Known as the ‘Missile Man’ of India, Dr Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam’s 89th birth anniversary is observed on October 15, 2020. The 11th President of India, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam‘s efforts to India’s missile research and development has been exemplary . On July 27, 2015, he collapsed while delivering a lecture at IIM-Shillong, and passed away. However, he left behind a legacy.
As a 10-year-old who grew up in Madras, he sold newspapers to help his father and make a living . He would go to Rameswaram Road Railway station to collect the newspapers. Dr. Kalam would get up at 4 am to take his mathematics lessons. He would also always take a bath before going to class — a compulsary condition for all students.
Dr Kalam was a vegetarian. He grew up in a Muslim family, he was well-versed in Hindu traditions and was secular at heart. He learnt Sanskrit and read, the Quran and Bhagavad Gita. Dr Kalam donated his entire salary and savings to a charitable trust- PURA (Providing Urban Amenities to Rural Areas) – that he had founded. He also had doctorates from 40 universities.
Dr Kalam was the third President to have been awarded the Bharat Ratna even before getting appointed to the post. Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan and Dr. Zakir Hussain were also honored with Bharat Ratna before becoming the President. APJ Kalam received the Bharat Ratna in 1997, he was elected as President in 2002.
A new bacteria was discovered in the NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory International Space Station, it was named ‘Solibacillus kalami’ in honor of Kalam. Indian government has also named the site of National Missile Test in Orissa in name of Dr. Kalam.
With Soma Raju, Chairman of Care Hospital, Hyderabad, he had created an affordable coronary stent named ‘Kalam-Raju Stent’. In 2102, both designed a tablet computer for health care workers , which was named as ‘Kalam-Raju Tablet’.
Dr Kalam considered the head of the Swami Narayan sect as his spiritual guru and he also wrote a book, ‘Transcendence: My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji’, about the instances with Pramukh Swami. When the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar was attacked by terrorists, Swamiji had sprinkled holy Ganga water on the bodies of each of the victims of the attack and that’s what touched his heart.
APJ Kalam disposed of only one mercy petition out of 21 during his term. He denied mercy petition of Dhananjay Chatterjee, who was convicted of raping a 15-year-old girl in Kolkata.
