Page 132 - DENG104_ELECTIVE_ENGLISH_I

Unit 13: My Vision for India by APJ Abdul Kalam

Kalam advocated plans to develop India into a developed nation by 2020 in his book India Notes
2020. Books authored by him have received considerable demands in South Korea for the
translated versions. He has received several prestigious awards, including the Bharat Ratna,
India’s highest civilian honour. Kalam is known for his motivational speeches and interaction
with the student-community in India. He launched his mission for the youth of the nation in
2011 called What Can I Give with a central theme to defeat corruption in India. Kalam was
also criticised for inaction as a president on the pending mercy plea petitions, that delayed
prosecution of the convicts.

Early life and education

APJ ABDUL KALAM was born on 15 October 1931 in a Muslim family to Jainulabdeen, a boat
owner and Ashiamma, a housewife, at Rameswaram, located in the South Indian state of
Tamil Nadu. He came from a poor background and started working at an early age to supplement
his family’s income. After completing school, Kalam distributed newspapers in order to financially
contribute to his father’s income. In his school years, he had average grades, but was described
as a bright and hardworking student who had a strong desire to learn and spend hours on his
studies, especially mathematics.
“I inherited honesty and self-discipline from my father; from my mother, I inherited faith in
goodness and deep kindness as did my three brothers and sisters.”
After completing his school education at the Rameshwaram Elementary School, Kalam went
on to attend Saint Joseph’s College, Tiruchirappalli, then affiliated with the University of
Madras, from where he graduated in physics in 1954. Towards the end of the course, he was
not enthusiastic about the subject and would later regret the four years he studied it. He then
moved to Madras in 1955 to study aerospace engineering. While Kalam was working on a
senior class project, the Dean was dissatisfied with the lack of progress and threatened revoking
his scholarship unless the project was finished within the next two days. He worked tirelessly
on his project and met the deadline, impressing the Dean who later said, “I [Dean] was putting
you [Kalam] under stress and asking you to meet a difficult deadline”.

Career as a scientist
“This was my first stage, in which I learnt leadership from three great teachers—Dr. Vikram
Sarabhai, Prof. Satish Dhawan and Dr. Brahm Prakash. This was the time of learning and
acquisition of knowledge for me”.
After graduating from Madras Institute of Technology (MIT–Chennai) in 1960, Kalam joined
Aeronautical Development Establishment of Defense Research and Development Organisation
(DRDO) as a chief scientist. Kalam started his career by designing a small helicopter for the
Indian Army, but remained unconvinced with the choice of his job at DRDO. Kalam was also
a part of the INCOSPAR committee working under Vikram Sarabhai, the renowned space
scientist. In 1969, Kalam was transferred to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
where he was the project director of India’s first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III)
which successfully deployed the Rohini satellite in near earth orbit in July 1980. Joining ISRO
was one of Kalam’s biggest achievements in life and he is said to have found himself when
he started to work on the SLV project. Kalam first started work on an expandable rocket
project independently at DRDO in 1965. In 1969, Kalam received the government’s approval
and expanded the programme to include more engineers.

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