As an accolade for one of the most
incorrupt, inspirational, humble, kind, empathetic and faithful men of our
nation, it is my honor to write about this great man's achievements and how he
changed India for the better.
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, born on
October 15th, 1931 to a Muslim family in Tamil Nadu, had to face and go through
countless adversities on account of his family's impecunious background. His
father, Jainulabudeen, was a boat owner, and his mother, Ashiamma, a housewife.
His father was adamant to Abdul Kalam about starting to work at an early age,
and so, was left with no choice but to take up odd jobs, including distributing
newspapers, to support his family. Inspite of all these misfortunes, he never
did abandon his education, and had an aspiration for learning. He was an
extremely hard-working and dedicated pupil in his school-days, even though his
grades were not that high. After completing his high school education in 1950,
he joined St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli, only to regret the 4 years he
spent there. In 1955, he enrolled at Madras Institute of Technology to pursue a
course in Aerospace Engineering. The Dean of MIT was quite impressed with
Kalam's progress and performance, and after graduating in 1960, he went on and
signed up at the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) as a scientist.
At one time, he worked under the assistance of renowned scientist Vikram
Sarabhai, and later switched to ISRO.
The number of contributions he had made to space
research and technology for our nation is immense, and includes the successful
launch of India's first Satellite Launch Vehicle, SLV-III, which deployed the
Rohini satellite in low-earth orbit in mid-1980, and efforts to develop the Polar
Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and the SLV-III projects, both of which proved
to be triumphant. Kalam was also involved in numerous projects which sought to
get-on-well with ballistic missiles, exploiting the technology of the
successful SLV programmes. His ground-breaking research and directorship was
much recognized by higher authorities, which prompted the government for the
need of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), and
appointed Kalam as the chief executive.
Kalam also served as the Chief
Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of DRDO for 7 years,
from 1992 to 1999. Kalam played a chief role in the success of the Pokhran-II
nuclear tests and served as its Chief Project Coordinator. In 1998, Abdul Kalam
and Soma Raju developed a low-priced Coronary Stent, named the Kalam-Raju
Stent, and in 2012, made progress in developing a tablet-computer for
healthcare issues in rural areas.
From 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007, Kalam served as the 11th president of India,
and during his tenure, was popularly known as the "People's
President," due to his selfless devotion, empathy and willingness to
motivate children and young adults. Even after his presidency period was over,
Kalam became a visiting professor at IIM Shillong, IIM Ahmedabad and IIM
Indore, an honorary fellow of IISc Bangalore, Chancellor of IIST
Thiruvananthapuram, professor of Aerospace Engineering at Anna University and
an accompaniment at several other research institutions across India.
Many
of his awards include the Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan in 1981 and 1990,
respectively, the Bharath Ratna and the Indira Gandhi Award for National
Integration in 1997, the Veer Savarkar Award in 1998, the Ramanujan Award in
2000, the King Charles II Medal awarded by the prestigious Royal Society of
London in 2007, and the Hoover Medal awarded by the ASME Foundation, USA, in
2009.
It hurts me tremendously to say that Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam passed away on 27th
July, 2015, while delivering a lecture on 'Livable Planet' at IIM Shillong. He
is truly a remarkable figure and a role model for millions of people out there,
and will, without a doubt, continue to live on in everyone’s hearts for as long
as forever.
Shreyash Dahale
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