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Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was born on the  15th of October, 1931 in Rameshwaram to Jainulabiddin Marakayar and Ashiamma

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Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was born on the  15th of October, 1931 in Rameshwaram to Jainulabiddin Marakayar and Ashiamma

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On October 15, 1931, APJ Abdul Kalam was born into an impoverished Tamil Muslim family in the pilgrimage town of Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu. Ashiamma was a homemaker, while his father, Jainulabdeen, was a boat owner and an imam at a local mosque. With four older brothers and a sister, he was the youngest in the family. Young Kalam had three close friends in his childhood-Ramanadha Sastry, Aravindan, and Sivaprakasan. All these boys were from orthodox Hindu Brahmin families. As children, none of them ever felt any difference between themselves because of their religious differences and upbringing. By his early childhood, Kalam's family had become poor; at an early age, he sold newspapers to supplement his family's income. In his school years, Kalam had average grades but was described as a bright and hardworking student who had a strong desire to learn. He spent hours on his studies, especially mathematics.

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Dr Kalam graduated in Physics in 1954 from Saint Joseph’s College, Tiruchirappalli and did Aerospace Engineering in 1955 from Madras Institute of Technology.

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Dr Kalam graduated in Physics in 1954 from Saint Joseph’s College, Tiruchirappalli and did Aerospace Engineering in 1955 from Madras Institute of Technology.

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Dr Kalam spent hours on his studies, especially mathematics. After completing his education at the Schwartz Higher Secondary School, Ramanathapuram, Kalam went on to attend Saint Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli, then affiliated with the University of Madras, from where he graduated in physics in 1954. Abdul Kalam, then, attended the Madras Institute of Technology, where he received a degree in aeronautical engineering in 1960. Dr Kalam was one of the most distinguished scientists in India with the unique honour of receiving honorary doctorates from 48 Universities and institutions in India and abroad.

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In 1960, Kalam joined the Aeronautical Development Establishment of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as a scientist.

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In 1960, Kalam joined the Aeronautical Development Establishment of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as a scientist.

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Kalam earned a degree in aeronautical engineering from the Madras Institute of Technology and in 1958 joined the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). He spent the next four decades as a scientist and science administrator, mainly at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and was intimately involved in India's civilian space programme and military missile development efforts. Kalam was the Director-General of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Before that, Prof. Kalam was the Director of the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) in Hyderabad, and thus a fellow DRDO lab Director.

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In 1969, Kalam was transferred to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) where he was the project director of India’s first Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III) which successfully deployed the Rohini satellite in near-earth orbit in July 1980.

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In 1969, Kalam was transferred to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) where he was the project director of India’s first Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III) which successfully deployed the Rohini satellite in near-earth orbit in July 1980.

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Dr Kalam put in over 10-year-long hard work as the project director for the development of the indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle at ISRO which ultimately resulted in one of the greatest scientific development of the indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV). Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 (SLV-3) was India's first experimental satellite launch vehicle, which was an all solid, four-stage vehicle weighing 17 tonnes with a height of 22m and capable of placing 40 kg class payloads in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). He also said, "new dawn and brighter tomorrow very soon". Previously, when the SLV-3 space mission failed under Dr Kalam's guidance, the nation received a motivational and heartfelt speech on how to handle failures from former President Dr Kalam

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Kalam served as the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of the Defence Research and Development Organisation from July 1992 to December 1999.

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Kalam served as the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of the Defence Research and Development Organisation from July 1992 to December 1999.

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After working for two decades in ISRO and mastering launch vehicle technologies, Dr Kalam took up the responsibility of developing Indigenous Guided Missiles at the Defence Research and Development Organisation as the Chief Executive of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).

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India owes its development as a nuclear nation to Kalam’s organizational and technical support for the Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998, the first such tests after a gap of 24 years.

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India owes its development as a nuclear nation to Kalam’s organizational and technical support for the Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998, the first such tests after a gap of 24 years.

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The brain behind the multiple nuclear tests carried out at the Pokhran test range was Kalam. After specialising in Aeronautical Engineering at Madras Institute of Technology, Kalam joined the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). He was also the Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister and Secretary, Department of Defence Research & Development from July 1992 to December 1999. During this period, the former president led the weaponisation of strategic missile systems and the Pokhran-II nuclear tests in collaboration with the Department of Atomic Energy, which made India a nuclear weapon state. Kalam, who had supervised the Pokhran-II explosions as the chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, camping in the Thar desert for over a fortnight, had said the testing was a "defining moment" in the country's history, next only to adopt the path of economic liberalisation in 1991.

Pokhran-II was a series of five nuclear bomb test explosions. It consisted of five detonations, of which the first was a fusion bomb and the remaining four were fission bombs. The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre had presented Kalam with a memento of a banyan tree bonsai which had a statue of a smiling Buddha under it. "The Buddha has smiled" was the code used by scientists in 1974 to declare that the nuclear test has been successful.

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Abdul Kalam received various awards from 1981 to 2000.

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Abdul Kalam received various awards from 1981 to 2000.

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Padma Bhushan in 1981

Padma Vibhushan in 1990

Bharat Ratna in 1997

Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration in 1997

Veer Savarkar Award in 1998

Ramanujan Award in 2000

Honorary Doctorate of Science by University of Wolverhampton, the UK in 2007

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Kalam served as the 11th President of India. His term lasted from 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007.

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Kalam served as the 11th President of India. His term lasted from 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007.

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Kalam served as the 11th president of India, succeeding K. R. Narayanan. He won the 2002 presidential election with an electoral vote of 922,884, surpassing the 107,366 votes won by Lakshmi Sahgal. His term lasted from 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007.

5 Things that made Kalam, People's President-

1. Promoting religious tolerance and interfaith dialogue.
A devout practising Muslim, he read his daily namāz and fasted during Ramadan. His father, an imam of a mosque in his hometown Rameswaram, had strictly instilled Islamic customs in his children. But also, impressed upon young Kalam the value of interfaith respect and dialogue.
Kalam often said that the answers to India’s multitudinous issues lay in “dialogue and cooperation” among the country’s religious, social, and political leaders.
He fondly said, “For great men, religion is a way of making friends; small people make religion a fighting tool.”

2. Humility, and refusal to accept any VVIP treatment

At a function at IIT (BHU) Varanasi where he was invited as chief guest, Kalam refused to sit on the President’s chair offered especially to him. The chair was bigger in size and was meant to give Kalam special honour. Out of the five chairs arranged on the stage, one was for Kalam in the centre and the other four were for top university officials. When the Missile Man was told to sit on the big chair, he took notice of it and humbly offered the seat to a university official instead.

3. Inspiring young minds to dream and fly
During his tenure as President of India, Kalam made it a priority to meet as many young people as possible one-to-one. He met almost a record-breaking target of 500,000 during his five-year term. When he left office in 2007, he was conferred the loving title of “Kalam Chacha” (“Uncle Kalam”) because he would receive hundreds of emails a day from young people inspired by his encouragement to “dream, dream, dream!” He is reported to have replied in person to nearly all of them.

4. Believing in a democracy that is functional

In one of his last memories with Dr Kalam, Sripal Singh recalled how worried Kalam was at the time about the Parliament, the supreme institution of democracy, being dysfunctional. He said, “I have seen two different governments in my tenure. I have seen more after that. This disruption just keeps happening. It is not right. I really need to find out a way to ensure that the parliament works on developmental politics.” He asked for a surprise assignment question to be given out to students at IIM Shillong at the end of the lecture. He asked them to suggest ‘three innovative ways to make the Parliament more productive and vibrant.’ He questioned, “But how can I ask them to give solutions if I don’t have any myself?”
For the next hour, they discussed numerous options to come up with recommendations. They included this discussion in his last book, Advantage India.

5. Inspiring change even after leaving office
In 2012, he launched a campaign called ‘What Can I Give Movement to develop a “giving” attitude in the youth and to encourage them to contribute towards nation building by taking small but positive steps. In 2012, his efforts to improve healthcare led to the release of a tablet for medical personnel to use in remote areas.
As the Presidential elections grow closer, let us hope that a few teachings of Late President Kalam inspire candidates competing to take charge and make a better India.

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It was in the year 2010, when the United Nations decided to honour this ‘great scientist’ on his 79th birth anniversary and declared his birthday on October 15 as the ‘World Students’ Day’.

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It was in the year 2010, when the United Nations decided to honour this ‘great scientist’ on his 79th birth anniversary and declared his birthday on October 15 as the ‘World Students’ Day’.

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October 15 of every year is celebrated as World Students' Day in honour of former Indian president APJ Abdul Kalam, who was born on the same day in 1931. The day aims to acknowledge the efforts of Kalam toward education and students. The United Nations declared October 15 as World Students' Day in 2010. Every year the world body decides on a theme to mark the observance of the day. This year, the theme for World Students' day is "Learning for people, planet, prosperity and peace”, which aims to reaffirm the role of education as a fundamental right of every person across the world.

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Kalam died on 27 July 2015 while delivering a lecture on “Creating a Livable Planet Earth” at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong. 

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Kalam died on 27 July 2015 while delivering a lecture on “Creating a Livable Planet Earth” at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong. 

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While delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong, Kalam collapsed and died from an apparent cardiac arrest on 27 July 2015, aged 83. Thousands, including national-level dignitaries, attended the funeral ceremony held in his hometown of Rameswaram, where he was buried with full state honours.