Birth Anniversary: Some Unknown Facts About Missile Man Of India, APJ Abdul Kalam

Bhubaneswar: The United Nations (UN) declared October 15 as World Students’ Day in 2010, in honour of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. This day marks the birth anniversary of the former Indian President, who is popularly referred to as the ‘Missile Man of India’.

He was not only an aerospace scientist, working with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), but also a teacher. He had given several lectures in different schools and colleges.

Known as a ‘peoples’ president’, Dr Kalam’s philosophy of ‘simple living and high thinking has inspired millions of people. His aim of education, which according to him, “is the foundation to ensure the creation of enlightened citizens who will make a prosperous, happy and strong nation”, has made many students look up to him.

On the occasion of his 89th birth anniversary, here are some lesser-known interesting anecdotes about Dr APJ Abdul Kalam:

1) He met with failure early in his career, yet he persevered

Kalam was the project director of ISRO’s mission to put a satellite into orbit, in 1979. Moments before the launch, the computer detected an error and recommended the launch to be cancelled. Kalam admitted that he ignored the warning and as a result, the satellite ended up in the Bay of Bengal. Scared of media backlash, he said that he was inspired by ISRO chief Satish Dhawan, who took on the blame. Next year, on July 18, 1980, the same team led by Kalam successfully launched Rohini RS-1 into orbit.

2) When his team leader was unable to take his kids out due to work, Kalam stepped up

During an important project, one of the scientists on the team asked Kalam for permission to leave by 5:30 pm, as he had promised to take his kids to an exhibition. Kalam gave him permission, but the worker ended up working late into the night, forgetting his promise. When he returned home, he found out that Dr Kalam had taken his kids to the exhibition instead. Kalam realised that the scientist won’t be able to leave his work, but to fulfil the promise to his kids, he decided to take them there himself

3) He gave a backbencher an internship with Rashtra Bhawan

Students from IIM Indore were supposed to give presentations to Dr Kalam and were working hard, except for a group of casual students. When they started working on the project, one of them, took nearly one and a half days to add formatting, colour, and animation to the slides. When the student gave his presentation, Kalam was impressed by the formatting of the project and gave the student a golden visiting card with ‘Ex-President’ printed on it. On his visit, he was offered an internship at Kalam’s office and was to work on presentations that he needed for UNO.

 4) He sent a thank you letter to a sketch made by a child

A Class VI student called Naman read Kalam’s ‘Wings of Fire’, and having enjoyed it a lot, made a sketch of Kalam. His family encouraged him to mail it to the president. A few days later, he received a letter from the president himself. Kalam had sent him a note which said, “Dear Naman Narain, Thank you for your nice drawing. With best wishes from, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam”. Naman reveals that he has kept the note with him ever since.

5) When the power went off during his lecture to 400 students, he improvised

When Kalam had to give a lecture to nearly 400 students in a small school, he was interrupted by a power cut. Undeterred, he walked into the crowd of students, asking them to gather around him, and continued his lecture. Despite being hindered by circumstances, he went on to give yet another powerful and inspiring lecture to students.