abdl kalam.........
My Mother
Embodiment of Love
During the II world war in 1941, it was a difficult
time for our family at Rameswaram. I was a ten year old boy then. War had
almost reached our doors of Rameswaram since the cloud of war had already
reached Colombo. Almost everything was a rarity from food articles to anything.
Ours was a large joint family. The size of our family was five sons and five
daughters and three of whom had families. I used to see in my house anytime
three cradles. My grandmother and mother were almost managing this large
contingent. The environment in the home alternated by happiness and sadness. I
used to get up at four in the morning, take bath and went to my teacher
Swamiyar for learning mathematics. He will not accept students if they had not
taken bath. He was a unique mathematics teacher and he used to take only five
students for free tuition in a year. My mother used to get up before me, and
gave bath to me and prepared me to go for the tuition. I use to comeback at
5:30 when my father would be waiting for taking me to the Namaz and Koran
Sharif learning in Arabic school. After that I used to go to Rameswaram Road
Railway station, three kilometers away to collect newspaper. Madras Dhanushkodi
Mail will pass through the station but will not stop, since it was war time.
The newspaper bundle will be thrown from the running train to the platform.
I used to collect the paper and run around the
Rameswaram town and be the first one to distribute the newspapers in the town.
My elder cousin brother was the agent who went away to Sri Lanka in search of
better livelihood. After distribution, I used to come home at 8 AM. My mother
will give me a simple breakfast with a special quota compared to other children
because I was studying and working simultaneously. After the school gets over
in the evening, again I will go around Rameswaran for collection of dues from
customers. I still remember an incident which I would like to share with you.
As a young boy I was walking, running and studying all together. One day, when
all my brothers and sisters were sitting and eating, my mother went on giving
me chapattis (even though we are rice eaters only, wheat was rationed). When I
finished eating, my elder brother called me privately and scolded “Kalam do you
know what was happening? You went on eating Chappati, and mother went on giving
you. She has given all her chappatis to you. It is difficult time. Be a
responsible son and do not make your mother starve”. First time I had a
shivering sensation and I could not control myself. I rushed to my mother and
hugged her. Even though I was studying in 5th class, I had a special place in
my home because I was the last guy in the family. There used to be no
electricity. Our house was lit by the kerosene lamp that too between 7 to 9 PM.
My mother specially gave me a small kerosene lamp so that I can study up to 11
PM. I still remember my mother in a full moon night which has been portrayed
with the title “mother” in my book “Wings of Fire”.
Mother
“I still remember the day when I was ten,
Sleeping on your lap to the envy of my elder brothers and sisters.
It was full moon night, my world only you knew Mother!, My Mother!
When at midnight, I woke with tears falling on my knee
You knew the pain of your child, My Mother.
Your caring hands, tenderly removing the pain
Your love, your care, your faith gave me strength,
To face the world without fear and with His strength.
We will meet again on the great Judgment Day. My Mother!
“I still remember the day when I was ten,
Sleeping on your lap to the envy of my elder brothers and sisters.
It was full moon night, my world only you knew Mother!, My Mother!
When at midnight, I woke with tears falling on my knee
You knew the pain of your child, My Mother.
Your caring hands, tenderly removing the pain
Your love, your care, your faith gave me strength,
To face the world without fear and with His strength.
We will meet again on the great Judgment Day. My Mother!
This is the story of my mother who lived ninety three
years, a woman of love, a woman of kindness and above all a woman of divine
nature. My mother performed Namaz five times everyday. During Namaz, my mother
always looked angelic. Every time I saw her during Namaz I was inspired and
moved.
By, Dr. APJ Abdulkalam
www.abdulkalam.com
www.abdulkalam.com
I was always fortunate and blessed to have one or two
great teachers during every phase of my educational period between 1936 – 1957.
Evolution of the oath has resulted from what I have experienced and what I have
felt and grown through my teachers. The first oath talks about the teacher
loving teaching and teaching being the soul of the teacher. What is the
significance of this? Here I would like to give the example of the teacher who
really loved teaching.
Teacher loves teaching
It was the year 1936; I recall my initiation of
education at the age of 5 years in Rameswaram Panchayat elementary school. I
had a Teacher Muthu Iyer who took special interest on me mainly because I
performed very well in a class exercise. He was impressed and next day he came
to my house to tell my father that I was a very good student. My parents were happy
and got my favourite sweet from my mother. Another important event while I was
in first class, which I cannot forget. One day I did not turn up to my school.
Teacher Muthu Iyer noticed my absence and same evening he came to my father to
ask what the problem was and why did I not go to school and whether he can do
anything to help me. On that day, I was having fever. Another important thing,
which he noticed was my hand writing, was very poor. He gave a three page
writing exercise and told my father that he should ensure that I do the
exercise everyday regularly. By these actions of my teacher Muthu Iyer, my
father told me in later years that teacher Muthu Iyer is not only a good
teacher to me in teaching but he influenced and shaped me with good habits and
he was a noble friend to my family. Even today I realize how my teacher loved
teaching and took personal interest to bring up his pupils. Now let me talk
about another teacher who taught me in my fifth class.
Teacher encourages questions from Students
I was studying in 5th class at the age of 10 who gave
a vision for my life. I had a teacher, Shri Siva Subramania Iyer. He was one of
the very good teachers in our school. All of us loved to attend his class and
hear him. One day he was teaching about bird's flight. He drew a diagram of a
bird on the blackboard depicting the wings, tail and the body structure with
the head. He explained how the birds create the lift and fly. He also explained
to us how they change direction while flying. Nearly 25 minutes he gave the
lecture with various information such as lift, drag and how the birds fly in a
formation of 10, 20 or 30 etc. At the end of the class, he wanted to know
whether we understood how the birds fly. I said I did not understand how the
birds fly. When I said this, he asked the other students whether they
understood or not. Many students said that they did not understand. Our teacher
was a real teacher and very good teacher. He did not get upset by our response.
In view of this, my teacher said that he would take
all of us to the sea shore. That evening the whole class was in the sea shore.
We enjoyed the roaring sea waves knocking at the rocks in the pleasant evening.
Birds were flying with sweet chirping voice. He showed the sea birds in
formation in 10 to 20 numbers, we have seen the marvelous formation of birds
with a purpose and we were all amazed. And we were simply looking at the
formation. The teacher showed the birds and asked us to see when the birds fly,
what it looked like. We saw the wings being flapped. He explained how the birds
flapped the wings to generate the lift. He asked us to look at the tail portion
with the combination of flapping wing and twisting tail. We noticed closely and
found that the birds in that condition flew in the direction they wanted. Then
he asked us a question, where the engine is and how it is powered. Bird is
powered by its own life and the motivation what it wants. All these aspects
were explained to us within 15 minutes. We all understood the whole bird
dynamics with practical example. How nice it was? Our teacher was a great
teacher; he could give as a theoretical lesson coupled with live practical
example. This is real teaching. I am sure, many of the teachers in schools and
colleges will follow this example.
For me, it was not merely an understanding of how a
bird flies. The bird's flight entered into me and created a feeling on the
seashore of Rameswaram. From that day evening, I thought that my future study
has to be with reference to something to do with flight. At that time, I did
not realize that I have to go towards flight science. I am telling this because
my teacher’s teaching and the event that I witnessed inspired me to lead to the
goal in life. Then one evening after the classes, I asked the teacher, "Sir,
please tell me, how to progress further something to do with flight". He
patiently explained to me that I should complete 8th class, and then go to high
school, and then I should go to college that may lead to education of flight.
If I do all these things I might do something connected with flight sciences.
This advice and the bird flying exercise given by my teacher really gave me a
goal and a mission for my life. When I went to college, I took Physics. When I
went to engineering in Madras Institute of Technology, I took Aeronautical
Engineering.
Thus my life was transformed as a rocket engineer,
aerospace engineer and technologist. That one incident of my teacher
encouraging me to ask questions, showing the visual examples proved to be a
turning point in my life which eventually shaped my profession. Shri
Sivasubramania Iyer was an example for shaping not just students but igniting
the youth both average and extraordinary by allowing them to ask questions and
answering them till they fully understood.
Teacher puts the students ahead
Now I would like to discuss about my mathematics
teacher Prof Thothatri Iyengar. As a young science student, I had an
opportunity at St. Joseph’s College to witness a unique scene of divine looking
personality walking through the college campus every morning, and teaching
Mathematics to various degree courses. Students looked at the personality who
was a symbol of our own culture, with awe and respect. When he walked,
knowledge radiated all around. The great personality was, Prof Thothatri
Iyengar, our teacher. At that time, ‘Calculus Srinivasan who was my mathematics
teacher, used to talk about Prof Thothatri Iyengar with deep respect. They had
an understanding to have an integrated class by Thothatri Iyengar for first
year B.Sc. (Hons) and first year B.Sc. (Physics). Thus, I had the opportunity
to attend his classes, particularly on modern algebra, statistics and complex
variables. When we were in the B.Sc first year, Calculus Srinivasan used to
select top ten students to the Mathematics Club of St. Joseph’s, whom were
addressed by Prof Thothatri Iyengar. I still remember, in 1952, he gave a
masterly lecture on ancient mathematicians and astronomers of India. In that
lecture, he introduced four great mathematicians and astronomers of India,
which is still ringing in my ears. They are Aryabhata, Srinivasa Ramanujan,
Brahmagupta, Bhaskaracharya. Let me discuss one.
Prof. Thothatri Iyengar explained, based on his
analysis, that Aryabhata was both an astronomer and mathematician, born in 476
AD in Kusuma-pura (now called Patna). He was known to represent a summary of
all Maths at that point of time. Just when he was only 23 years old, he wrote
his book ARYABHATIYAM in two parts. He covered important areas like arithmetic,
algebra (first ever contributor), trigonometry and of course, astronomy. He
gave formulae for the areas of a triangle and a circle and attempted to give
the volumes of a sphere and a pyramid. He was the first to give value of pie.
He discovered that the earth takes about 365 days to orbit around the sun.
Prof. Thothatri Iyengar always puts the student to take a pride in India’s
contribution in astronomy and mathematics and puts the students ahead. This
great teacher combined his knowledge of science with his deep insight into many
aspects of our civilizational heritage. Prof. Thothatri Iyengar was an example
for continuously building capacities among students and putting the students
well ahead in mathematical sciences. He also injected great thoughts in the
minds of students and promoted nobility in thinking and action. Now I would
like to discuss about the teacher who built the capacity of working together
and evolution of integrated system design even during engineering student life.
Learning integrated system design
While I was studying aeronautical engineering in MIT,
Chennai, (1954-57) during the third year of my course, I was assigned a project
to design a low-level attack aircraft together with six other colleagues. I was
given the responsibility of system design and system integration by integrating
the team members. Also, I was responsible for aerodynamic and structural design
of the project. The other five of my team took up the design of propulsion,
control, guidance, avionics and instrumentation of the aircraft. My design
teacher Prof. Srinivasan, the then Director of MIT, was our guide. He reviewed
the project and declared my work to be gloomy and disappointing. He didn’t lend
an ear to my difficulties in bringing together data base from multiple
designers. I asked for a month’s time to complete the task, since I had to get
the inputs from five of my colleagues without which I cannot complete the
system design. Prof. Srinivasan told me "Look, young man, today is Friday
afternoon. I give you three days time. If by Monday morning I don’t get the
configuration design, your scholarship will be stopped." I had a jolt in
my life, as scholarship was my lifeline, without which I cannot continue with
my studies. There was no other way out but to finish the task. My team felt the
need for working together round the clock. We didn’t sleep that night, working
on the drawing board skipping our dinner. On Saturday, I took just an hour’s
break. On Sunday morning, I was near completion, when I felt someone’s presence
in my laboratory. It was Prof. Srinivasan studying my progress. After looking
at my work, he patted and hugged me affectionately. He had words of
appreciation: "I knew I
was putting you under stress and asking you to meet a difficult deadline. You
have done great job in system design”.
Through this review mechanism Prof Srinivasan, really
injected the necessity of understanding the value of time by each team member
and brought out the best from the system design team. I realized that if
something is at stake, the human minds get ignited and the working capacity
gets enhanced manifold. That’s what exactly happened. This is one of the
techniques of building talent. The message is that young in the organization,
whatever be their specialization, be trained to systems approach and projects,
which will prepare them for new products, innovation and undertaking higher
organizational responsibilities. Teacher has to be a coach like Prof.
Srinivasan.
Personal
life
Kalam was the youngest of five
siblings, the eldest of whom was a sister, Asim Zohra (d. 1997), followed by
three elder brothers: Mohammed Muthu Meera Lebbai Maraikayar (b. 1916; aged
99), Mustafa Kamal (d. 1999) and Kasim Mohammed (d. 1995).[115] He was extremely close to his elder
siblings and their extended families throughout his life, and would regularly
send small sums of money to his older relations, himself remaining a lifelong
bachelor.[115][116]
Kalam was noted for his
integrity and his simple lifestyle.[116] He never owned a television, and was in the
habit of rising at 6:30 or 7 a.m and sleeping by 2 a.m.[117] His few personal possessions included his
books, his veena,
some articles of clothing, a CD player and a laptop; at his death, he left no
will, and his possessions went to his eldest brother, who survived him.[118][119]
eligious
and spiritual views
Religion and spirituality were
very important to Kalam throughout his life.[121] In fact, he made his own spiritual journey
the subject of his final book, Transcendence:
My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji.[122][123]
Islam
A proud and practising Muslim, daily namāz and fasting during Ramadan were integral to Kalam's life.[9][124][125] His father, the imam of a mosque in his hometown of Rameswaram, had strictly
instilled these Islamic customs in his children.[9] His father had also impressed upon the
young Kalam the value of interfaith respect and dialogue. As Kalam recalled:
"Every evening, my father A.P. Jainulabdeen, an imam, Pakshi Lakshmana
Sastry, the head priest of the Ramanathaswamy Hindu temple, and a church priest
used to sit with hot tea and discuss the issues concerning the island."[122][126] Such early exposure convinced Kalam that
the answers to India's multitudinous issues lay in "dialogue and
cooperation" among the country's religious, social, and political leaders.[124] Moreover, since Kalam believed that
"respect for other faiths" was one of the key cornerstones of Islam, he
was fond of saying: "For great men, religion is a way of making friends;
small people make religion a fighting tool."[127]
Syncretism
One component of Kalam's
widespread popularity among diverse groups in India, and an enduring aspect of
his legacy, is the syncretism he embodied in appreciating various
elements of the many spiritual and cultural traditions of India.[124][125][128][129] In addition to his faith in the Koran and Islamic practice, Kalam was well-versed
in Hindu traditions; he learnt Sanskrit,[130][131] read the Bhagavad Gita[132][133] and he was a vegetarian.[134] Kalam also enjoyed writing Tamil poetry, playing the veena (a South Indian string instrument),[135] and listening to Carnatic devotional music every day.[125] In 2002, in one of his early speeches to
Parliament after becoming President, he reiterated his desire for a more united
India, stating that "[d]uring the last one year I met a number of
spiritual leaders of all religions ... [and] I would like to endeavour to work
for bringing about unity of minds among the divergent traditions of our
country".[128] Describing Kalam as a unifier of diverse
traditions, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor stated, "Kalam was a complete
Indian, an embodiment of the eclecticism of India's heritage of
diversity".[125] BJP leader L. K.
Advani concurred
that Kalam was "the best exemplar of the Idea of India, one who embodied
the best of all the cultural and spiritual traditions that signify India's
unity in immense diversity. This was most strikingly evident in the
second-to-last book he published, presciently titled Transcendence:
My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swami.[129]
Pramukh Swami as Guru
Kalam's desire to meet
spiritual leaders to help create a more prosperous, spiritual, and unified
India was what initially led him to meet Pramukh Swami,
the Hindu guru of theBAPS
Swaminarayan Sampradaya, who Kalam would come to consider his
ultimate spiritual teacher and guru. I have identified five areas where India
has a core competence for integrated action: (1) agriculture and food
processing; (2) education and healthcare; (3) information and communication
technology; (4) infrastructure, reliable and quality electric power, surface
transport and infrastructure for all parts of the country; and (5)
self-reliance in critical technologies. These five areas are closely
inter-related and if advanced in a coordinated way, will lead to food, economic
and national security.
[122] In his
book India 2020, Kalam
strongly advocated an action plan to develop India into a "knowledge
superpower" and a developed
nationby the year 2020. He regarded his work on India's nuclear
weapons programme
as a way to assert India's place as a future superpower.[140]
Kalam took an active interest
in other developments in the field of science and technology, including a
research programme for developing biomedical implants. He also supported open
source technology
over proprietary software, predicting that the use of
free software on a large scale would bring the benefits of information
technology to more people.[142]
Kalam set a target of
interacting with 100,000 students during the two years after his resignation
from the post of scientific adviser in 1999.[21] He explained, "I feel comfortable in
the company of young people, particularly high school students. Henceforth, I
intend to share with them experiences, helping them to ignite their imagination
and preparing them to work for a developed India for which the road map is
already available." His
dream is to let every student to light up the sky with victory using their
latent fire in the heart. [21]
Awards and
honours
Kalam received 7 honorary doctorates from 40
universities.[143][144] The Government of India honoured him with
the Padma Bhushan in 1981 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1990 for his work with ISRO and
DRDO and his role as a scientific advisor to the Government.[145] In 1997, Kalam received India's highest
civilian honour, the Bharat
Ratna, for his contribution to the scientific research and
modernisation of defence technology in India.[146] In 2013, he was the recipient of the Von Braun Award from
the National Space Society "to recognize excellence in the
management and leadership of a space-related project".[147]
Following his death, Kalam
received numerous tributes. The Tamil Nadu state government announced that his
birthday, 15 October, would be observed across the state as "Youth
Renaissance Day;" the state government further instituted the "Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Award,"
constituting an 8-gram gold medal, a certificate and ₹500,000 (US$7,400). The award will be awarded
annually on Independence Day, beginning in 2015, to residents of the state with
achievements in promoting scientific growth, the humanities or the welfare of
students.[148]
On occasion of his birth day
(2015), CBSE has given the topics on his name in the
CBSE expression series.[149]
The Prime Minister, Mr.
Narendra Modi released the commemorative postal stamps on the former President
of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, on his 84th birth anniversary celebrations,
at DRDO Bhawan, in New Delhi on October 15, 2015.
Educational and scientific institutions
Several educational and
scientific institutions and other locations were renamed or named in honour of
Kalam following his death.
·
An agricultural college at Kishanganj, Bihar, was renamed the
"Dr. Kalam Agricultural College, Kishanganj" by the Bihar state government
on the day of Kalam's funeral. The state government also announced it would
name a proposed science city after Kalam.[150]
·
Uttar Pradesh Technical
University (UPTU)
was renamed "A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University" by the Uttar
Pradesh state government.[151]
·
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Memorial Travancore Institute of Digestive
Diseases, a new research institute in Kollam city, Kerala attached to the Travancore Medical College
Hospital.[152]
·
India and the US have launched the Fulbright-Kalam Climate
Fellowship In September 2014. The first call for applicants was announced on
Friday March 12, 2016, for the fellowship which will enable up to 6 Indian PhD
students and post-doctoral researchers to work with US host institutions for a
period of 6–12 months. The fellowship will be operated by the binational
US-India Educational Foundation (USIEF) under the Fulbright programme.[155]
·
Kerala Technological University,
headquartered at Thiruvananthapuram where Kalam lived for years, was
renamed to A P J Abdul Kalam Technological
University after
his death.
Island
Wheeler Island, a national missile
test site in Odisha, was renamed Abdul Kalam Island in
September 2015.[156]
awards and honours
|
Year
of award or honour
|
Name
of award or honour
|
Awarding
organisation
|
|
2014
|
||
|
2013
|
||
|
2012
|
Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa)
|
|
|
2011
|
||
|
2010
|
||
|
2009
|
||
|
2009
|
||
|
2009
|
International von Kármán Wings
Award
|
|
|
2008
|
Doctor of Engineering (Honoris Causa)
|
|
|
2008
|
Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa)
|
|
|
2007
|
Honorary Doctorate of Science
and Technology
|
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