Dr Abdul Kalam, People's President in Sri Lanka
Dr. Sulakshi Thelikorala
It is astonishing indeed how Asia strives to challenge the West in
nuclear and aeronautical sciences. Many would call it a dream - a dream
which will never come true. Nevertheless, our convivial neighbour India
is not very far from this dream. It has been almost 25 years since India
launched its inaugural missile proving Asia's advancement of science in
the 20th century.
The master mind behind this disciplined revolution of India was none
other than the exuberant scientist Dr. Abdul Kalam. Dr. Kalam is a world
renowned aerospace engineer and the 11th President of Independent India.
Dr. Abdul Kalam |
He is often referred to as the ‘People's President’ and is admired
for his modest and humble nature, not only by Indians but people around
the world. He is a man with a vision who took over the responsibility of
changing the destiny of India.
This enthusiastic scientist cum politician is on a visit to Sri
Lanka. He is scheduled to deliver a speech today on ‘Ignited Minds of
Youth is a Great Resource for Nation’ at the Bandaranaike Centre for
International Studies. This is aimed at inspiring the younger generation
of Sri Lanka. Even during his extremely short stay he has planned to
visit Jaffna and deliver a speech at Jaffna University while holding
discussions with students.
Primary education
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam,popularly known as Dr. A. P. J.
Abdul Kalam was born on October 15, 1931 in the island town Rameswaram
in Madras. His father was Jainulabdeen, a boat owner and mother Ashiamma.
He gives a vivid picturesque description of his treasured childhood
in his autobiography ‘Wings of fire’, where he describes his father as a
man with great innate wisdom with true generosity of spirit.
Furthermore, Dr. Kalam has acknowledged that his scientific
accomplishments and his views were much influenced by his parents.
Dr. Kalam obtained his primary education from a school in Ramaeswaran,
after which he attended the Schwartz High School at Ramanathpuram.
His undergraduate life began when he entered Saint Joseph's College
in Tiruchchirapalli to study physics which he later regretted after
discovering aerospace engineering lessons in Madras.
The pivotal moment in his education was when he discovered the
opportunity to learn aerospace engineering at the Madras Institute of
Technology and graduating as an aerospace scientist in 1960.
Significant contributions
Dr. Kalam has made significant contributions in developing India's
first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle which successfully injected
the Rohini satellite into the skies in the early 1980s. Thus India
became an exclusive member of Space Club. The credit in developing
indigenous Guided Missiles also goes to Dr. Kalam who was the Chief
Executive of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) in
the Defence Research and Development Organization. Moreover, he was the
mastermind in operationalizing Agni and Prithvi Missiles, the first ever
missiles of India. Subsequently, he is known as the Missile Man of India
for ballistic missile and space rocket technology.
He became world renowned and criticized for Pokhran II, the nuclear
tests in 1998 where he had played a critical role as a politician and a
scientist. He has also been the Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister
and Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development.
This scientist cum patriot has inspired many youth in India through
his enticing writing. ‘Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within
India’, is his latest book which is highly motivating. As most of Dr.
Kalam's books are dedicated to an incident, a simple but deep meaning
lies behind the concept of this book. ‘Ignited minds' was dedicated to a
high school child named Snehal Thakkar whom Dr. Kalam has met at a
school. Upon questioning by the former President as to who is your
greatest enemy, this boy has impressed the audience by replying ‘poverty
is our enemy’.
Dr. Kalam's other famous work is ‘India 2020 - a vision for the
millennium’ which addresses the strength and weaknesses of India as a
nation and making India one of the world's first four economic powers by
2020.
Sri Lanka has got a golden opportunity to felicitate this great
scientist who has vowed to fully dedicate himself to transforming India
into a developed nation. This is a great opportunity for Sri Lankans to
meet the master mind to inspire themselves to build our nation. |