Wings of Fire is the book that gave me lot of insight about him.
I came to know his full name as Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam. A person
who started off with a humble background, transformed himself with education,
became a great scientist and also became the greatest President ever. I
strongly feel that he was one of the most active President ever in the history
of India. As President he took so many initiatives to inspire the children of
the nation. I so wished that he remained President of India forever. A nation
where the politicians fail to inspire, he was like a breath of fresh air. He
was positivity personified.
Kalam was also known as the missile man of India. Indian
soldiers fight on the borders and safeguard our nation. Kalam was a soldier who from the confines of the research centre played an active role in developing India’s indigenous missile programme. He played a vital role in India's
Pokhran-II nuclear test in 1998.
There are politicians like Asaduddin Owaisi who won’t fail
to divide the nation on communal lines and there are few great souls like Kalam
who would unite and inspire people with their great thoughts even after their demise.
The secular credentials of India get questioned by everyone. Here is a man who
till yesterday was a living example of India’s secular nature. Even his death
will show the whole world how he will be missed by Indians irrespective of
their caste, creed or religion.
At the age of seventy four, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam flew in a Sukhoi-30 fighter
plane, becoming the first Indian President to make a sortie in a combat aircraft. Can
we imagine ourselves doing something like this at that age? Even today, at the
age of 83, he collapsed on stage while delivering a speech at IIM Shillong. Age
is just a number, isn’t it? He is a true Karma Yogi. He continued to do his
duty till the very end. He is truly blessed to deserve a death like this.
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