Category APJ Abdul Kalam

After his tenure as the president of India, Dr. Kalam became a visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong, the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, and the Indian Institute of Management Indore. He also worked as a honorary fellow of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, the chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology Thiruvananthapuram, professor of Aerospace Engineering at Anna University, and at many other academic and research institutions across India. He also taught information technology at the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad, and technology at Banaras Hindu University and Anna University.

In 2011, Kalam was criticised by civil groups over his stand on the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant. He supported the establishment of the nuclear power plant and was accused of not speaking for the local people. The protesters were against his visit as they perceived him as a pro-nuclear scientist and were not impressed by the assurances he provided about the safety of the plant.

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At the end of his term, on 20 June 2007, Kalam stated he was willing to consider a second term in office if he was the unanimous choice. This was not so, and hence he backed off from the contest as he wanted to avoid involving the Rashtrapati Bhavan in any political controversies.

Nearing the expiry of the term of the 12th president Pratibha Patil on 24th July 2012, media reports claimed that Kalam would be nominated for a second term as the president. After the reports, social networking sites witnessed a huge support from people for his candidature. On 18 June 2012, Kalam declined to contest the 2012 presidential poll. He said of his decision:

“Many, many citizens have also expressed the same wish. It only reflects their love and affection for me and the aspiration of the people. I am really overwhelmed by this support. This being their wish, I respect it. I want to thank them for the trust they have in me.”

Dr. Kalam was unable to travel much as a scientist and technologist, because he was in charge of highly sensitive areas in the space and defence departments. Yet, as the president he handled foreign affairs really well. He took care of diplomatic niceties and sometimes brought about surprises.

When he visited Africa, he understood that the continent did not have enough facilities for higher education and health care. One night in Dares Salaam, Tanzania, he envisioned the idea of providing tele-education and telemedicine to all 54 countries in the continent through a dedicated satellite, which can serve exclusive programmes to classrooms and hospitals in each of these countries. He made plans for a satellite donated by India, along with uplinking centres in each country for the satellite to send down programmes prepared both in India and that country. Converting the thought into action took only a few hours as he enquired with G. Madhavan Nair, the then chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation, about the viability of the project and then got the clearance from the then prime minister Manmohan Singh.

Before his term ended, he had the satisfaction of seeing the Africa satellite, donated by India, being able to telecast programmes to ten African countries.

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Dr. Kalam was part of the national security strategy team, and his position as the President of India made him the supreme commander of the armed forces. He showed great enthusiasm in the welfare of the troops and in the improvement of military technology. He led by example by flying the advanced Sukhoi jet fighter, travelling in a submarine and riding the Arjun tank. This tank was designed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation while he headed the organisation. He reached to the remotest outposts of the Army such as the Siachen Glacier. He had also advised Prime Ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh on security and high technology issues.

According to the Constitution, Parliament consists of the President, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. This brought his special interest in not only the two houses, but also the state assemblies. He went to great lengths to create vision documents for different states and presented these documents to the state legislatures. But sadly, he did not have time for a proper follow-up.

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The president hosts a reception on the lawns of the Mughal Gardens on Independence Day and Republic Day, attended by the vice president, prime minister, ministers, MPs, judges, diplomats, top bureaucrats and senior Army officers along with renowned artistes and media persons.

The first such reception hosted by Kalam was to be held three weeks after he assumed the office on July 25, 2002. He studied the guest list and inquired about ordinary people not being invited. When the officials replied that only those of the rank of additional secretary and above were invited, Kalam ordered that henceforth a group of ordinary workers should be invited to every reception. As a result, 40 postmen and post-women were invited to the function. Next time, it was the turn of municipal workers.

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Within a month of assuming office, Kalam made it clear that the existing protocols had to be reworked to make the president easily accessible.

He had started to use the social media, even before they became popular. He welcomed the 21st century with a personal pledge to connect with millions of children and launched his vision of what India should become in 2020. His tours and engagements had more followers than most of the celebrity social media accounts.

Dr. Kalam opened the gates of the Rashtrapati Bhavan like no other president before or after him. He wanted children from across the country to visit the 340-room house he lived in and the renowned Mughal Gardens. Whenever he found time, he would surprise groups of children by walking to them from his ground floor office and conversing with them. He made sure that all children returned with pleasant memories and a small memento. Along with children and science, his passion for nature and spirituality was also legendary. He set up two herbal gardens and one ‘spiritual garden’ in the Bio-diversity Park next to the Mughal Gardens.

Other things that he added to the Mughal Gardens were driftwood exhibits, hanging baskets and foliage and a wide array of fragrant roses. Another remarkable inclusion was the ‘Tactile Garden’, a unique herbal garden for the visually impaired. It was opened in April 2004 to allow visually challenged people to get a feel of trees and shrubs.

Finally, the presidential kitchen was also modernised to improve the working conditions for those who were always living amongst condiments and spices.