Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam ( born 15 October 1931) usually referred to as Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, is an Indian scientist and administrator who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. Kalam was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, studied physics at the St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli, and aerospace engineering at the Madras Institute of Technology (MIT), Chennai.
Before his term as President, he worked as an Aerospace engineer with De-fence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).Kalam is popularly known as the Missile Man of India for his work on the development of ballistic missile and launch vehicle technology. He played a pivotal organizational, technical and political role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998, the first since the original nuclear test by India in 1974. Some scientific experts have however called Kalam a man with no authority over nuclear physics but who just carried on the works of Homi J. Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai.
CHILDHOOD -
Kalam's father was a devout Muslim, who owned boats which he rented out to local fishermen and was a good friend of Hindu religious leaders and the school teachers at Rameshwaram. APJ Abdul Kalam mentions in his biography that to support his studies, he started his career as a newspaper vendor. This was also told in the book, A Boy and His Dream: Three Stories from the Childhood of Abdul Kalam by Vinita Krishna.But he never excuse his study for his poor background.
EDUCATION -
Kalam has primary education in the Rameswaram Elementary School.At the age of 15 he joined the Schwartz High School in Ramanathapuram.Teachers at the Schwartz High School were very gentle and encouraged him to do something very special in life.Mr.Soloman would often tell to his students not to get disappointed at the failures and said we must learn a lesson from a mistakes and failure.Kalam was one of the favorite student of Mr.Soloman.Abdul Kalam completed his high school education at the Schwartz High School,and then joined St.Joseph’s College,Tiruchchirappalli,in 1950 at the age of 19.
During his time in St.Joseph College,he shared his room with two other students from different religious backgrounds.In spite of this,these students were very cooperative and helpful to each other.Kalam lived in St.Joseph’s College for four years.While living in St.Joseph’s college,Kalam came very close to the revered Father T.N Sequeira,who used to teach English,it was due to Sequeria that Kalam began to like English literature and started reading Tolstoy,Scott,Milton,Hardy,and so on.Kalam even wrote some poems in Tamil and English.
After graduating from St.Joseph,s College,Kalam joined the Madras Institute of Technology(MIT)He managed to get his name published among the successful candidates,but admission at the MIT was not so easy.He had to have around Rs.1000 rupees for the admission fee into the college and his father was unable to find that much money.This made Kalam feel hopeless and unable to find that much money.This made Kalam feel hopeless and unable to think which way to turn for help.But luckily his sister Zohara came to the rescue and she mortgaged her bangles and her necklaces and gave the money to Kalam.Zohara had total confidence in the success of her brother ,she would often say that one day her brother would be a great man -and she was proved right.Kalam was indebted to his sister for her timely assistance and he vowed to pay off the debt and get all the bangles and necklaces back with his own earnings one day.
CARRIER AS A AERONAUTICAL ENGINEER -
After passing out as a graduate aeronautical engineer, Kalam joined Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bangalore as a trainee and later joined as a technical assistant in the Directorate of Technical Development and Production of the Ministry of Defence. In the 1960's Kalam joined the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thumba in Kerala. He played a major role in the centre's evolution to a key hub of space research in India, helping to develop the country's first indigenous satellite-launch vehicle. During 1963-82, he served the ISRO in various capacities. In 1982, he rejoined DRDO as Director, and conceived the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) for five indigenous missiles. Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has established an Advanced Technology Research Centre, called 'Research Centre Imarat' to undertake development in futuristic missile technology areas. He also served as the Principal Scientific Adviser to the De-fence minister and later the Government of India. After retiring from the post Dr. Kalam joined Annamalai University till he became the President in January 2002.
THE PRESIDENT Dr.ABDUL KALAM-
Kalam served as the 11th President of India, succeeding K. R. Narayanan. He won the 2002 presidential election with an electoral vote of 922,884, surpassing 107,366 votes won by Lakshmi Sahgal. He served from 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007.
AWARDS OF Dr. A.P.J ABDUL KALAM-
He is a member of Indian National Academy of Sciences, Astronautical Society of India and many other professional bodies. Dr. APJ abdul Kalam has been awarded Padma Bhushan in 1981, Padma Vibhushan in 1990 and India's Highest civilian Award 'The Bharat Ratna' in 1997. Other prestigious awards include Dr.Biren Roy Space Award, Om Prakash Basin Award for Science and Technology, National Nehru Award, Arya Bhatta Award etc. Dr. Kalam was conferred with the degree of Doctor of Science (D.Sc. Honoris-causa) by twenty eight universities.
SOME UN-KNOWN THINGS ABOUT Dr.KALAM-
Dr. Kalam, a bachelor is a connoisseur of classical Carnatic music. He plays veena in his leisure. He writes poetry in Tamil, his mother tongue. Seventeen of his poems were translated into English and published in 1994 as a book entitled 'My Journey'. He reads the Quran and the Bhagavad Gita with equal devotion. He is also the Author of the books 'India 2020 : A vision for the New Millennium'(1998 with YS Rajan), 'Wings of Fire : an Autobiography' and 'Ignited Minds – unleashing the power with Dr. Kalam, a bachelor is a connoisseur of classical Carnatic music. He plays veena in his leisure. He writes poetry in Tamil, his mother tongue. Seventeen of his poems were translated into English and published in 1994 as a book entitled 'My Journey'. He reads the Quran and the Bhagavad Gita with equal devotion India'.
His favorite poem is "THE VISION" to which he recited in parliament..
Books to which was written by him
1. Wings of Fire: An Autobiography of APJ Abdul Kalam.
2. Scientist to President by Dr. Kalam.
3. Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power within India by Dr. Kalam.
4. India 2020: A Vision for New Millennium by Dr. Kalam.
5. India-my-Dream by Dr. Kalam.
6. Envisioning an Empowered Nation: Technology for Societal Transformation by Dr. Kalam.
7. Guiding Souls: Dialogues on the Purpose of Life by Dr.Kalam.
8. Children Ask Kalam by Dr. Kalam.
