The Man who had wings of fire.

Excellence is a continuous process and not an accident – APJ Abdul Kalam.

Our Former President APJ Abdul Kalam was among the great leaders India had and the world needs. Simplicity and Integrity defined him. Kalam loved interacting with students, his Birth anniversary is fondly marked as Student’s Day.

Kalam dreamt to be a fighter pilot in Indian Air Force but was merit out as only 8 slots were available and he secured the 9th position, he was shattered. He said in his book,“It is only when we are faced with failure do we realise that these resources were always there within us. We only need to find them and move on with our lives”. He didn’t make it to IAF, but this failure turned out quite well as we got a leader who was respected beyond political boundaries. He played a pivotal technical and political role in strengthening India’s position globally. He was a key member of the civilian space and military missile programme.

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was born on October 15, 1931, in a poor Tamil Muslim family in Rameswaram.

After completing his graduation from Madras Institute of Technology in 1960, he joined DRDO and worked as a scientist. Kalam was groomed by Vikram Sarabhai and Satish Dhawan, they were his mentors. In 1969, Kalam was transferred to ISRO where he was the project director of India’s first Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV III) which successfully deployed the Rohini satellite orbit. He made an effort to develop the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), which turned out to be successful.

In the 1970s, Kalam also directed two projects, Project Devil and Valiant, which sought to develop ballistic missiles from the technology of the successful SLV programme.

During the same period powerful countries amalgamate to prevent the spread of technologies and disarmament of other countries, signed treaties like Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty(CTBT) and to combat these Missile Technology Control Regime(MCTR) India started its advance Indigenous missile programme.

He was the chief executive of this Integrated Guided Missile Programme which developed missiles like Prithvi, Trishul, Akash, Nag and technological demonstrator Agni. He is the brainchild behind India’s current ambitious missile programme.

Kalam believed in Made in India and to be strong India needs to design, develop and protect itself. He profusely said this programme was a step towards a self reliant India.

He led the weaponization of strategic Nuclear tests in Pokhran under the Bajpayee Government and made India a Nuclear weapon state. India’s nuclear era emerged on 11th May, 1988 also celebrated as National Technology Day.

He worked towards societal upliftment in the defence sector which led to a number of developments in the medical field. In 1998, along with cardiologist Soma Raju, Kalam developed a low cost coronary stent, named the “Kalam-Raju Stent”. He introduced the lightweight fro and calipers for polio affected, made of glass filled polypropylene reducing weight from 4kg to 400gms, this carbon composite material was the brainchild of Kalam when he was director at DRDL also used at the tip of Agni missile.

He served as 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. He secured backing from all political parties, a people’s leader in true sense.
After his term ended he returned to a life of education and public service. He was served with many honorary degrees and awards including India’s highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna(1997), Padma Vibhushan(1990) and Padma Bhushan (1981).
He was a scientist and our beloved politician, he also liked to write poetry in Tamil, learnt playing Veena, listening to Carnatic music and writing books, including Wings of fire, Ignited minds, India: Vision 2020 and many more.

Kalam’s vision for development of our country was something he worked on till his last moments. He left us doing what he was most admired for – teaching. On 27th july, 2015 a magnificent presence was withdrawn, he collapsed while delivering a lecture in IIM Shillong, followed by an apparent cardiac arrest.