APJ Abdul Kalam, the missile man. He is 11th President of India(2002-2007). He was born in a middle-class Tamil family in the island town of Rameswaram in the former Madras state on 15th October 1931. His father Jainulabdeen had not much formal education but he possessed a pearl of great wisdom. His mother Ashiamma was a caring and loving housewife. APJ Abdul Kalam was one of the many children of the house. He lived in that ancestral house and was a small member of the huge family.
During the time of Second World War APJ Abdul Kalam was a child of around 8 years. He could not understand the complicacy of war. But during that time, suddenly a demand for tamarind seed erupted in the market. And for that sudden demand, Kalam was able to earn his first wages by selling tamarind seed in the market. He mentions in his autobiography that he used to collect the tamarind seeds and sell them in a provision shop near to his home.
APJ Abdul Kalam was a brilliant kid from his childhood. He passed out High school from Schwartz Higher Secondary School, Ramanathapuram and joined Madras Institute of Technology. He becomes a science graduate from that institution and started to work in DRDO in 1958. He later shifted to ISRO and was the Chief instructor of the SLV3 project in ISRO. It is suitable to mention that missiles like Agni, Akash, Trishul, Prithvi etc. are the part of that project.
APJ Abdul Kalam has been honoured and awarded with many prizes. He has been awarded IEEE Honorary Membership in 2011. In 2010 the University of Waterloo conferred a doctorate on him. Except that Kalam got Hoover Medal ASME Foundation from the USA in 2009, International von Kármán Wings Award from California Institute of Technology, USA (2009), Doctor of Engineering from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (2008), King Charles II Medal, the UK in 2007 and much more. He has also been awarded The Bharat Ratna, Padma Bibhushan, Padma Bhushan by Government of India.
His contribution to the youth was amazing. He always tried to uplift the youth of the country by motivating them by arranging different program. Unfortunately, APJ Abdul Kalam died on 27th July 2015 due to a cardiac arrest. The death of APJ Abdul Kalam will always be considered as one of the most tragic moments for the Indians. The death of APJ Abdul Kalam is a great loss for India. India would have developed more rapidly if we have APJ Abdul Kalam today.