Family Background

Family Background

He was born on 15th October, 1931 in Tikundi of Dhanuskodi in the district of Rameswaram, TamilNadu. His father was Jainaluddin, mother Ashiamma. His full name is Abdul Pakir Jainaluddin Abdul Kalam.

Childhood Days

Childhood Days

His father, Jainaluddin was a poor boatman, who earned very little and so they had to face utter hardship. Little Kalam loved the sea very much and spent hours on the sea beach watching the waves of the blue ocean. His parents were very simple and religious that influenced his lifestyle. He is strictly vegetarian. The spiritual simplicity of his parents has turned him to be today's Kalam who believes in God, reads Koran and Gita daily, an ideal secular Indian in the truest sense of the term. His mother kindled the tender feelings within himself which infuses him to practise music and poems

Student Life

Student Life

His education begins in a rural primary at Rameswaram. Later he gets admitted in a Ramnathpuram missionary school, Schoartz. To meet the expense of the school he starts hawking the newspaper. His struggle is appreciated by the teachers of his school when they come forward to help him noticing the spark of brilliance within him. In 1950 he gets admission in St. Joseph College, Trichi and graduated in science. Later he gets admitted in Madras Institute of Technology with a desire to be a pilot

Job Profile

Job Profile

Passing out of MIT he joins the DRDO as the Senior Officer in 1958 in order to materialize his dream to construct an esteemed, powerful India. In his autobiography, "Wings of Fire" he writes " The searching period of my life spans from 1931 to 1963. Then I have sought for the goal of my life and the very way to achieve it often I used to ask myself what should I do?"
At last he joins ISRO in 1962 and next year engages himself in the research of launching the satellite, and comes in close contact with Dr. Vikram Sarabhai and Prof Satish Dhawan. Few months later he becomes the Project Director of SLV-3 satellite research programme; this marks the 2nd phase of his life.

Outcome of his Research

Outcome of his Research

On 21st November, 1963 he successfully launched the first Indian rocket Aryabhatta, followed by Rohini in 1967. In 1968 he st up the Indian Rocket Society. In 1972 the successful test flight of Sukhoi jet aircraft takes place under his supervision. Another satellite Rohini is stationed in the orbit in July, 1980. In1982 Dr. Raja Ramanna brings him back to DRDO as the Director. The then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi appreciates his works and allots Rs 300 crore for his missile research programme. Since there is no looking back, his winning spree takes him off. Missiles like Prithvi, Agni, Trishul, Akash and Nag come out one by one and enrich our military warehouse behind he is the sole soul.

Appreciation of his Works

Appreciation of his Works

He was awarded Padma Bhushan and Padma Bibhusan respectively in 1981 and 1990. Same year Jadavpur University awarded him D.Sc and in 1998 ,Government of India honored him with the highest civilian title Bharat Ratna

Conclusion

Conclusion

He leads a very simple life, and still after assuming the office of the 1st Citizen of India he remains same. In Rasthrapati Bhaban he sets up a research centre and continues his work. He loves the little children and establishes a number of free primary schools for them. He goes to Gujarat to sympathise the riot affected people. It is hoped that he would be as successful in his new role as he has been as a a scientist and above all as a man.^[5]

Political views

Political views

Kalam's probable views on certain issues have been espoused by him in his book India 2020 where he strongly advocates an action plan to develop India into a knowledge superpower and into a developed nation by the year 2020. Kalam is credited with the view that India ought to take a more assertive stance in international relations; he regards his work on India's nuclear weapons program as a way to assert India's place as a future superpower.

Kalam continues to take an active interest in other developments in the field of science and technology as well. He has 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 more people the benefits of information technology.

Kalam's belief in the power of science to resolve society's problems and his views of these problems as a result of inefficient distribution of resources is modernistic. He also sees science and technology as ideology-free areas and emphasizes the cultivation of scientific temper and entrepreneurial drive. In this, he finds a lot of support among India's new business leaders like the founders of Infosys and Wipro, (leading Indian IT corporations) who began their careers as technology professionals much in the same way Kalam did.

His views on issues of peace and weapons seem to be contradictory. On close examination of his thoughts it looks practical. He is quoted as follows

In the 3,000-year history of India, barring 600 years, the country has been ruled by others. If you need development, the country should witness peace and peace is ensured by strength. Missiles were developed to strengthen the country

Personal life

Personal life

APJ Abdul Kalam was born in 1931 in a middle-class family in Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu, a town well-known for its Hindu shrines. His mother tongue is Tamil. His father, a devout Muslim, 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. The house Kalam was born in can still be found on the Mosque street at Rameswaram, and his brother's curio shop abuts it. This has become a point-of-call for tourists who seek out the place. Kalam grew up in an intimate relationship with nature, and he says in Wings of Fire that he never could imagine that water could be so powerful a destroying force as that he witnessed when he was six. That was in 1934 when a cyclonic storm swept away the Pamban bridge and a trainload of passengers with it and also Kalam's native village, Dhanushkodi.

Kalam observes strict personal discipline, vegetarianism, teetotalism and celibacy. Kalam is a scholar of Thirukkural; in most of his speeches, he quotes at least one kural. Kalam has written several inspirational books, most notably his autobiography Wings of Fire, aimed at motivating Indian youth. Another of his books, Guiding Souls: Dialogues on the Purpose of Life reveals his spiritual side. He has written poems in Tamil as well. It has been reported that there is considerable demand in South Korea for translated versions of books authored by him. ^[4].

Dr. Kalam received an honorary doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University

Kalam as an Engineer

Kalam as an Engineer

Abdul Kalam graduated from Madras Institute of Technology majoring in Aeronautical Engineering. As the Project Director, he made significant contributions to 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 major part in developing many missiles of India including Agni and Prithvi. He was the Chief Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister and Secretary, Department of Defence Research & Development from July 1992 to December 1999. Pokhran-II nuclear tests were conducted during this period, led by him

Abdul Kalam

As a child, Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam remembers being fascinated by the flight of seagulls. He grew up on the island of Rameshwaram in south India, where his father was a boat builder. Kalam's interest in flight led to a degree in aeronautical engineering, and eventually to his supervising the development of India's guided missiles. Along the way, he found time to write Tamil poetry and learned to play the veena, an instrument similar to the sitar. Today Kalam, 67, who is India's best known scientist, heads the mammoth Department of Defense Research and Development. He played a key role in the nuclear tests at Pokharan in the Rajasthan desert on May 11 and 13. "I remember the earth shaking under our feet," he recalls of that fateful experience.

Perhaps all frontiersmen are like that. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam has spent all his life near the three water frontiers of India. The newspaper boy of Rameswaram coast on the Indian Ocean spent 20 years dreaming of space frontiers at Thumba space centre on the Arabian Sea. The dreams of the next 20 years were mostly conjured up on the shores of the Bay of Bengal at Chandipur where he test-launched missiles and checked on vehicles that re-enter the atmosphere from space.

The dreamer of these oceanic frontiers is also one of India's frontiersmen in technology. A technology that not only fired Agnis, ignited Prithvis but also can green the barren lands, provide foods to the starving, and profit in world commerce. A First World dream for a third world nation.

It is a dream he shares with Yagnaswami Sundara Rajan, another technologist who had his stints in the Indian Space Research Organisation, the department of space contributing significantly to the communication satellite programme, the remote sensing programme and satellite metorology and mapping systems.

From the sea frontiers and space frontiers, the duo are now dreaming up frontiers of technology-driven prosperity for one billion people. In this they are inspired as much by the grain-rich fields of the green revolution as by the successes of remote-sensing satellites and re-entry vehicles. They see infinite energy that can be released not only from thermonuclear explosions but also from the human resource latent in the ordinary people of India.

Dr Kalam and Rajan believe that as a nation India should aim to reach at least the fourth position by 2020. And nobody is going to help us reach there, except ourselves. As the globe is shrinking into a village, there is also simultaneous denial of technologies.

But the same sense of purpose that made Pokharans and Prithvis possible can propel whole populations into prosperity. In the book India 2020, A Vision for the New Millennium, published by Viking-Penguin India, they identify exactly the bricks of technology that could build the dream. (Incidentally, Dr Kalam even otherwise seems to have the perfect 20-20 vision.

Things you didn't know about kalam

That Dr. Abdul Kalam is a bachelor and a teetotaler?

That he recites the Holy Quran and the Bhagvad Gita daily and is equally at home with both Holy Scriptures?

That Dr. Abdul Kalam has gone abroad for studies only once in 1963-64 to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States?

That as a young boy, he sold newspapers to enhance his family's income?

That he is so modest about his achievements that at every felicitation ceremony he gives full credit for India's success to his colleagues?

Childhood and Career

Oct 15, 1931 : Born at Dhanushkodi in Rameswaram district,Tamil Nadu. His father had to rent boats to pay his school fees. He studied at the Schwartz High School in Ramanathapuram.

1954-58 : After graduating in science from St. Joseph's College in Tiruchi, he enrolled for Aeronautical Engineering at the Madras Institute of Technology in 1954.

1958 Kalam joined the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and served as a senior scientific assistant, heading a small team that developed a prototype hovercraft. But the project, never took off.

1962 : Following the lukewarm response to his hovercraft program, Kalam moved out of DRDO and joined Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)

1963-82 : Kalam joined the satellite launch vehicle team at Thumba, near Trivandram and soon became Project Director for SLV-3.

1980 : Rohini put into orbit in the month of July

1981 : Kalam honoured with the Padma Bhushan

1982 : Kalam returns to DRDO as its Director. Takes charge of India's integrated guided missile development program. The program envisaged the launch of five major missiles.

1992 : Kalam takes over as the Scientific Advisor to Union Defence Minister.

1997 : Kalam honoured with "Bharat Ratna", india's highest civilian award.

May 11, 1998 : Adorning a Gorkha hat in the Rajasthan deserts, he orchestrated India's underground nuclear tests. The scientist from a small hamlet in Tamil Nadu who had dreamt of India as a nuclear power many years ago had finally achieved it!

2002 : Kalam takes over as the President of India.

APJ Abdul Kalam needed file of Sonia's citizenship

APJ Abdul Kalam needed file of Sonia's citizenship

Apr 7 2005 | Views 823 | Leave a Comment

Summary of the news article: “Conversion is being encouraged through invisible hands of Sonia. We should learn a lesson of sovereignty from the China. Abolish Minorityism. The attack on Kanchi Math in a Hindu-majority country "reflected the weakness and disorganized State of the Hindu society. Senior advocate P.N. Lekhi, said in Delhi HC that on April 6, 2005 President APJ Abdul Kalam needed file on April 17, 2004,related to Sonia’s citizenship. Therefore this case fixed for next day could not be heard. “

Are we sovereign?
Though we said ourselves a sovereign country but in real sense UPA and Left should learn a lesson of sovereignty from the China, which is not representing Pope’s funnel. Three-day official mourning India has ordered by Secular Non-Hindu UPA govt. for Pope John Paul II to show that UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi is Roman and a Catholic by birth instead of Hindu. If I am wrong then her media person Ambika Sonid Should clarify this. The interval in three-day mourning is perhaps for naming in Greenish Book. Even a catholic nation like Ireland is not having a national day of mourning on the death of the pope. China doesn’t send envoy for Pope's funeral. Conversion is being encouraged through invisible hands of Sonia. Pope's appeal on the land of India for "reaping a great harvest of faith in Asia in the third Christian millennium” should be treated as interfering in our religious affairs and internal matters. Beijing demanded that the holy seer must abstain from interfering in its religious affairs and severe diplomatic relations with Taiwan. CPM advised UPA to study the policies of China, which may be beneficial for India. Now what they have to say?

The Delhi High Court is hearing an application of the Rashtriya Mukti Morcha (RMM), that seeks Sonia Gandhi as a party to a petition challenging her citizenship. P.N. Lekhi, appearing for the RMM, said on April 6, 2005 that President APJ Abdul Kalam needed file on April 17, 2004,related to Sonia’s citizenship. Therefore this case fixed for next day could not be heard. He had cited constitutions of various countries, including the USA, France, Germany and even Italy, the country o Sonia’s birth, which prohibits a foreign-born citizen from occupying high constitutional post. He had also raised the question of “dual citizenship”, which Indian Constitution did not recognise, while an Italian citizen never forfeits his or her citizenship even if he or she had adopted the citizenship of another country.

Kanchi Mutt Seer files a petition in Supreme Court seeking transfer of cases out of TN.
Seer’s arrest shows that Jaya is latest victim of minorityism and politics of vote bank. The attack on a Hindu institution Kanchi Math in a Hindu-majority country "reflected the weakness and disorganized State of the Hindu society. Jaya an intelligent woman, religious and a true nationalist fell prey to secular shenanigans because DMK warned Jaya to arrest Seer otherwise face consequences. Anticipating polls earlier than the scheduled early 2006, the party dubbed the Jayalalithaa government in her second avatar as a symbol of “corruption and Brahminism”. Another DMK speaker painted the chief minister as “out-and-out anti-Tamil” because she had once declared in the Assembly she was a “papathi (Brahmin woman)”.

The Supreme Court had in its judgment categorically stated that Hindu does not denote any religion and it was a way and view of life encompassing several ways of worship. It is in the interest of the nation to put an early end to the concept of ‘unbridled minorityism’, practiced by the secularists to play communal card as they recently tried in Bihar in the name of Muslim CM, Muslim University and in Jharkhand in the name of ‘Ekka’ through Church. Minority communalism is 'minorityism'. This including Bangladeshis infiltrators ensures as en block Muslim votes for the secularists.

Gujarat phobia even grips Bush and Musharraf.
A survey of prisoners taken a couple of years a go, shows that quite frequently the blacks get twice as much punishment as the whites for the same crime. For possessing the same amount and the same kind of drug, the black is quite likely to get a severer punishment. It is not the story of the past, it happens quite frequently even today. The problem exists in Northern Ireland also. Even in Pakistan, which was supposedly created in the name of Islam, Shia-Sunni and linguistic differences cropped up and ultimately split the country.

People of Gujarat, nay the entire country, know who divided the society on communal lines. Minorityism may ensure en block Muslim votes for the Congress, but it did not and would not endear it to the Hindu masses. The masses have rejected the malicious campaign launched by the Congress, the Communists and the Muslim leaders. It was felt; a distinct Hindu vote bank had been created. Hindus could no longer be taken for granted.
A major factor, which contributed to the Congress debacle in the Bihar and Jharkhand assembly elections was the anti-Congress mood of the Muslim voter. Banerji report, Gujarat riot and Atal-Ayodhya CDs could not give result.

India would still be different from China, because, in India, there is a functioning democracy and a Constitution with a judiciary, which has expressly held that the minorities have special rights, which even the majority doesn’t have.

Muslims and Christians in India could not be treated as minorities as they have not come from outside the country and called for an early end to "Minorityism". 99.9 per cent of Muslims and Christians of our country have not come from outside. Their forefathers till a few years ago were Hindus only. It is the same blood, which flowed in them and the rest of the Hindu society. The British had introduced minority-majority schism in order to divide our national society

In reality, minorities are those who have been uprooted from their respective countries and take shelter in other countries. On that basis, our Jews and Parsies can be called minorities. But they refused to call themselves minorities and completely submerged their identities in the national mainstream of our country.

There should be equal rights to all citizens and appeasement of none.
Since minorityism necessarily implied repudiation of India's Hindu majority sentiments and rejection of Hindu aspirations, the Ayodhya movement was declared both illegitimate and beyond the pale of secular politics. In a sense, increasing Haj concessions and subsidies on the eve of the assembly election in Maharashtra and the blatant pandering to crass communal sentiments during this month's assembly election in Bihar mark the return of minorityism to Indian politics..

Premendra Agrawal
comindia2004@epatra.com

APJ Abdul Kalam life

As most readers probably know, India's Parliamentary system has a Prime Minister, who has most of the real power in government, and a President, who has authority mainly in forming new governments, as well as dissolving them in instances of crisis. The President is supposed to be neutral with regard to constituency, and is therefore not allowed to be a member of Parliament himself before being elected to office (he is elected by a special electoral college-- not by popular vote).

India's current PM is Manmohan Singh, about whom I have already written. But its President is a man named Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen (APJ) Abdul Kalam, a Tamilian Muslim who was, for most of his adult life, an aeronautical engineer for the Indian missile program. He was quite successful there, and was the leader of the programs that led to the successful development of the AGNI and PRITHVI missiles.

Kalam is a fascinating man, but his actual personal contribution to political life in India is unclear. He has real power -- the President has the power to dissolve governments and call for new elections -- but as of now he has not had to use it. Even powers such as Article 356 are only arguably associated with the President; in recent invocations, the center's power to dissolve intransigent state governments seems to have been used more as a political tool at the will of Parliament than as a power of the President. (There have long been criticisms of the abuse of Article 356. See this interview with Supreme Court Justice Krishna Iyer on Article 356, and this helpful summary in The Hindu on the limitations of the Statute according to the Bommai ruling of the Supreme Court in 1994.)

"200% Indian" Kalam has a personal webpage, as well as an official, 'President of India' page. There was, briefly, a blog dedicated to following Kalam's doings, as well as this helpful biography. Sify also has a profile of him, which is interesting because of its emphasis on Kalam's "Indianness" -- these profiles all refer to Kalam as "200% Indian," as if being merely 100% Indian would be somehow unconvincing. To me, the repeated reference to Kalam's "Indianness" suggests that there is some discomfort with an Indian Muslim in such a position of power. (Perhaps not a lot -- but read the Sify piece and see what you think)

Science and Technology. Kalam is a technocrat, which is sometimes good and sometimes bad. On the one hand, his science background means that his record is clean and full of decisive professional accomplishments. Especially impressive are his involvement in the development of India's first satellites, as well as its ballistic missile capability. It also means that his interest in scientific progress (including economic progress) is more important than any particular political line.

'Connectivity' vs. Condoms. But technocrats also sometimes lack a sense of human proportion or the humility of politicians driven by messy historical realities. Kalam's speeches are long on science, but short on emphasis on civil rights or social justice. For example, read this speech, from Republic Day 2003. Here Kalam enumerates science program after science program -- biomedical research, space exploration, defense, 'knowledge society', and a lot of talk about 'connectivity' in rural areas. Many of the programs are oriented towards solving India's human problems -- he does mention AIDS research at one point. But he sees AIDS it as a problem for more science & research, not as a social problem that will require some awkward references to condoms, sex, and drug use before it can be contained in India.

Religion and Secularism. Kalam is a spiritual man, with personal connections to both Hinduism and Islam (he is a Ram Bhakt, but he also does Muslim prayers twice a day). This flexibility on religion -- Kalam is clearly secular, but not too secular -- is in my view an important factor in why he (as a Muslim) was the chosen candidate of the NDA (BJP coalition) in 2002.

There was some controversy over some statements in Kalam's recent speech (7th June) to Parliament on the occasion of the opening of the new session:

The outcome of the elections is indicative of people’s yearning for inclusiveness – economic, social and cultural and their rejection of the forces of divisiveness and intolerance. The verdict is for establishing the rule of law and repairing our secular fabric. This Government is committed to providing the right ambience for fulfilling the aspirations implicit in the people’s mandate.

This is clearly a criticism of the preceding government -- which Kalam was actually a part of. But in fact, this speech is always ceremonial; the contents are given to him by the ruling party (in this case, Congress). Kalam is more or less simply reciting them (thanks to the commentors on Jivha for pointing this out to me). So praising or criticizing him for this statement is misplaced; the speech was authored by the Congress Party. One can, however, assign Kalam responsibility for mentioning secularism in his first speech to Parliament in July 2002, on the occasion of assuming the office of the President:

I wish to emphasize my unflinching commitment to the principle of secularism, which is the corner stone of our nationhood and which is the key feature of our civilisational strength. During the last one year I met a number of spiritual leaders of all religions. They all echoed one message, that is, unity of minds and hearts of our people will happen and we will see the golden age of our country, very soon. I would like to endeavour to work for bringing about unity of minds among the divergent traditions of our country.

This is a very small reference in a speech that is big on vague generalities. But it is interesting, and at least a little bold, considering he was being put into power on the strength of a BJP government that had come into power denouncing "secularism," and that moreover had been associated with anti-Muslim riots in Gujurat just a few months earlier.

Kalam did denounce the killings of Muslims in Gujurat, but before assuming the Presidency (according to this source) he didn't criticize either Narendra Modi or the BJP.

Personal On a lighter note, Kalam is unmarried, and a teetotaller and vegetarian. He also plays the Veena and has an appreciation for Tamil poetry. He often quotes the famous Tamil poets Bharatidasana and Subramania Bharatiyar ("who died in 1939 at the age of 35, killed by an elephant while giving it a coconut"). In one recent Parliamentary speech, I saw a quote from the great Bhatki/Sufi mystic Kabir: "Kaal Kare So Aaj Kar, Aaj Kare So Ab" ("What you want to do tomorrow do it today, and what you want to do today do it now").