Who Was A. P. J. Abdul Kalam ?
Avul Pakir Zainul Abidin Abdul Kalam was born on 15 October 1931 in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu to a Muslim family. His father Zainulabidin was a sailor and his mother Ashiamma was a homemaker. His family’s financial condition was not good, so he had to work from a young age. Balam Kalam used to distribute newspapers after school to help his father financially. During his school days, Kalam was normal in studies but always ready and willing to learn something new.
He had a hunger for learning and he used to pay attention to studies for hours. He completed his schooling from Ramanathapuram Schwartz Matriculation School and then attended St. Joseph’s College, Tiruchirapalli, from where he graduated in 1954 in physics. He then moved to Madras in the year 1955 from where he studied aerospace engineering. In the year 1960, Kalam completed his engineering studies from Madras Institute of Technology.
President Kalam wrote a thank you card to himself! Once a person made a sketch of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam and sent him. He is very surprised to learn that Dr. Kalam himself has sent a message and a thank you card with his signature to him with his own hands.
In 1969, he was sent to ISRO where he worked as Project Director. Kalam was involved in making the first satellite launch vehicle (SLV III) and the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle -PSLV. Made his own contribution, whose launch was successful later.
In 1980, the Government of India thought of starting a modern missile program with Abdul Kalam ji Direction, so he again sent it to DRDO. On the instructions of Abdul Kalam ji, it was successful to build a missile like Agni missile, Prithvi.
Dr. Kalam knew what the role of education could be in the creation of a capable future of an individual or a nation. He always spoke of taking the country forward on the path of progress. He had a clear vision of the future, which he presented in his book ‘India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium’.
In the book India 2020, he wrote that India will have to become a developed country and knowledge superpower by the year 2020. He said that the media needs to play a serious role in the country’s progress. Negative news cannot give anything to anyone, but positive and development related news arouses expectations.
Former President and Missileman APJ Abdul Kalam just suddenly left everyone and left on an endless journey. Dr Kalam, 83, died on Monday evening due to a heart attack. When this news immersed the entire country in sorrow, then everyone became very reminiscent of this person very close to the common people. One such incident is from last year, when a two-year-old girl won the heart of Dr. Kalam while coming to Indore by flight.
In June last year, former President APJ Abdul Kalam could not avoid praising a two-year-old girl who was teaching sharing to all in a flight to Indore. After offering chips to many travelers, she also reached out to Dr. Kalam.
For this two-year-old innocent, he was not a former president but a traveler like everyone else. When the girl very lovingly offered them chips, Dr. Kalam became very emotional. He hugged the girl and also took photographs with her. He became convinced of the generosity of that girl and also praised her.
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam knew what the role of education could be in building a capable future of an individual or a nation. He always spoke of taking the country forward on the path of progress. He had a clear vision of the future, which he presented in his book ‘India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium’. In the book India 2020, he wrote that India will have to become a developed country and knowledge superpower by the year 2020.
He said that the media needs to play a serious role in the country’s progress. Negative news cannot give anything to anyone, but positive and development related news arouses expectations. Dr. Kalam will always be remembered as an eminent scientist, administrator, educationist and writer and many current and upcoming generations of the country will continue to take inspiration from his inspiring personality and great works.
In his self-titled work ‘My Journey’, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Saheb has written – Those days of life were quite bitter. On the one hand there was a great career abroad, on the other hand, the ideal of service to the country. It was difficult to choose the opportunity to make childhood dreams come true, to move towards ideals or to embrace the opportunity of becoming rich.
But finally I decided not to go abroad for money. I will not miss the opportunity to serve the country for the sake of career. In this way in 1958, I met D.R. D. Joined the Defense Research and Development (Organization).
Dr. Kalam’s first deployment was DR. D. O. Happened at the Hyderabad center. For five years, he was instrumental in important research here. At the same time, China attacked India. In this war of 1962, India suffered a crushing defeat. Many plans were made, whose father was Dr. Kalam.
But in 1963 he was transferred from Hyderabad to Trivandrum. He was transferred to the Vikram Space Research Center, an associate institute of others (Indian Space Research Organization). Dr. Kalam worked in this center till 1980. During his long service, he took the country to an important position in the field of space science.
Awards:
- He was awarded the country’s highest honor Bharat Ratna in 1997 for his remarkable contribution in the field of defense research.
- Received Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration in the year 1998
- Abdul Kalam ji holds a doctorate from 40 universities around the world.
At the end of the President’s term, Abdul Kalam ji joined IIM Shillong, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Indore, IIS Bangalore and other colleges as guest professors. In 2012, a program for Indian youth was launched, “What Can I Give Movement”, which aims to defeat corruption in India.
Thoughts by Dr. Kalam:
- Asking Shan is one of the most important features of students. So students ask questions.
- There is no such thing as a negative experience for me.
- Life and time are the two biggest teachers of the world. Life teaches us to use time properly, while time tells us the usefulness of life.
- A human being needs difficulties because it is necessary to enjoy success.
- I was always willing to accept that I could not change certain things.
- We should not stop trying and should not give up on problems.
Dr. Kalam has also incorporated his ideas into many literary books, some of which include: Wings of Fire, India 2020 – ‘India 2020 A Vision for the New Millennium’, and ‘Ignatied Minds – Unleashing the Power Within India.