Birth : 15th October , 1931
Death : 27th July , 2015
Abul Pakir Jainalabdin Abdul Kalam was born at Rameswaram in
the district of Ramanathpuram in Tamilnadu on 15th October in 1931.
His father Jainalabdin was a fisherman. Kalam used to distribute papers besides
his studies in his boyhood. His dream was to be a fighter pilot. He had been a
general student since the beginning of his study. After completing the
education in schools, he was admitted to St Joseph College at Tiruchirapally.
He completed his graduation in physics in 1954 from this college.
He came to Chennai to read aerospace engineering to fulfil his dream to be a
fighter pilot in 1955 from Madras University. The first eight were selected to
join the air-army. Unfortunatel , Kalam became the ninth.
Later, this great man became the ‘missile man’ of India. He
was one of the pioneers of the successful ‘Pokhram Explosion’ in 1998. He was
awarded with numerous titles and honours in his lifetime in India and abroad.
He was awarded the Padmabhusan’ in 1983.He was given the ‘ Padmabibhusan’ in
1990. The ‘Bharatratna’ ,India’s highest honour , was awarded to him
unanimously. All these were given to him for the contribution of Kalam in DRDO
and in ISRO.
He was elected the eleventh President of India in 2002. He
was serving the country as the President of India from 2002 to 2007 .The door
of the Rashtrapati Bhaban was opened during his regime for allowing the
commoners, especially the children .Thus he became the president of the people.
Having retired from the post of Indian president, he became
the visiting professor of IIMs of Shillong , Ahmedabad and Indoor .