which dissolve religious boundaries through shared affective experience; the communal atmosphere of a locality where Muslims and Hindus live amicably; the elemental atmosphere of the sea and cyclone, which instills humility and resilience; and the pedagogical atmospheres created by teachers who challenge social hierarchies. The paper contends that Kalam’s identity does not emerge despite his environment but through it, the atmospheres of Rameswaram produce an ethical self that transcends religious and caste divisions long before Kalam can articulate such principles intellectually. This reading positions Bohme’s atmospheric aesthetics as a productive framework for understanding how lived environments, rather than doctrinal teachings, cultivate pluralistic consciousness in South Asian autobiographical narratives.

Keywords: Gernot Bohme, atmospheres, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, “The Power of Prayer,” religious pluralism, lived religion, aesthetic theory, Indian writing in English

Article Info: Received: 15 Jun 2026; Received in revised form: 12 Jul 2026; Accepted: 16 Jul 2026; Available online: 19 Jul 2026

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.114.13