The boy who hawked newspapers could become India's first citizen (PROFILE)
By Deepshikha Ghosh, Indo-Asian News Service New Delhi, June 10 (IANS) The boy who once hawked newspapers rose to become the nation's top scientist and could now become India's 11th president. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, the ruling coalition's choice for the July 15 presidential election, is at once a missile man, dreamer, dervish of Indian defence and the winner of India's top civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, the jewel of India. At least, these are just some of the terms used to describe the self-effacing man who is credited with catapulting India into the elite club of nuclear nations. Kalam the dreamer has always driven Kalam the scientist. "We must think and act like a nation of a billion people," he once said, speaking of his desire to produce a reusable missile, which no country in the world has been able to produce so far. Kalam, who in 1998 was honoured with the Bharat Ratna, last made the headlines in 2001 when he suddenly quit his job as scientific advisor to the Indian government - because he wanted to teach the nuances of science to young children. There is a lot more to the slightly built, silver-haired Kalam, not just the fact that he steered India's missile programme and played a key role in the May 1998 nuclear tests. Kalam was born on October 15, 1931, in a remote district in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. His father rented out boats out to fishermen to pay his son's school fees. Kalam received his secondary education in a missionary school and later graduated in science. In order to contribute in the family kitty, he even delivered newspapers for a while. Kalam went on to study aeronautical engineering at the Madras Institute of Technology and, in 1958, joined the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), from where he moved to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). This was the beginning of a period of eminence. Among his early successes was placing the 35-kg Rohini-I satellite on a low-earth orbit with the SLV-III (satellite launch vehicle). After 19 eventful years in ISRO, Kalam returned to DRDO to head the country's Integrated Missile Development Programme and went on to direct the successful launch of the Agni and Prithvi missiles. In his early career, the only time he went abroad was in 1963-64 when National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) invited him to spend four months at the Wallops Island Rocketry Centre and the Langley Research Centre. Kalam, who is known as a great humanitarian, has also pioneered efforts to provide dual use defence technology. In his own words, one of the happiest moments in his life was the sight of a polio-afflicted child walking with callipers made from lightweight metals used for Indian missiles. The pinnacle of Kalam's success and one that made him a household name in the country was the nuclear blasts in Pokhran in 1998. The triumphant scientist later asserted: "Do things yourself. Do not indulge in short-cuts by importing equipment." A devout Muslim, Kalam can recite from the Muslim Koran and the Hindu Bhagvad Gita with equal ease. Friends have often seen him bending over a veena, a string instrument depicted as the celestial music maker of Hindu goddess Saraswati, when he is not writing poetry in Tamil, his first language. Kalam is a vegetarian, a teetotaller and a confirmed bachelor. To his friends and colleagues, he is the star who has always been self-effacing. He has been honoured with many a national award. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1981, the Padma Vibhushan in 1990 and the HK Firodia Award for Excellence in Science and Technology in 1996 to name just a few of the awards that have come his way. --Indo-Asian News Service =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
