“Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, popularly known as “Missile Man” born in a middle class family, seen and faced problems and hardships of middle class, never daunted and depressed of failures rose to the height of first citizen of India, the president of India, a visionary, a pragmatist, a poet a good human being, a complete man. He is the architect of India’s integrated missile development programme, recipient of Bharat Ratna, a rare example today’s world, where most of the people are engulfed by mediocrity, hypocrisy, corruption, the likes Dr. Kalam want to conserve”. Born on 15th October 1931 At Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, Dr. Aal Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul kalam, specialized in Aeronautical Engineering from Madras Institute of Technology. Dr. Kalam made significant contribution as Project Director to Develop India’s first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III) which successfully injected the Rohini Satellite in the near earth orbit in July 1980 and made India an exclusive member of Space Club. So from being born into a middle class to being the top most Scientists in India,
So On his birthday today,Here are some Amazing facts about Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam
1)He used to get average grades in his school days, but his strong desire to learn, especially mathematics made him what he is today.
2) Dr Kalam cannot sign properly because his hands have become weak because in his childhood days he used to earn a living by delivering newspapers at houses, so the huge piles of the newspapers which were thrown from the train very extremely heavy for a child,
So many a times you will notice on legal papers or documents that his signatures are a slightly different.
3) His father, a humble boat owner, Jainulabdeen, was a devout Muslim and a close friend of the Rameswaran temple priest. Kalam was brought up in a multi-religious, tolerant society; one with a progressive outlook.
4) He played a prominent role in India’s 1998 nuclear weapons tests which established him as a national hero. Also this gained him the title of “The Missile Man of India”
5) Kalam used to get up at 4 am, bathe, and then go for his mathematics class, which was taught by a teacher who took only five students in the whole session; and bathing before class was a condition he had laid to all his students
6) When Dr Kalam’s first major project SLV 3-failed the first time he was almost shattered. But then in the coming years he become one of the prominent engineer of the IRSRO & DRDO.
7) The flight of birds had fascinated him since he was a boy, but it was years later he realised that he wanted to fly aircrafts. After finishing school, he took up Physics at St Joseph’s College, Trichi, but towards the end he was dissatisfied. When he discovered aeronautical engineering, he regretted having lost three precious years.
9)In 1962, while addressing the Rice University in Houston, then President of USA, John F. Kennedy proclaimed about Dr. Kalam; “If history teaches us anything, it is this man, in his quest for knowledge and progress, is determined and cannot be deterred.
10) In 2002 He finally became the President of India. India experience a time of wellness and prosperity under his reign. India is indebted to Dr. Kalam for all the growth & Development he has brought about.