Category APJ Abdul Kalam

Which are the major awards received by Dr. Kalam?

Dr. Kalam was the recipient of numerous national and international awards. Their list is really lengthy. Let us briefly look at how his own mother country venerated him.

He was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 1981 and Padma Vibhushan in 1990. He also received India’s highest honour Bharat Ratna for his research and defence related work, and Outlook magazine ranked him as Second Greatest Indian in 2012.

Coming to his own state, Tamil Nadu, his death anniversary is observed as Youth Renaissance Day there. Further, the Abdul Kalam Award is given every year on the occasion of Independence Day from 2015 onwards. This carries a certificate, a gold medal and a whopping fifty thousand rupees.

On his 84th birth anniversary, October 15, 2015, a postage stamp in Dr. Kalam’s memory was released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at DRDO Bhawan in New Delhi.

After Dr. Kalam’s death, several educational and scientific institutions were renamed after him.

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What is Dr. Kalam’s book ‘India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium’ all about?

‘India 2020’ was written in 1998 before Dr. Kalam became the President of India. Here we can read his ideas for India’s future and development. After analysing India’s strengths and weaknesses, he gives a vision of how we could be among the top four economic powers by 2020.

The importance Dr. Kalam gave to the ideas of school children is obvious. The book is dedicated to a ten-year-old girl whom he met during one of his talks. When asked about her ambitions, the young girl replied, “I want to live in a developed India.”

For Dr. Kalam, India was already a knowledge super power and a nation awaiting its time. He then describes his vision of India, its future and those of other developed countries.

He even compares the statistical data to show how India can progress. Dr. Kalam never forgets to say how his field -science and technology- is crucial for this.

The book is co-authored by Dr. Kalam and Y.S Rajan and has been translated into many languages.

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Does ‘Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India’ begin with a dream?

The book does begin with a dream; a dream that Kalam had after he and his aircraft crew met with a helicopter crash! After the frightening moments, the engines shutting down and the final crash, all of them started to look at life in a different way. All were alive, but their thinking had changed forever!

Kalam was given a tranquilizer. His mind was filled with one question: Why is the human race so prone to violence? While still under the effect of the tranquilizer, he had a strange dream.

In his dream came five people- Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein, Emperor Asoka, Abraham Lincoln and Caliph Omar. Kalam realized that the answer for his question were these people from different ages who continue to influence generations to come.

The book ends with some lines from Song of Youth, a poem by Dr. Kalam.

“As a young citizen of India,

armed with technology

and love for my nation,

I realize, a small aim is a crime.”

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Why is ‘Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India’ a much sought-after book after the death of Dr. Kalam?

Did you know the fact that this book is dedicated to a school child?

Well, here’s the story behind it. Kalam was talking to a group of school students and a question arose. “Who is our enemy?” Out of the many answers, the one accepted by all was “our enemy is our poverty.” The child who gave this answer was Snehal Thakkar and Kalam dedicated this work to Snehal.

You can find a lot of inspirational messages in this book. It is also a follow up of his previous work, ‘India 2020; A Vision for the New Millennium.’

Dynamic and original ideas fill this 205-page book. It analyses the attitudes of Indians and gives pointers on how to develop our country. The book is addressed to the young citizens of India. And after Dr. Kalam’s death it has soared in demand.

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What do the third and final parts of ‘Wings of Fire’ narrate?

Here we see Dr. Kalam on his journey to becoming the “Missile Man of India.” What an excellent leader he was is evident when he takes up the responsibility for shaping the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. And as a result we see the development of five missiles – Prithvi, Trishul, Akash, Nag and Agni. This is how he got his nickname “Missile Man of India.”

Dr. Kalam pays his respect to the great minds in Indian space research with mixed feelings of joy and nostalgia. There are many black and white snapshots where we can see his real-life work.

The last part starts with Dr. Kalam becoming the Scientific Advisor to India’s Minister of Defence in 1992. How much he contributed to making India a nuclear power is detailed here. We also see the extent of his involvement in the successful nuclear tests at Pokhran, Rajasthan, in 1998.

Vision of India 2020 was charted out by him as ex-officio chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet (SACC). Here we get the list of his ideas and advice for the future of India.

Thus, we see a middle-class boy hailing from a village, rocketing on to space and success. We realize the truth in his words that dreams are that which prevent us from sleeping.

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What is the summary of the first and second parts of ‘Wings of Fire’?

In the beginning, we see young Kalam in the rural fishing village of Rameswaram. His family, friends and teachers and the myriad experiences of the young child is painted for us. You would love to look at the old black and white photographs capturing the essence of those days.

His schooling in Rameswaram and his studying aeronautical engineering in Chennai at the Madras Institute of Technology, Chromepet come in detail.

As a young Muslim boy, Kalam grew up in Rameswaram which is predominantly a temple town. But he enjoyed celebrating the different festivals and the religious harmony around him.

In the next part we see him as a man of science and innovation. He got his first job in the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO).

After working four years in DRDO, he joined ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization). Here Dr. Kalam could interact with many bright minds of science; Professor Vikram Sarabhai, Dr. Wernher von Braun and Professor Satish Dhawan.

We then look into a detailed explanation of his defence and space projects. We read about his tenure as the Project Director of SLV-III, India’s first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle. If you are a science-crazy child, then you will love going through the minute scientific details and acronyms presented here. We also look at how Dr. Kalam interacts with common people inside the organization and outside.

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