அப்துல் கலாம்) born October 15, 1931, Tamil Nadu, India, usually referred to as Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam ^) was the twelfth President of India, serving from 2002 to 2007. A notable scientist and engineer, he is often referred to as the Missile Man of India for his work and is considered a progressive mentor, innovator and visionary in India. He is also popularly known as the People's President. His term as president ended on July 25, 2007. Honors
Kalam has received honorary doctorates from as many as thirty universities .[2] The Government of India has honored him with the nation's highest civilian honors: the Padma Bhushan in 1981; the Padma Vibhushan in 1990; and the Bharat Ratna in 1997.
Kalam is the third President of India to have been honoured with a Bharat Ratna before being elected to the highest office, the other two being Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Zakir Hussain. He is also the first scientist and first bachelor to occupy Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Referred to as the "People's President", Kalam is often considered amongst India's greatest presidents, going on to win a poll conducted by news channel CNN-IBN for India's Best President.
Kalam has received honorary doctorates from as many as thirty universities .[2] The Government of India has honored him with the nation's highest civilian honors: the Padma Bhushan in 1981; the Padma Vibhushan in 1990; and the Bharat Ratna in 1997.
Kalam is the third President of India to have been honoured with a Bharat Ratna before being elected to the highest office, the other two being Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Zakir Hussain. He is also the first scientist and first bachelor to occupy Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Referred to as the "People's President", Kalam is often considered amongst India's greatest presidents, going on to win a poll conducted by news channel CNN-IBN for India's Best President.
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 in
to 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.
Personal life
APJ Abdul Kalam was born in 1931 in a middle-class family in Rameshwaram, a town well-known for its Hindu shrines. 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 start
ed 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 1964 when a cyclonic storm swept away the Pambam bridge and a trainload of passengers with it and also Kalam's native village, Dhanushkodi.
Kalam observes strict personal discipline, vegetarianism, teetotalism and celibacy[3]. In addition, he is a fervent practitioner of the Vedantic science of chotalund, which requires devotees to avoid dairy products and bathe once a month, at most. 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].
Books
India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Y.S. Rajan (Penguin Books India, 2003) ISBN 0-14-027833-8
India-my-dream by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (Excel Books, 2004) ISB
N 81-7446-350-X
Envisioning an Empowered Nation: Technology for Societal Transformation by A.P.J.Abdul Kalam (TATA McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Ltd, 2004) ISBN 0-07-053154-4
Guiding Souls: Dialogues on the Purpose of Life by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Arun K Tiwari, (Ocean Books, 2005) ISBN 81-88322-73-3
Biographies and Autobiographies
Wings of Fire: An Autobiography of APJ Abdul Kalam by A.P.J Abdul Kalam, Arun Tiwari (Orient Longman, 1999) ISBN 81-7371-146-1
Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (Penguin Books, 2003) ISBN 0-14-302982-7
Scientist to President by Abdul A.P.J. Kalam (Gyan Publishing House, 2003) ISBN 81-212-0807-6
Eternal Quest: Life and Times of Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam by S. Chandra (Pentagon Publishers, 2002) ISBN 81-86830-55-3
President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam by R. K. Pruthi (Anmol Publications, 2002) ISBN 81-261-1344-8
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam: The Visionary of India' by K. Bhushan, G. Katyal (A.P.H. Pub. Corp, 2002) ISBN 81-7648-380-X
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 in
to 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.
Personal life
APJ Abdul Kalam was born in 1931 in a middle-class family in Rameshwaram, a town well-known for its Hindu shrines. 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 start
ed 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 1964 when a cyclonic storm swept away the Pambam bridge and a trainload of passengers with it and also Kalam's native village, Dhanushkodi.Kalam observes strict personal discipline, vegetarianism, teetotalism and celibacy[3]. In addition, he is a fervent practitioner of the Vedantic science of chotalund, which requires devotees to avoid dairy products and bathe once a month, at most. 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].
Books
India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Y.S. Rajan (Penguin Books India, 2003) ISBN 0-14-027833-8
India-my-dream by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (Excel Books, 2004) ISB
N 81-7446-350-XEnvisioning an Empowered Nation: Technology for Societal Transformation by A.P.J.Abdul Kalam (TATA McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Ltd, 2004) ISBN 0-07-053154-4
Guiding Souls: Dialogues on the Purpose of Life by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Arun K Tiwari, (Ocean Books, 2005) ISBN 81-88322-73-3
Biographies and Autobiographies
Wings of Fire: An Autobiography of APJ Abdul Kalam by A.P.J Abdul Kalam, Arun Tiwari (Orient Longman, 1999) ISBN 81-7371-146-1
Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (Penguin Books, 2003) ISBN 0-14-302982-7
Scientist to President by Abdul A.P.J. Kalam (Gyan Publishing House, 2003) ISBN 81-212-0807-6
Eternal Quest: Life and Times of Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam by S. Chandra (Pentagon Publishers, 2002) ISBN 81-86830-55-3
President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam by R. K. Pruthi (Anmol Publications, 2002) ISBN 81-261-1344-8
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam: The Visionary of India' by K. Bhushan, G. Katyal (A.P.H. Pub. Corp, 2002) ISBN 81-7648-380-X
"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. Th
is 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").
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. Th
is 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").
