Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam: Remember on his Birth Anniversary, from a poor man to became the missile man of India and the former President

Today’s the day of honour as because I this a great Indian aerospace scientist and a former president of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was born (15 Oct, 1932). He was a visionary and affectionately called as a rocket man or the missile man. He is an inspiration to the youth of India and a great teacher; whose teachings are timeless and will continue to resonate among students for decades to come.

Image Source: Google | Image by- New Indian Express

Dr. Abdul Kalam

On 15 October 1931, Dr. Kalam was born in a poor fishermen family in Rameswaram Island in Tamil Nadu in the southern state of India. His birthday is now declared as world student’s day by United Nations for his contributions to the students. He was the youngest in his family and started supporting his father by delivering newspapers at a tender age of 5. He learned to read the paper he delivered and his dreams of flying and space started growing wings.

 

His dream in the way to achieve the destination

It was ignited when he read and saw a picture of a Super marine Spitfire, a fighter jet used by the British in the World War II. This newspaper image became his life's purpose. His dream was to fly a fighter plane as a young Air Force pilot but he failed the Indian Air Force pilot entrance exam by coming ninth for an opening of eight positions. His reading habit and habit of never give up at any moments, at any situation that helped him overcome his fear of failure.

 

Achievements

He switched lanes to become a rocket scientist on autopilot, flying missiles, testing nuclear weapons and eventually rising to the highest office in the country the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He served as president of India from 2002 to 2007. Due to his humble nature and affection towards the people and country he was called as people's president. Kalam sir was called as the missile man for various achievements and contributions he gave in his field. He was the project director of India's first indigenous satellite launch vehicle (SLV-III) which injected the Rohini satellite in the Earth's orbit. He was responsible for evolution of ISRO's launch vehicle program particularly the PSLV configuration. While in DRDO, he developed and operationalized the AGNI and PRITHVI missiles. He made India a nuclear state and was the project coordinator for Pokhran-II. When he was the president of India, he was the chief of all the armed forces in the country. That was the time for him to true his dream for his childhood. He was flying a fighter plane, at the ripe old age of 72 as the president of the world's largest democracy. One of the oldest men in the world to ever fly a fighter plane, which was his unrealized childhood dream. On 27 July 2015 Dr. Kalam was delivering a lecture to hundreds of students at IIM Shillong, when he suffered a major cardiac arrest and collapsed at the podium. He always had a passion for teaching and enjoyed the company of his students at the time of his death he was doing both. The nation proudly salams our Kalam for his teachings and quotes that are going to inspire students like me and the legacy he has left behind is going to stay forever. He has written books for all ages and among them ones also my favorite. Each one gives more insight into his clear thinking, his love for students and his experiences of life. These have a lot of interesting quotes and inspirations to uplift us and keep us ignite.

Image Source: Google | Image by- Wikimedia Commons

Some gem of life in this word described in his books

Talking about his inspiring quotes, I am going to list my favorite five and hope it inspires you too. First "All birds find shelter during a rain but EAGLE avoids the rain by flying above the clouds" what he tries to convey here is that "Problems are common, but ATTITUDE makes a big difference" on how we face that problem. So have a positive attitude to everything in your life. His quotes about dream is the best. He says "You have to dream before your dreams can come true" he also defines what a dream is, he says, "Dream is not the thing you see in sleep but is that thing that does not let you sleep" it is the passion or goal that keeps you awake and pushes you to go ahead especially when you feel you cannot. 

Image Source: Google | Image by- India Cafe 24

This quote is a simple one but has a deep meaning. It says "If you burn like a Sun then only you can able to shine like a Sun". He says if you want to succeed in your life, you must be willing to work hard and burn through failures and setbacks to shine like the binding light of the Sun. In this quote he plays around with words but again has a profound wisdom. He says "Without your involvement you cannot succeed and with your involvement you cannot Fail." His life is a testimony to that. His 100% involvement in everything from rocket science to presidency has only bought him the success and Laurel's like "Padma Bhushan", "Padma Vibhushan" and the highest civilian award in the country "Bharat Ratna". Final quote that is shared by him or written in his book like, "Learning gives Creativity, Creativity leads to Thinking, Thinking provides Knowledge and Knowledge makes you Great". It is to share the collective creativity and thinking that I get with my learning into byte-sized knowledge snippets for you to absorb and disseminate to others. 

I hope you are proud and inspired of our great leader Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam as I am. I hope you start dreaming and follow his teachings in your everyday life, so that you can fly above the clouds like the eagle. The man is no more now but still he is with us, by his inestimate thoughts, his priceless knownledge and more. So, in his day of birth, we remember him as a tribute because a space is vacant foe his respect in our heart.