Dr. A P. J Abdul Kalam,the 11th president of india: A man for all seasons

BY Dr B.J.C.Perera
MBBS(Cey), DCH(Cey), DCH(Eng), MD(Paed), MRCP(UK), FRCP(Edin), FRCP(Lon), FRCPCH(UK), FSLCPaed, FCCP, Hony FRCPCH(UK), Hony. FCGP(SL)
Specialist Consultant Paediatrician and Honorary Senior Fellow, Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

On the 27^th of July, 2022, it was the seventh death anniversary of the iconic aerospace scientist and the finest of statesmen of India, Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. For his sublime contributions towards aerospace technology, and its development in India, he was known as the ‘Missile Man’. That was mainly because of his involvement in the production of the missile “Agni” (Fire) and the Satellite Launch Vehicle “Prithvi” (the vast one).

Then he became the 11^th President of India, adorning that high office, from 2002 to 2007. He came to be known as the ‘People’s President’ for his humility, unbridled patriotism, high-class thinking, as well as for putting the populace of India before everything else, and very definitely before his own self. Honest to the core and quite forthright in his convictions on the political landscape of India, Dr Kalam was, indeed, the God-given-gift to Mother India.There are very many stories that demonstrate the variegated and priceless qualities of Dr Abdul Kalam; a scientist and statesman par excellence. He also looked so simple, and behaved so, as well, for a brilliant scientist. Documented below are just a few of those narratives that just go to highlight the sterling qualities of the man.

Once, during a hectic project, one of the 70 scientists, working on it, asked Dr Kalam if he could leave at 5.30 pm that evening as he had promised to take his children to an exhibition. Dr Kalam gave him permission. However, the scientist got busy with work, only to realise that it was 8.30 pm. When he looked for his boss, he was not there. Guilty for having disappointed his kids, he went back home only to find that his children were not there either. When he asked his wife where they were, she replied, “You don’t know? Your boss came here at 5.15 pm and took the children to the exhibition.” Apparently, when Dr. Kalam had noticed him working hard at 5pm, he had thought to himself that this person would not leave work, but if he had promised his children, they should definitely enjoy the exhibition. So, he, Dr Kalam the boss, took the lead and took them there.

While he was working on a construction project with the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), as a lead scientist, he asked the team what would they do to ensure security around a certain building. The team lead suggested: “Mount broken glass on top of the walls.” Dr Kalam was ever so quick to turn down the suggestion. He had said, “The birds cannot perch on the wall. Think of something else.” A superb human who even thought about the welfare of birds, as much as he did about people.

Mr P. M. Nair, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, was the Secretary to Dr Abdul Kalam, when he was the President. He has provided the following anecdotes in an interview. Of course, his discourse of these events was filled with emotion, as he was privy to the real inner core of Dr Kalam, as the President of India.

Apparently, Dr Kalam used to receive expensive gifts, whenever he went abroad, as it is customary for many nations to give gifts to the visiting Heads of State. Refusing the gift would be an insult to the nation, and an embarrassment for India. So, he received them and, on his return, Dr Kalam asked the gifts to be photographed and then catalogued and handed over to the archives. After that, he never even looked at them. He did not take even a pencil from the gifts received, when he left his official residence, Rashtrapathi Bhavan, at the termination of his tenure as the President of India.

In 2002, the year Dr Kalam took over, the Ramadan month came in July-August. It was a regular practice for the President to host an Iftar Party. Dr Kalam asked Mr Nair why he should host a party to people who are already well fed and asked him to find out how much would be the cost. Mr Nair told him that it would cost around Rs. 22 lakhs. Dr Kalam asked him to donate that amount to a few selected orphanages in the form of food, dresses and blankets. The selection of orphanages was left to a team in Rashtrapathi Bhavan and Dr Kalam had no role in it. After the selection was made, Dr Kalam asked Mr Nair to come to his room and gave him a cheque for Rs 1 lakh. He had said that he was giving some amount from his personal savings and this should not be informed to anyone. Mr Nair was so shocked and he had said “Sir, I will go outside and tell everyone. People should know that here is a man who not only donated what he should have spent but he is giving his own money also”. Dr Kalam told him very firmly that he was not to do anything of the kind. Dr Kalam, though he was a devout Muslim, did not have Iftar Parties in all those years, in which he was the President.

Dr Kalam did not like “Yes Sir” type of people. Once when the Chief Justice of India had come for a discussion and on some point, Dr Kalam expressed his view and asked Mr Nair, “Do you agree?” Mr Nair said “No Sir, I do not agree with you”. The Chief Justice was shocked and could not believe his ears. It was impossible for a civil servant to disagree with the President and that too so openly. Mr Nair had later told him that the President would question him afterwards why he disagreed and if the reasons were logical, with 99% certainty, the President would change his mind.

Once Dr Kalam had invited 50 of his relatives to come to Delhi and they all stayed in Rashtrapathi Bhavan. He organised a bus for them to go around the city which was paid for by him. Not a single official car was used. All their stay expenses, and the cost of food, were calculated as per the instructions of Dr Kalam and the bill came to Rs 2 lakhs which he paid. In the history of India, no President had ever done that.

Dr Kalam’s elder brother had come and stayed with him, in his room, for an entire week, as Dr Kalam wanted his brother to stay with him. When he left, Dr Kalam wanted to pay rent for that room also. Imagine the President of a country paying rent for the room in which he is staying. This was definitely not agreed to by the staff who thought that such honesty was getting to be too much to handle.

When Dr Kalam was to leave Rashtrapathi Bhavan, at the end of his tenure, every staff member went and met him and paid their respects. Mr Nair, his secretary, went to him alone as his wife had fractured her leg and was confined to bed. Dr Kalam asked why his wife did not come. He replied that she was in bed, due to an accident. Next day, Mr Nair saw a whole lot of policemen around his house and asked what had happened. They said that the President of India was coming to visit him in his house. Dr Kalam had then come, met his wife and chatted with her, and Nair, for some time. Mr Nair says that no president of any country would visit a civil servant’s house and that, too, on such a simple pretext.

On his demise, the property left behind by Dr Kalam had been estimated. He had owned six pants, two DRDO uniforms, four shirts, three suits (one Western and two Indian), 2500 books, 16; yes, sixteen, doctorates, one small flat, which he had already donated, one Padmashri Award, one Padmabhushan Award and one Bharat Ratna Award. He has had just one website, one twitter account and just one e-mail ID. He did not have a TV, an Air Conditioner, a car, shares in companies, any land he had purchased, or a significant bank balance. He had even donated his pension for the last eigh years of his life, towards the development of the village where he grew up.

Dr Abdul Kalam was a thoroughbred and true Indian patriot and India will forever be grateful to such an outstanding son of Mother India. The entire country reacted to Kalam’s death, on 27^th July 2015, with an unbelievable outpouring of grief; numerous tributes were paid to the former President across the nation and on social media. The Government of India declared a seven-day state mourning period as a mark of respect. On the 30^th of July, 2015, the former President was laid to rest at Rameswaram’s Pei Karumbu Ground, with full state honours. Over 350,000 people attended the last rites, including the Prime Minister of India, the Governor of Tamil Nadu and the Chief Ministers of Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Mother India had lost one of her finest sons.

One does wander as to what made such a man tick. It is all there in a slogan that he believed in. That catchphrase says “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.” He firmly believed that leaders need to listen, think creatively, be determined, build unmatchable teams, look beyond failures, stand with the teams and be prepared to honestly answer questions. He was the shining example to all, not only in India, but in the rest of the planet, of a person who would rise up, even above and beyond himself, for his Motherland.

Now then…, for us in this paradise isle, have we ever in our history, from the time we gained independence, had a scientist, or a statesman, of the calibre of Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam? The obvious answer is a resounding ‘NO’. It is our misfortune to be saddled with all kinds of dishonest people, criminals, racketeers, rapists, bribe agents, godfathers of corruption, drug peddlers and the dregs of Mother Earth in all spheres of life, including the legislature, and even the professions. Of course, there are a few who would come somewhat close to the venerated 11^th President of India but most certainly not even close enough to merit a worthwhile comparison.

The day we find in the legislature, the professions and, amongst the general populace, an overwhelming majority of honest patriotic people, willing even to make sacrifices for the betterment of the Motherland, we will turn the corner and our country would be a resplendent isle, overflowing with milk and honey. It is, perhaps, wishful thinking, but then, hope springs eternal in the human breast.