Dr Kalam's dream Billion Beats website launched

Bengaluru: An initiative by former President of India Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 2007 to capture success stories of inspiring Indians, Billion Beats launched its website on Friday. Five unsung heroes from different walks of life joined hands for the inauguration, at a simple function held in Government Tamil Primary School, New Thippasandra.  Nagoor Roja, granddaughter of Dr Kalam and a lawyer practising at the Karnataka High Court, addressed the gathering saying, “When Dr Kalam launched Billion Beats in 2007, he wanted it to spread the success of Indians and their glad tidings. Media often creates sensationalism and seldom focuses on success of people." www.billionbeats.in went live in the midst of 40 students of the school, their teachers, volunteers and a handful of well-wishers of Dr Kalam. Among the unsung heroes present were Rani (domestic help), Rajeshwari (apartment assistant), Senthil (mason), Penchilayan (office boy) and Saroja (ayah). Organised by the Inspired Indian Foundation, the event saw Bengaluru’s most popular traffic constable ‘Singham’ Bhaskar and paratrooper and artist Renjith C. Thavaloor inspiring the students. The website is packed with inspiring stories, from Shabir Hussain Khan of Kashmir who has donated 140 bottles of blood in 34 years to Sundar the extremely helpful porter at Madurai Railway Station, to the visually-impaired Manjunatha of Mysuru, who chased his doctoral dreams successfully against many odds. The stories featured are written by teachers, retired service personnel, students, software engineers and journalists.