Kalam: Bundle of boundless energy

BENGALURU: From riding a bicycle with a sounding rocket to the launch pad at Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram to handling preparations for nuclear tests at Pokhran in 1998, albeit in army fatigues as Major General Privthiraj, and arguably the most popular President, Dr A P J Abdul Kalam’s career graph soared just like many missiles and rockets which he helped design and launch.

As President, Dr Kalam addressed thousands of children, inculcating in them a sense of nationalism and scientific temper, and insisted on a Q & A session whenever he addressed students. Science and technology was on his agenda even when he occupied the top position, with scientists and engineers getting calls from him just to get an update on key projects. In fact, it was his idea that ISRO should not only launch an orbiter, Chandrayaan-I, but also land an instrument with the tri-colour painted on it, as a demonstration of the country’s expertise in space.

File picture of former president APJ Abdul Kalam with Barack Obama in New Delhi in January 2015 (Photo: AP)

Dr Kalam was convinced that India should harness solar energy and even design rockets which could reduce the cost of access to space. His contribution to the Indian space and defence programmes has been summed up best by his former chief in DRDO, Dr V S Arunachalam: “Our country has lost a visionary engineer and an unwavering patriot. India’s missile programme and space programme owe so much to his untiring work and collaborative spirit. I have lost an incredibly close and affectionate friend. I remember his smile, his laughter, and his willingness to go one extra mile,” he told Deccan Chronicle.  

In Bengaluru, Dr Abdul Kalam had a 1 AM friend in Prof N Balakrishnan, former associate director of Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, and true to that relationship, the former president called him last night just to enquire about the day-long felicitation organized the day before as the professor was scheduled to retire later this month.

And, at the felicitation, Dr Kalam not only beamed an hour-long video message about their long association but also added clips of what students had to say about Prof Balki as he is known among scientists. “He said in that video message that if he got a call at 1 AM or 1: 15 AM, he knew it had to be from me. If I did not call, he would call at that hour. To me, he was like a father figure. We worked on many projects together, including setting up of NTRO, and he always showed concern for me and used to remark life is all about research, research and dosa. He used to ask his cook to serve the dosa and many vegetarian dishes even as the President,” Prof Balakrishnan said.

File picture of former president APJ Abdul Kalam with George W. Bush and his wife Laura Bush in New Delhi 2006 (Photo: AP)

Perhaps, it was his fondness for vegetarian delicacies as well as Carnatic music, in particular saint Thyagaraja’s famous kriti Endaro Mahanubhavulu, that made him popular as ‘Kalam Iyer’ recalled Dr VK Aatre, who succeeded Dr Kalam as chief of DRDO. “He never lost his cool. At the most, he would say you funny guys. He was a good listener and sat through meetings well past midnight, allowing everyone to speak. He used to come to Bengaluru every month to review the progress of ‘Tejas’ (Light Combat Aircraft),” added Dr Aatre.

Bharat Ratna Prof C N R Rao rued the fact that their dream of jointly addressing children about science could not be scheduled. “We will miss him as a great human being and a good President. We knew each other for more than 40 years. He was simple, easy to deal with, and a great nationalist,” he added.

(L-R) Dr Abdul Kalam, Dr R. Chidambaram, Dr Anil Kakodkar and Dr K. Santhanam at Pokhran before the nuclear test in May 1998

Bengaluru is where it all began

Dr Abdul Kalam had a special place for Bengaluru. He commenced his long journey in aerospace from here when he joined DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Bengaluru, in 1960 to design a hovercraft for the Indian army. He was, however, picked up by renowned space scientist Dr Vikram Sarabhai, and transferred to ISRO where he was appointed project director for the country’s first satellite launch vehicle (SLV-III).

“He was a great task master who made everybody to slog, and we managed to design and launch the rocket though we did not have many components,” recalled G Madhavan Nair, former chairman, ISRO. Dr Kalam, who once nursed an ambition of becoming a fighter pilot, steered the ‘Tejas’ (Light Combat Aircraft) project through a crucial phase, and visited Bengaluru once a month to review its progress when he was the director general of DRDO. At the fag end of his career, he acquired a two bedroom apartment in Bengaluru, but was catapulted to the post of President in July 2002.