It is a rare occasion when a president of a country is known as the “people’s president.” It is none other than APJ Abdul Kalam, former president of India, who was bestowed with this honour and became popularly known as such.
It is sad that he died on July 27, after suffering a massive heart attack in Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya. He collapsed while delivering a lecture to the students of the prestigious Indian Institute of Management in Shillong.
After leaving the office as president, it became his passion to inspire the young generation. He travelled all over India, and last year, while addressing a gathering of youth in Dhaka, quoted the great Persian poet Rumi: “I am born with potential. I am born with goodness and trust. I am born with ideas and dreams. I am born with greatness. I am born with wings. I am not meant for crawling, because I have wings. I will learn to use them and fly.”
Even though Kalam became the president of India, he was more famous as a scientist and the principal architect of India’s missile and space programs. As the chief scientific adviser to the then Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he made significant contributions to India’s nuclear weapons program during the late 90s.
Abdul Kalam was born in a small town, Rameswaram, in Tamil Nadu, on October 15, 1931. He came from a poor background, and sold newspapers at an early age to supplement his family's income. His grades at school were average, but he was a bright and hard-working student with a strong desire to learn.
He spent hours on his studies, especially mathematics. After finishing school, he first graduated in physics from St Joseph’s College, Tiruchirappalli, but did not find interest in the subject. Later, he studied aerospace engineering at Madras Institute of Technology and graduated in 1960.
Having initially worked for the Defence Research and Development Organisation, he joined the Indian Space Research Organisation, and became chief of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program. Under his leadership, India developed Agni, an intermediate range ballistic missile, and Prithvi, the tactical surface-to-surface missile.
While developing the missile technology, Abdul Kalam was greatly inspired by Tipu Sultan of Mysore, who made innovations in the military use of rockets against the British East India Company during the Anglo-Mysore Wars.
Rockets developed by Tipu Sultan led to a renaissance of interest in the technology in Britain. Abdul Kalam wrote: “Rocket technology engulfed me for two decades since my visit to Srirangapatna in 1960. The question continued to haunt me. How could Tipu Sultan have led to the world’s first war rocket?”
Referring to an article by Frank H Winter of National Air and Space Museum, Washington, USA, titled “The rocket in India from ancient times to the 19th century,” he wrote: “Soon, I learnt that two of the war rockets captured by the British at Srirangapatana have been displayed in the Museum of Artillery at Woolwich in London. One of my missions during my visit to Europe in 1980 was to study this rocket. Dr VR Gowarikar and I visited the museum. It was a great thrill, especially for rocket technologists like us, to see an Indian innovation in foreign soil well-preserved, and with facts not distorted.”
Abdul Kalam served as the 11th president of India. His term lasted from July 25, 2002 to July 25, 2007. After leaving office, he became a visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) at Shillong, where he delivered his last lecture, and at other IIMs at Ahmedabad and Indore. He was an honourary fellow of the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, and chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram.
In May 2012, Kalam launched a program for the youth of India called the “What Can I Give Movement,” with the theme of fighting corruption. He inspired the young generation through his speeches and writings. One of his famous quotes is: “Let us sacrifice our today, so that our children can have a better tomorrow.”
Kalam sacrificed not just one or two days, but his life, for a better future for the younger generations.
Abul Kalam received numerous awards from home and abroad. His 79th birthday was recognised as World Student Day by the UN. Kalam received India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, for his contribution to the scientific research and modernisation of defence technology in India.
Abdul Kalam had no property to his name -- his scientific adviser V Ponraj said that after his death. He added that Kalam’s only properties were his books and 640 million youths in the country. Upon his death, India lost a great scientist and a great teacher.
The government declared a seven-day national mourning as a mark of respect for the man known and loved across the country as the “people’s president.” Kalam was laid to rest in his hometown Rameswaram, with full military honours and in the presence of the country’s top leaders, family members, and a chanting crowd. Even after his death, his contributions in science and technology, and his speeches and writings, will inspire the youth in his country and abroad for a long time.
