It is the darkness before dawn. In the lanes of Rameswaram, a boy runs from door to door with a bundle of newspapers. His father ferries people in a boat to feed the family. There are few comforts at home, but values in abundance. Who could have told this boy that the headlines he was delivering would one day carry his own name, and that he would rise to the highest constitutional office in the land?
It is said that circumstances may decide where a person begins, but never where he ends up. Kalam’s life is living proof of this truth. He did not accept hardship as his destiny; he turned it into fuel. Curiosity, a hunger to learn and discipline carried him to a height at which his name is written in letters of gold in the history of Indian science.
When India forged its own wings
After Independence, India faced a great challenge: technological self-reliance. The economy was still laying its foundations, and ahead lay the steep climb of space and defence science, a summit India urgently needed to scale. At ISRO, Dr Kalam played a key role in developing SLV-3, India’s first indigenous satellite launch vehicle. In 1980, this same vehicle placed the Rohini satellite in Earth orbit. It was the dawn of national self-confidence, for India had realised that it could carve out an identity of its own in space.
Then, at the DRDO, with the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme, he gave a new direction to the nation’s strategic capability. His association with projects such as Prithvi and Agni earned him the title “Missile Man of India”. In an era of dependence on foreign technology, every experiment in his laboratory was an act of national self-respect. Under his leadership, an entire generation of scientists gained the conviction that Indian talent could solve the most complex challenges.
Even at the Summit of Power, Dr Kalam Remained a Student
In 2002, Kalam became India’s 11th President. The grandeur of Rashtrapati Bhavan did not touch his nature. He took the office beyond the walls of formality and turned it into a forum for dialogue with students and young people.
He asked questions, listened to the answers and taught every child to believe in their own potential. His words carried little of the burden of preaching and much of the warmth of lived experience. Even at the peak of scientific achievement, he called himself a lifelong student. When did greatness ever mean, for him, becoming bigger than others? His definition was to put one’s abilities to work for the betterment of society.
A dream that will not let you sleep
For Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, a dream was never a picture drifting through sleep. A dream was the idea that never allows you to sit at ease, and that pushes you towards your goal every morning. It was this thinking that made Wings of Fire an inspiration to millions of readers. Ignited Minds, too, emphasises the boundless potential of the young mind and its role in nation-building.
Dr Kalam had set the goal of making India a developed nation by 2020. That deadline has passed, but India can still be seen travelling along the path he showed. Today the country has missions such as Chandrayaan, indigenous defence systems, a digital revolution and the energy of start-ups. All of this is a matter of pride.
Today, a child sitting in an ordinary village school has a science book in hand. Talented students struggling with financial hardship have found both the courage and the means to continue their studies. Our research is seeking solutions to society’s real problems. Technology is making life easier for ordinary citizens. It is as though Dr Kalam’s dream is coming true in these times.
The true mark of development is that its light reaches the last person in the queue. That is why Dr APJ Abdul Kalam never regarded nation-building as the responsibility of any one government or institution. Teachers, scientists, students, farmers, entrepreneurs and every responsible citizen were fellow travellers in his India.
The last lecture: July 27 2015
At the Indian Institute of Management in Shillong, Kalam was addressing students. The subject was how to make the Earth a liveable planet. In the middle of the lecture, he suddenly collapsed. Efforts were made at the hospital, but he did not return from that final class of his life. The teacher who spent his life among students was in conversation with young minds until his last breath. What more fitting farewell could there be? The country lost a former President and a great scientist. Millions lost a guide whose simplicity, smile and plain language made him feel like family in every home.
Today the national memorial at Rameswaram reminds us of his achievements. Yet his true memorial surely lives on in the student experimenting late into the night, in the teacher who is teaching children to ask questions, and in the young person who, despite difficult circumstances, is chasing a dream. Dr Kalam’s birth anniversary reminds us that patriotism is bigger than emotional slogans. It means doing one’s own work honestly and sharing in the task of solving the nation’s problems. Whether a scientist in a laboratory or a farmer in the field, a teacher in the classroom or a sentry on the border, every honest effort adds to the nation’s strength.
His message is direct and entirely simple: give up the illusion that stature comes from position; it comes from purpose. It is a mistake to believe that respect can be bought with authority; it is earned through action. And a person’s greatness is judged by how many dreams kept hope alive after they were gone.
Today’s pledge
As the nation pays tribute to him today, one small pledge would be the finest homage. Choose one child near you. Respect their curiosity, listen seriously to their questions and give their dream a path. May lakhs of children across the country, like that boy of Rameswaram, find a sky of their own, become whatever they wish to be, and succeed in fulfilling their resolve. This, in truth, is the direction of India’s future that Dr Kalam would have wished for.
On this day, our heartfelt salutations to him.
