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Kalam: Journey from Rameshwaram to Rashtrapati Bhavan
New Delhi, July 25: From remote Rameshwaram island in Tamil Nadu to New Delhi`s imposing Rashtrapati Bhawan is quite a journey. Especially for a boat owner`s son who sold newspapers as a child, this 70-year journey is an epitome of determination and total focus.
New Delhi, July 25: From remote Rameshwaram island in Tamil Nadu to New Delhi`s imposing Rashtrapati Bhawan is quite a journey. Especially for a boat owner`s son who sold newspapers as a child, this 70-year journey is an epitome of determination and total focus.
He seems to have come straight out of a comic book. Even though a devout Muslim, his favourite pastimes include reading Hindu scriptures like the ‘Bhagvad Gita’, plucking the ‘veena’ and writing poetry in Tamil, his first language. Unlike other great Indian scientists, he was neither educated abroad, nor was his family financially very strong to support his academic pursuits. Branded as "200 percent Indian" by his colleagues and acquaintances, `India`s Missile Man`, Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam has done the country proud on many fronts.
Kalam`s family was not well off, and early in life he did odd jobs like hawking newspapers. He joined Schwartz High School in Ramanathapuram, where he was fortunate to study under some inspiring teachers that he remembers to this day with gratitude.
He pursued a BSc degree in St Joseph`s College, Tiruchirapalli, during which period his interest in engineering increased and he followed with a course in aeronautical engineering at the Madras Institute of Technology from 1954 to 1957. By now his ardent desire was to become a pilot.
However after his third year at MIT, he joined Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) as a trainee in 1958. After a year he had the opportunity of applying to both the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Directorate of Technical Development and Production (DTD&P), interviews for which were at Dehra Dun and Delhi respectively.
Fate was not with him and he wasn`t selected for the IAF, a rejection he took badly. On a visit to Rishikesh soon after, he met Swami Sivananda, a man he said `looked like Buddha`. Sivananda told him to accept his destiny and go ahead with his life. He told young Kalam about destiny and that it was predetermined. Urging him to look ahead, he told Kalam to search for the true purpose of your existence.
Kalam soon joined as DTD&P Senior Scientific Assistant, with a basic salary of Rs. 250/- per month. During his initial year in there, he carried out a design assignment on supersonic target aircraft. He was then sent to the Aircraft and Armament Testing Unit (A&ATU) at Kanpur to get shop-floor exposure to aircraft maintenance. After three years later, the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) was established in Bangalore and he was posted there.
At ADE, Kalam worked as a senior scientific assistant, heading a small team that developed a prototype hovercraft. Despite the then Defence Minister V K Krishna Menon`s interest in the project, it remained incomplete.
In 1962, he joined Indian Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR), a fledgling Indian space institute, which would later be re-formed as Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). He was soon posted at newly formed Thumba Equatorial Earth Launching Station (TERLS) near Thiruvananthapuram.
During 1963-82, he served the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in various capacities and positions, including as Project Director for Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV) 3. During the period, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) began developing its own indigenous surface-to-air missile, project to which Kalam was shifted in 1975 as a rocket specialist to evaluate the progress made in aerodynamics, structure and propulsion of the missile.
The SLV project set three goals for themselves: Development and flight qualification of all subsystems through sounding rockets by 1975, sub-orbital flights by 1976 and the final orbital flight in 1978. After years of dedicated effort by Kalam and his team, the first 23-metre, 17 ton, 4 stage SLV was ready for launch. It failed.
Undeterred. The team went ahead, and on July 18, 1980, India`s first Satellite Launch Vehicle, SLV-3, lifted off from SHAR successfully. Amidst widespread acclaim, the team set itself new goals, including development of Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicles (ASLVs). 1981 saw the launch of the next SLV-3, SLV-D. With the launch of SLV-3 India became the fifth country to achieve satellite launch capability. In February, 1982, the decision was taken to appoint Kalam as Director, DRDL. Kalam was entrusted with them development of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), India`s most successful military research programme. The programme constituted of five major projects for establishing missile re-entry technology.
The 5 projects scheduled for completion in 10 years consisted of: Prithvi - a surface-to-surface battlefield missile
Trishul - a quick-reaction surface-to-air missile with a shorter range
Agni - an intermediate range ballistic missile
Nag - an anti-tank guided missile
Akash - a swift, medium-range surface-to-air missile
On September 16, 1985, the first launch of the Missile Program was conducted, when Trishul took off from the test range at Sriharikota. This achievement was followed by an even greater one, the successful testing of Agni in 1989. Congratulations flowed in to Kalam from diverse corners, from the President downwards. This followed his being honoured by Padma Vibhushan in 1990, the year that also saw the successful test-firing of ‘Akash’.
The Missile Council declared 1991 the year of Initiative for DRDL. That year, a consensus emerged that the only way to redress asymmetry in military capability vis-à-vis opponents was to have the same capability in specific areas. Kalam immersed into new projects with renewed vigour.
In recognition for his contribution to Indian defence he was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1997. Soon after the nuclear tests of 1998, Kalam was nominated Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India with the rank of a Union Cabinet Minister in November 1999, a position he held till November 2001. Since then he has been teaching at the Anna University.
Even today Kalam is in huge demand. He is Fellow of Indian National Academy of Engineering, Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, Vice-President of Astronautical Society of India, Fellow of National Academy of Medical Sciences (India), Honorary Fellow of Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers and an ISRO Distinguished Professor!
Kalam`s family was not well off, and early in life he did odd jobs like hawking newspapers. He joined Schwartz High School in Ramanathapuram, where he was fortunate to study under some inspiring teachers that he remembers to this day with gratitude.
He pursued a BSc degree in St Joseph`s College, Tiruchirapalli, during which period his interest in engineering increased and he followed with a course in aeronautical engineering at the Madras Institute of Technology from 1954 to 1957. By now his ardent desire was to become a pilot.
However after his third year at MIT, he joined Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) as a trainee in 1958. After a year he had the opportunity of applying to both the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Directorate of Technical Development and Production (DTD&P), interviews for which were at Dehra Dun and Delhi respectively.
Fate was not with him and he wasn`t selected for the IAF, a rejection he took badly. On a visit to Rishikesh soon after, he met Swami Sivananda, a man he said `looked like Buddha`. Sivananda told him to accept his destiny and go ahead with his life. He told young Kalam about destiny and that it was predetermined. Urging him to look ahead, he told Kalam to search for the true purpose of your existence.
Kalam soon joined as DTD&P Senior Scientific Assistant, with a basic salary of Rs. 250/- per month. During his initial year in there, he carried out a design assignment on supersonic target aircraft. He was then sent to the Aircraft and Armament Testing Unit (A&ATU) at Kanpur to get shop-floor exposure to aircraft maintenance. After three years later, the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) was established in Bangalore and he was posted there.
At ADE, Kalam worked as a senior scientific assistant, heading a small team that developed a prototype hovercraft. Despite the then Defence Minister V K Krishna Menon`s interest in the project, it remained incomplete.
In 1962, he joined Indian Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR), a fledgling Indian space institute, which would later be re-formed as Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). He was soon posted at newly formed Thumba Equatorial Earth Launching Station (TERLS) near Thiruvananthapuram.
During 1963-82, he served the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in various capacities and positions, including as Project Director for Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV) 3. During the period, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) began developing its own indigenous surface-to-air missile, project to which Kalam was shifted in 1975 as a rocket specialist to evaluate the progress made in aerodynamics, structure and propulsion of the missile.
The SLV project set three goals for themselves: Development and flight qualification of all subsystems through sounding rockets by 1975, sub-orbital flights by 1976 and the final orbital flight in 1978. After years of dedicated effort by Kalam and his team, the first 23-metre, 17 ton, 4 stage SLV was ready for launch. It failed.
Undeterred. The team went ahead, and on July 18, 1980, India`s first Satellite Launch Vehicle, SLV-3, lifted off from SHAR successfully. Amidst widespread acclaim, the team set itself new goals, including development of Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicles (ASLVs). 1981 saw the launch of the next SLV-3, SLV-D. With the launch of SLV-3 India became the fifth country to achieve satellite launch capability. In February, 1982, the decision was taken to appoint Kalam as Director, DRDL. Kalam was entrusted with them development of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), India`s most successful military research programme. The programme constituted of five major projects for establishing missile re-entry technology.
The 5 projects scheduled for completion in 10 years consisted of:
On September 16, 1985, the first launch of the Missile Program was conducted, when Trishul took off from the test range at Sriharikota. This achievement was followed by an even greater one, the successful testing of Agni in 1989. Congratulations flowed in to Kalam from diverse corners, from the President downwards. This followed his being honoured by Padma Vibhushan in 1990, the year that also saw the successful test-firing of ‘Akash’.
The Missile Council declared 1991 the year of Initiative for DRDL. That year, a consensus emerged that the only way to redress asymmetry in military capability vis-à-vis opponents was to have the same capability in specific areas. Kalam immersed into new projects with renewed vigour.
In recognition for his contribution to Indian defence he was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1997. Soon after the nuclear tests of 1998, Kalam was nominated Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India with the rank of a Union Cabinet Minister in November 1999, a position he held till November 2001. Since then he has been teaching at the Anna University.
Even today Kalam is in huge demand. He is Fellow of Indian National Academy of Engineering, Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, Vice-President of Astronautical Society of India, Fellow of National Academy of Medical Sciences (India), Honorary Fellow of Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers and an ISRO Distinguished Professor!