Dr.
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
We all
know that India is the
second biggest democracy in the world. Perhaps India is the only
country, which
has a Missile Scientist as its president. It is unique in the history
of a
Democratic country. The life of Dr. Kalam is a shining example. From a
very
humble beginning, by his dint of hard work, he rose to this eminent
position
and has become the First Citizen of India.
He was
born on 15th
October 1931 at Dhanushkodi near Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu. His fulIname
is Avil
Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam. His family was not very rich. His
father used
to rent boats to fishermen to earn his livelihood.
Upon
Completion of his
secondary education at Schwarts School in Ramanathapuram, Dr.Kalam took
engineering at the Joseph's College, Trichy before joining the Defense
Research
Development Organization (DRDO) in 1958. After serving there for five
years, he
switched over to Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
While
he was in ISRO he made
significant contributions to Indian Satellite and launch vehicles. He
was the
Project Director there and, his extensive research in the field led to
the
design, development and test fire of India's first indigenous satellite
launch
vehicle (SLV III). This injected the Rohini Satellite in the near earth
orbit.
He was very much responsible for the creation of ISRO's launch vehicles
programme and formation. After spending nearly 19 years in ISRO, he
rejoined
DRDO in 1982. He devised and rejoined DRDO in 1982. He devised and
developed
the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) for
missiles. This
helped in successful launching of the Agni and Prithvi Missiles. He was
the
Scientiflc Adviser to the Defence Ministry from 1992 to 1999. Then he
became
the chairman of the Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment
Council.
There
he conceived the
Technology Vision 2020 thesis. These ideas provided overall guidance to
a
number of Homegrown Technology Projects and many major technological
changes in
sugar industry and advanced composites and fly ash utilisation.
Dr.
Kalam was the Principal
Scientific Adviser to the Government of India from 1999 to 2001. His
rank there
was equivalent to a Cabinet Minister. He evolved many schemes that
paved way to
create many innovations in the field of science applicable to daily
life. He
was also the Ex-officio Co-chairman of the Scientific Advisory
Committee to the
Cabinet.
Dr. Kalam very strongly
believes that deep scientific knowledge should be inculcated among the
younger
generation. With the aim of igniting the young minds towards technology
development, he meets the high school students and interacts with them.
The
Honours conferred on him
are innumerable. Dr. Kalam has been conferred Degree of Doctor of
Science by
about 30 Universities and academic institutions. He has been awarded
many
prestigious national awards including Padma Bhushan in 1981, Padma
Vibhushan in
1990 and the highest civilian award Bharat Ratna in 1997. Apart from
these, he
is a recipient of the H.K. Firodia Award for Excellence in Science and
Technology. He received the Indira Gandhi Award for National
lntegration in
1997.
He is
the eleventh President of
the Indian Union since 2002. In spite of being a Muslim, he can recite
the
Bhagavad Gita with as much ease as the holy Quran. He is a vegetarian
and a
teetotaller. His life is full of simplicity as he is a man of humble
nature.
"Wings of Fire" is his autobiography.
He
loves music too. He Plays
veena and loves the Shri Raga. He is a voracious reader. He has a
library at
home and his favourite poets are Milton, Walt Whitman and Rabindranath
Tagore.
He is an ardent lover of Thirukkural. He displays Thirukkural everyday
in
Rashtrapati Bhavan. It is indeed a pleasure to read about Dr. Kalam, a
multifaceted personality and a practical man who converts "Dreams into
Reality".
Dr. Kalam is a pride of India. He is the first
non-politician to be made the President. And he is far above all
differences.
It is worth mentioning that during the presidential race in 2002, even
the
saffronised Bharatiya Janata Patty (BJP) joined hands to elect him as
the
President. His home town Danushkoti no longer exists. It had been
engulfed by
the sea during the 1966 cyclone. However, Danushkoti had left behind an
invaluable treasure. And that is Dr. Kalam.