Presidents of India

Former president and the great Indian scientist Abdul Kalam don’t need any introduction. India felt proud to elect him as the president. He is the inspiration and role model of Indians, mostly children. As a scientist and as a leader, his work is innovative. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, usually referred to as APJ Abdul Kalam was born on 15th October, 1931 in Rameswaram, Madras Presidency, British India. After graduating in Physics from St. Joseph's College in Tiruchirapalli, Abdul Kalam graduated with a diploma in the mid-1950s from Madras Institute of Technology specializing in Aeronautical Engineering . As the Project Director, he was deeply involved in the development of India's first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III). As Chief Executive of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), he also played a major role in developing many Indian missiles including Agni and Prithvi.

He was the chief scientific adviser to Prime Minister and secretary of Department of Defense Research & Development from July 1992 to December 1999. Pokhran-II nuclear tests were conducted during this period, and were associated with Kalam although he was not directly involved with the nuclear programme at that time.

Kalam’s interest includes development in the fields of science and technology. He proposed a research programme for developing bio-implants. He is a supporter of open source software over proprietary solutions and believes that the use of open source software on a large scale will bring the benefits of information technology to more people.

Ever since Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam became the President of India (July 25, 2002), he spearheaded a socio-economic movement of igniting the young minds with positive thoughts and of propagating the "Developed India by 2020" vision with constructive mission modes. PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) is the major component of President's Dream for a developed India. It differs from the conventional ideas of economic development of rural areas in many ways, such as visions for: a comprehensive and composite rural development, government investment at urban levels in rural programmes, reverse rural-urban migration, the prerequisite quality infrastructure, supportive modern industry, investment in social and commercial service, and private enterprise initiative. 

PURA habitat design depends upon the infrastructural ring road linking a loop of villages and the interfacing of four interconnected aspects: physical, electronic, knowledge, and economic—to enhance rural prosperity. The model should enable proper selection of village clusters and deployment of the youth in different areas of rural development to make this programme a reality.

Under PURA, President Kalam envisages self-sustaining rural clusters which are well-connected by roads and fibreoptic cables for high-bandwidth telecommunication. PURA aims to provide ―knowledge connectivity‖ through education, vocational, and entrepreneurial training for farmers, craftsmen, etc. It also aims to improve healthcare and sanitation facilities in these village clusters. The project aims at creating economic opportunities outside the cities by providing urban infrastructure and services in rural hubs, such as electricity to each household, roads, potable drinking water, telecom services, proper healthcare, and education. Abdul Kalam felt the scheme can also address the problem of rural poverty.

According to Kalam's plan, the PURA communities must run as economically viable businesses financed and managed by entrepreneurs, local people, and small-scale industrialists. This is because they involve education, healthcare, power- generation, transport and management. Dr. Kalam spoke of 4 types of PURAs – Plain terrain PURA, Coastal PURA, Hill PURA, and Desert PURA. He emphasized on the fact that energy was what drove the rural economy and hence it was important to explore energy options such as solar, wind, bio-fuel, bio-gas, energy from municipal waste, etc.

Kalam has written several inspirational books, most notably his autobiography Wings of Fire, aimed to motivate the Indian youth. Another one of his books, Guiding Souls: Dialogues on the Purpose of Life reveals his spiritual side. He wrote several poems in Tamil as well. It has been reported that there is considerable demand in South Korea for translated versions of books written by him.

The Government of India has honoured him with the nation's highest civilian honours: the Padma Bhushan in 1981 Padma Vibhushan in 1990; and the Bharat Ratna in 1997 for his work with ISRO and DRDO and his role as a scientific advisor to the Indian government

On April 29, 2009, he became the first Asian to be bestowed the Hoover Medal, America's top engineering prize, for his outstanding contribution to public service. The citation said that he is being recognized for making state-of-the-art healthcare available to the common man at affordable prices, bringing quality medical care to rural areas by establishing a link between doctors and technocrats, using spin-offs of defense technology to create state-of-the-art medical equipment and launching tele-medicine projects connecting remote rural-based hospitals to the superspecialty hospitals. It added that he was a pre-eminent scientist, a gifted engineer, and a true visionary, who is also a humble humanitarian in every sense of the word.

On the Republic Day in 1990, Kalam was conferred the Padma Vibhushan along with Dr. Arunachalam. Though Kalam received so many awards from various universities, this one is significant because at that time our nation was celebrating the success of its missile programme. Towards the end of 1990, Jadavpur University gave him the honour of Doctor of Science. Kalam was excited to find out that the legendery hero Nelson Mandela also received the Doctorate along with him. In his acceptance address, Kalam once again recalled the stalwarts who inspired and guided him in achieving his missile mission. He justified that rocket mission and missiles are essential for the security of our nation. He concludes the autobiography with a positive note that Self Reliance Mission and Technology Vision-2020 will make our country strong, prosperous and a developed nation.

Kalam‟s positive approach to life elevated him from Rameshwaram to DSRO, Hyderabad. From there he went to many places, met many leaders. Ultimately it brought him back to a locale closer home, in Kerala.

His autobiography clearly reveals Kalam‟s spiritual moorings even as he worked hard to reach greater heights in his chosen field of missile technology. He was fully engaged in the development of technology that is double-edged: it could kill millions even as it could save millions in times of war. It could help exploring the vast universe and could even be an instrument for humility in individual lives. His awards were meant for developing missile technology in the context of India‟s self-defence against possible and probable war mongering and belligerence from other nations. In real terms, he was and is on the Wings of Fire which could burn and destroy and yet would illumine the world and give it the much needed warmth. Dangerously close to the disastrous effects, Kalam was and is aware that this dangerous bent could still be used for the benefit and betterment of humanity. He sounds that this realization was not solely based on reason, but in seeking spiritual experience and wisdom.

Kalam‟s joining DRDL on June 1, 1982 was a milestone in his career. Kalam realized that his scientist colleagues were still haunted by the failure of the Devil Missile. To inspire the scientists working there, Kalam invited experts from the Indian Institute of Science, Indian Institute of Technology, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and many other educational institutions.

With Defence Minister Venkataraman‟s initiative, Rs. 388 crores were sanctioned for surface-to-surface weapon system (Prithvi), the Tactical Core Vehicle (Trishul), the surface to air area defence system (Akash), the anti-tank missile project (Nag) and the last one Agni (Fire).

Kalam felt death of Dr. Bhahm Prakash and Indira Gandhi as a huge loss to scientific community. With the successful launch of Prithvi, Agni, Nag and Akash, India found a significant place at the international level. The verb propitiate means “to receive the goodwill of, to stop from being angry, to appease or reconcile those in power” (Dictionary New Encyclopedic Edition, 2004). 

It is true that Kalam was blessed with many supporters, admirers and followers in his career as a missile technologist. His handling of higher authorities was also appropriate in the context that prevailed/prevails in India. It looks like that the intent of using the word Propitiation for this section was not only to indicate his good relations with all around him but it also indicates his total dedication to his career, goals and spiritual pursuits as a single person.

The second part Creation (1963-1980) deals with the creation of SLV – 3 and Devil Missile with Kalam‟s achievement of Padma Bhushan Award.

It is surprising to know the historical fact from Kalam that Tipu Sultan had 700 rockets and subsystems of 900 rockets in the battle of Turukhanahally in 1799. Kalam had an overwhelming admiration and appreciation for Prof. Sarabhai‟s working methodology. Prof. Sarabhai was optimistic, a hard task master, who often assigned multiple tasks to a single person. He would try novel approaches and a great leader.

Kalam with his team was assigned the task of preparing satellite launch vehicle and Rocket-Assisted Take-off-System (RATO). In 1968 when Prof. Sarabhai paid a visit to Thumba, Kalam asked him to activate the pyro-system through a timer circuit. Unfortunately the timer did not work. This incident taught Kalam that the best way to prevent errors was to anticipate them. The failure of the timer circuit led to the birth of a rocket engineering laboratory. Kalam regards Prof. Sarabhai as the Mahatma Gandhi of Indian science who generated leadership qualities in his team and inspired them with ideas and examples.

Kalam was appointed as the project manager for SLV and reported directly to Dr. Bhahm Prakash. After taking up the executive responsibility of implementing the project Kalam had a clear time schedule for carrying out various works since this project had made great demands on his time.

In order to lead a team successfully, the leader should be independent, powerful and influential. Kalam suggests two techniques in this regard.

On seeing cranes and seagulls soar into flight into Rameshwaram, Kalam longed to fly in the sky. To realize his dream, after his B.Sc., he got admission into Madras Institute of Technology (MIT). He emotionally recalled how his sister Zohara has mortgaged her jewels to pay one thousand rupees as fees. Since he was very clear in his goal of flying aircrafts, he opted for aeronautical engineering in his second year.

Kalam recalls three stalwarts who shaped his professional career. Prof. Sponder taught him technical aerodynamics. He used to observe Indians‟ failure to discriminate between disciplines and to rationalize their choices. During the farewell function, Prof. Sponder summoned Kalam to sit with him in the front for a photograph. Since Prof. Sponder was sure that Kalam‟s hard work would bring laurels to the teachers in future. Yes, his prophecy came true. Prof. K.V. Pandalai had opened up the secrets of structural engineering to him. Prof. Narasimharao taught him theoretical aerodynamics. These teachers, with their intellectual fervour and clarity of thought, inspired Kalam to have a serious study of fluid dynamics.

Kalam attended the interview in Air Force as well as in DTD&P [Air] (Directorate of Technical Development and Production) of the Ministry of Defence. Upset by not getting selected in his air force interview, he met Swami Sivananda in the Sivananda Ashram. When Kalam shared his unfulfilled desire to join the Indian Air Force, Swami Sivananda looked at him calmly and said to him in a feeble voice :

Desire when it seems from the heart and spirit, when it is pure and intense, possesses awesome electromagnetic energy

This energy is released into the ether each night as the mind falls into the sleep state

Each morning it returns to the conscious state reinforced with the cosmic currents. That which has been imaged will surely and certainly be manifested.

Swami‟s words filled him with confidence and peace and he collected his appointment order and joined DTD&P as senior scientific Assistant. In Bangalore, Kalam had the responsibility to make air-flying machine with his team. Kalam‟s first hover craft was christened Nandi. Then Kalam was absorbed as a rocket engineer at InCosPAR (Indian Committee for Space Research). 

In 1962, when InCosPAR set up the equatorial Rocket Launching Station at Thumba, Kalam got an opportunity to go to America for a six month training programme on sounding rocket launching techniques at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) work centers. Kalam‟s strong spiritual foundation provided him with enough courage to proceed in his career.

Global Satellite to be named after APJ Abdul Kalam

Memorial to Kalam to come up at his burial site

Dr Abdul Kalam's speech in EU

Keywords: Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Former President of India, World-renowned Space Scientist, DRDO, ISRO