APJ Abdul Kalam, the former President of India passed away in Shillong. The 84 year old Abdul Kalam was delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management when he collapsed on account of cardiac arrest and died in the hospital. Abdul Kalam was born on 15 October 1931 in an ordinary family in Tamilnadu. As a young boy he distributed newspapers at one time to support his family and his education.
He graduated with physics from the Madras University, went on to study aerospace engineering, wanted to be a fighter pilot but just missed that bus.
But there was no stopping him. The DRDO, ISRO, chief scientific advisor to the prime minister in 1992, the Pokhran 2 nuclear tests, Abdul Kalam straddled them all, till he was elected India’s 11th President in 2002. It was this role he will probably be most remembered for — a president who brought Rashtrapati Bhavan to the people…. earning him the tribute of the People’s President. He was a renowned scientist and is considered to be the main brain behind India’s space and missile programme
Signing the Office of Profit Bill was the toughest decision he had taken during his tenure — that’s what Abdul Kalam himself was once said. There were also controversial decisions – his response to mercy petitions from death row convicts and the imposition of President’s Rule in Bihar in 2005.
But what he will remembered for was his engagement with the people – especially children – even after his presidency and the books that he wrote – India 2020 and, of course, Igniting minds. “If you want to shine like a sun, first burn like a sun,” APJ Abdul Kalam had said in one of his inspirational speeches. He certainly did.
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