Missile Man of India | Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam | Struggles and Gains | Article

"If you want to shine like the sun, you have to burn like the sun."

    - Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Of course, Dr. Kalam showed this statement in his personal life. He glowed like the Sun only after burning like the Sun and became immortal by illuminating this country with his personality and gratitude. Having grown up in a simple background, Kalam, despite being two-four from all the shortages, not only became a successful and great scientist but also rose to the highest position in the country, struggling against adverse conditions. He never weakened nor panicked in the face of life's difficulties.

How practical and high his philosophy of life was, this is revealed by his statement - "A human being needs difficulties because they are necessary to enjoy success." In true sense, he was a great national leader.

Dr Kalam travelled from floor to stars. This extraordinary talent was born into a poor Tamil Muslim family on 15 October 1931 in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu province, India. At birth, hardly anyone has thought that this little boy will take India as a nation builder. Kalam's father Jainal Abidin was a fisherman by profession and was a pious man.

His mother Aashiyamma was an ordinary housewife and a kind and pious woman. The parents named their youngest son Abul Pakir Zainulabdeen Abdul Kalam. Lack of life was linked to Kalam's early life. Had a joint family and limited sources of income. Kalam's father used to rent boats to fishermen. The family used to maintain it with the income it earned. Despite the calamity, the parents gave good rites to Kalam. His father had a great influence on Kalam's life. Even though he was not educated, but his rituals were very useful for Kalam.

At the age of five, he started his elementary education from Panchayat Primary School in Rameswaram. It was here that he got a noble lesson from his teacher Iyadrai Solomon. "To achieve success and favourable results in life, one must fully understand and establish dominance over these three powers, with intense desire, faith, and more." Little Kalam assimilated this lesson and started the journey ahead. His teachers were very impressed with the talent he introduced during elementary education. During the initial education itself, when there was a lack of meaning, he worked to distribute newspapers to continue his studies and to support the family's income. After his early education, Kalam completed high school from a school in Ramanathapuram.

He had a keen interest in science from the beginning. In the year 1950, he joined St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirapalli and received his BSc degree from there. On the advice of his teachers, he moved to Madras Institute of Technology, Chennai for postgraduate education. While there he chose aeronautical engineering to shape his dreams.

Kalam started his golden journey in science as a budding young scientist after completing his training from 'Madras Institute of Technology'. In the year 1958, he started his first job at the Civil Aviation Technical Center in Bangalore, where he showed his unique talent and designed a supersonic anti-aircraft aircraft. A turning point in Kalam's life came when the year 1962 was an opportunity to join the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). His work was also highly appreciated here. At ISRO, Kalam started work on the Hobarcraft project. He was deeply involved with many satellite launch projects. He was instrumental in the construction of India's first indigenous satellite launch vehicle 'SLV-3' as Project Director. In the year 1980, he played a central role in placing the 'Rohini satellite' near the Earth's orbit and with this India became a member of the International Space Club.

In the year 1982, Kalam was appointed as the Director of India's Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and in the same year, he was awarded the honorary degree of 'Doctor of Science' by the 'Anna University' of Madras. Dr Kalam enhanced India's strategic power by inventing missiles like 'Agni' and 'Prithvi' and became famous in the country-longitude as 'missile man'. His scientific achievements not only made the country strong but also increased the honour and pride of India at the world level. As a scientific advisor to former Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Dr Kalam did another rare feat in the year 1998. India conducted its second successful nuclear test in Pokhran under the able leadership of Dr Kalam, whose echo was heard all over the world. After this, India joined the list of nations with nuclear power.

While Dr Kalam enhanced India's pride with his achievements as a scientist, his tenure as President of India was commendable. In the year 2002, Dr Kalam was elected the 11th President of India. He was fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party-backed NDA constituents. He was the President of India from 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007. Dr Kalam ruled the hearts of Hindus as a popular President, coming out of the heavy protocol of Rashtrapati Bhavan and His Majesty. As President, he not only provided inspiration to the entire country but set the example of a high-ranking national hero.

As President, he made every effort to change the direction of Indian politics. He was the first President who administered the oath to MPs to stand firm on their duty path. He not only gave the mantra to make the country a superpower but also instilled confidence in the people that India can indeed reach the pinnacle of progress.

It is difficult to find an example of the mantra he has given to inspire numerous students by roaming around the country, awakening their dreams and fulfilling them. He also showed how to do away with controversies while doing his work. Despite being a non-political person, Dr Kalam was politically rich. On the strength of this vision, the blueprint of India's welfare policies is amazing. His thinking was nationalistic. He was a great country friend. His dream was to make India a strong and capable nation.

In his book 'India 2020 - A Vision for the New Millennium', he has underlined that India will have to become a developed country and a 'knowledge superpower' by the year 2020, to become one of the world's first four economic powers. He was in the role of a national teacher after stepping down from the presidency.

Dr Kalam's personality was multidimensional. He was not only a great scientist and national hero, but also a good poet, writer and music seeker. While he created poignant poems in his lifetime, as an author 'India 2020-A Vision for the New Millennium', Moy Journey, 'Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India', 'Envisioning Unimpaired Nation: Technology for 'Social Transformation' etc. are his famous works. Youth and children are eager to read his biography 'Wings of Fire' written by Arun Tiwari. As a music seeker, he had expertise in playing Rudraveena. Dr Kalam's life was not only limited to scientific experiments and politics, but he was also dedicated to bringing social life to a higher level. This is why he gained immense popularity.

During Dr Kalam's lifetime, he was awarded many awards and honours for his achievements and public service. He was awarded the titles of 'Padma Bhushan' in the year 1981 and 'Padma Vibhushan' by the Government of India. In 1997, where he was awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour of the country, the same year he was awarded the 'Indira Gandhi Award' for National Integration. He was awarded several awards for his scientific achievements.

Dr Kalam lived for the country and died for the country. He remained our pioneer as a national teacher until the end. On July 27, 2015, in Shillong, North-East, when this precious jewel breathed his last, he was still in his role. He went to give lectures on the subject of 'Liveable Planet Earth' at an educational institute there. During the lecture itself, his condition deteriorated and at the age of 84 years, this great national hero gave a new meaning to the word 'hope' to the Indians.

Science was the foundation of Dr Kalam, while his thinking had an amazing trinity of education, philosophy and modernity. He was a scientist by heart and a philosopher at heart. He had a dream of a developed India in his eyes. His greatest quality was that he did a wonderful job of connecting values ​​and humanity with science. Today, even though Kalam Saheb is not among us, he will always be immortal in the twinkling eyes of the country's little ones, the shimmering dreams of the youth and the hopes of the elders. We can pay true tribute to them by creating the India of their dreams.