 In his farewell address to the nation (24 July 2002), K. R. Narayanan set his hopes for social action and progress on the service of the nation by its youth.He reflected on his varied experiences of the essential goodness and wisdom of the Indian people, recalling how he had grown up in Uzhavoor among adherents of several religions, how religious tolerance and harmony had prevailed, how upper-caste Hindus and well-off Christians had helped him in his early studies, and how upper-caste Hindus as well as
Christians and Muslims had worked together enthusiastically for his election campaigns in Ottapalam.He said that the credibility and endurance of India's unity and democracy are founded on its tradition of tolerance, and spoke of the need for Hindus, who form the majority, to express the traditional spirit of their religion.